Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh tried his best but could not overcome a resilient Ding Liren of China and had to settle for a draw after 68 moves in the 13th and penultimate game of the World Chess Championship here on Wednesday. With the scores tied at 6.5-6.5 and only one game of classical chess to go, it is likely that the match will be extended to the tie-break stage where games of shorter duration will decide the winner. As was expected, the 18-year-old Gukesh went for the King pawn on his opening move and yet again faced defending champion Liren’s first-choice opening in French defense.
The Chinese spent a lot of time in the opening phase of the game when Gukesh came out with a novel idea early, but it was clear right from the beginning that there was little for the white.
The middle game saw the exchange of a couple of minor pieces that gave Gukesh’s white only a small advantage optically. And as the game progressed, it was clear that the exchange of pawns on the queen side will only lead to an equal endgame.
Gukesh, knowing fully well that this could be his last chance with the favourable colour, left no stone unturned as he kept looking for more but Liren kept his cool and traded pieces when necessary to reach a queen-plus-rook endgame that was just level.
The players, nevertheless, fought on for a long time. The pieces changed hands, and eventually, it was a queen and rook plus pawns on the board.
Gukesh tried everything in the book to keep pushing for more, even in the theoretical drawn endgame, but Liren was up to the task.
The game was eventually drawn to a two versus three rook-and-pawns endgame, and Gukesh played on till there was no life left in the position.
Liren held fort till the very end and will go into the last game of the match as favourite.
Gukesh said after the extremely tense game that things are really getting exciting as the championship enters the most crucial phase.
Gukesh, when asked how he was feeling with just one game left before the tie-break of shorter duration kicks in to determine the winner, said: “As close as the match gets, it only gets exciting. Quite excited (about the 14th game), but of course, it’s an important game. I will try to do my best.
“As the games get less and less, there is more at stake, obviously. I came for a fight, I was feeling fresh (today), I was feeling confident. And I also had this cool idea prepared, so I was quite excited to play,” added Gukesh.
Liren conceded he was “very tired” after the game.
“Firstly, very tired after a long game. Secondly, I need to decide what’s the strategy for the next game, it’s a golden game,” said the defending champion.
The moves: D Gukesh vs Ding Liren 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.a3 Be7 8.Be3 Nb6 9.Nf4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc4 11.Bxc4 dxc4 12.Nge2 b5 13.0-0 0-0 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.Nh5 f5 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qf3 Qe8 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.Qe2 Qg6 20.f3 Rf8 21.Rad1 Ne7 22.Bf4 Rb6 23.Bc7 Rb7 24.Bd6 Re8 25.Bxe7 Rexe7 26.Qe5 a6 27.d5 exd5 28.Qxd5+ Qe6 29.Qc5 Re8 30.Rde1 Qf7 31.Ne4 Rf8 32.Nd6 Rc7 33.Qe5 Qf6 34.Qd5+ Kh8 35.Re5 Re7 36.Rfe1 Rxe5 37.Rxe5 h6 38.Qc5 Bd7 39.Ne4 Qf4 40.Re7 Bf5 41.Qd4 Rg8 42.h3 Qc1+ 43.Kf2 Bxe4 44.Rxe4 c3 45.bxc3 Qxa3 46.Kg3 Qb3 47.Re7 a5 48.Rb7 Qc4 49.Qe5 Qc6 50.Qxb5 Qxc3 51.Ra7 Qe1+ 52.Kh2 Qb4 53.Qxb4 axb4 54.Rb7 Ra8 55.Rxb4 Ra2 56.Kg3 Kh7 57.Rb5 Kg6 58.f4 Kf6 59.Kf3 Rc2 60.g3 Rc3+ 61.Kg4 Ra3 62.h4 Rc3 63.Rb6+ Kf7 64. f5 h5+ 65. Kf4 Rc4+ 66. Kf3 Rc3+ 67. Kf4 Rc4+ 68. Kf3 Rc3+ Match drawn.
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