D Gukesh in action against Ling Diren© AFP
Indian challenger D Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw with white pieces in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship against defending champion Ding Liren of China on Saturday. The second draw in a row left both players with an identical tally on 2.5 points apiece, still shy of 5 more points in order to win the championship. The two players signed peace after 40 moves. It was the third draw of the match. The 18-year-old Gukesh is the youngest ever challenger for the crown and had won the third game on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game before the two played out draws in the second and fourth game.
It was the first time in the match so far that Liren did not have any problems with his black pieces. The defending champion was at ease as Gukesh yet again employed the King’s pawn opening and faced the French defense for the second time in the match.
Having lost the first game in the same opening, caution was the name of the game for Gukesh as he went for the Exchange variation only to find Liren well equipped.
The opening, though has been tried at the top on and off, did not present black with any herculean defensive task as Liren showed after exchanging the queens early.
A pair of rooks changed hands soon after, leaving Gukesh with a level position. But, the Indian, true to his style, tried to create an imbalanced position soon after by allowing Liren to get a protected passed pawn on the sixth rank.
Liren did not find the most tested continuation and instead went for an equal endgame with Bishops of opposite colours. There was no doubt about the result of the game anymore but Liren decided to part with a pawn and got a fortress which did not allow any player to make further progress.
As per rules, the players had to complete a minimum of 40 moves and once that was done, there was nothing that could change the result of the game.
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