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Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China played out a draw in the seventh game of the World Chess Championship. With this, the Indian challenger and Liren remained level on points on Tuesday, December 3. This proved to be the fourth draw in a row and left both players with 3.5 points each, four points behind what is needed to win the championship. The two players signed peace after a total of 72 moves, and it was the fifth draw of the match.
Not only this, but the game on Tuesday lasted for more than five hours, and became their longest and the most intense clash in the series so far. With the match, the series is now level at 3.5 -3.5 with seven games remaining. Liren narrowly escaped defeat to secure the draw against his 18-year-old Indian counterpart. The game took place after their second rest day on December 2, Monday.
Gukesh dominates Liren throughout seventh game of World Chess Championship
During the game, the Indian prodigy had a significant advantage over his rival both on the board as well as the clock during the middle and towards the end of the game. Even there was a point when the Chinese was under under immense time pressure. He made it past the time control with only seven seconds remaining on the clock.
This was the second time in the World Chess Championship that Ding found himself playing to avoid losing on time. The men called for a truce after a total of five hours and 20 minutes. Notably, Liren won the opening game while Gukesh clinched the win in the third game. The second, fourth, fifth and sixth games had ended in draws.
