D Gukesh in action against Ling Diren© AFP
Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh on Sunday took a giant step towards the World Chess Championship title by defeating defending champion Ding Liren in the 11th game, taking a 6-5 lead in the contest after a spate of draws. With just three games to go, Gukesh now has a crucial lead in the 14-round classical format match. The Indian started off with the Knight move on his first turn and was surprised as Liren went for a reverse Benoni opening, making it look like it was an over-the-board decision rather than a planned one. After five moves itself Gukesh had a lead of over an hour on the clock and it is never too easy to recover in crunch games.
It was a blink and miss moment when the game ended rather abruptly as Liren left with just seven minutes on the clock Liren simply blundered a piece on his 28th turn and resigned immediately.
Liren had won the opening game to take the lead before Gukesh won the third game to draw parity, which was followed by seven consecutive draws.
The two playes have played out eight draws so far in the contest which is now headed towards an exciting finish.
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