The World Chess Championship stalemate continued on Thursday in Singapore, when the ninth game between Indian challenger D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China finished in another draw, leaving them level on points. The sixth consecutive tie, and the seventh of the match, left both players with an identical 4.5-point total, still short of 3 points needed to win the title. After 54 moves, the two players agreed to make peace. Friday is a respite day, and the struggle will resume on Saturday.
There are only five more traditional games left in the USD 2.5 million prize money tournament, and if there is a tie after 14 rounds, the victor will be determined by games played under accelerated time controls. Liren, 32, won the first game, while Gukesh, 18, won the third.
The second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth games all finished in draws. The Catalan opening has been used in top-level games for decades, and Gukesh picked it to put Liren’s preparation to the test.
Gukesh undoubtedly had his sole chance to apply pressure on his 20th turn, but the Indian went for what appeared to be a better option for white, only to be surprised by Liren’s well-disguised trickery. It appeared that not much had changed, but after he was within 30 minutes, the Chinese executed a sequence of correct plays to leave the position level.
Gukesh used up all of his extra time, and by the 23rd move, he was behind Liren by a few minutes. Another couple of pawns had changed hands by then, along with two minor pieces, bringing the position extremely close to equal.
In counting, Gukesh had an extra pawn to brag about, but it was clear that it was about to fall. It was time for Gukesh to determine whether he would go for a simple draw or try for some unnecessary complexities.
After his 24th move, Gukesh was observed glancing at his score sheet, indicating that he had accepted the outcome. Liren paused for a moment before executing the equalizing capture of the extra pawn of white. Gukesh quickly exchanged queens and then a pair of rooks, resulting in a dead draw.