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Reigning world champion Ding Liren forced a draw against India’s youngest-ever World Chess Championship challengers D Gukesh in the game 13th of the 2024 World Chess Championship. Liren put on an exceptional display of defensive skills and held the Indian GM to a draw after 69 moves on Wednesday, December 11 at Resort World Sentosa in Singapore. By the end of the game, the scores were tied at 6.5-6.5 with only one classical chess contest remaining.
Notably, the 32-year-old Liren won the opening game while Gukesh made a comeback in the third game to level the score. The two GMs then played seven consecutive draws before Gukesh broke the deadlock in the 11th game and took a 6-5 lead. However, in the 12th game, Liren came from behind and levelled the tally with a surprising result. On Wednesday, the reigning champion found amazing defense and forced a draw with black pieces, just two days after he won with white pieces.
Gukesh starts with Kings’ Pawn, faces Liren’s French Defense
The game saw Gukesh starting with the King’s Pawn opening and once again came against Liren's French Defense. Liren then spent a considerable amount of time in the opening phase as Gukesh introduced a novel idea early on. However, it was later evident that the White had a little advantage. In the middle game, the duo exchanged a couple of minor pieces, which put Gukesh in a slight optical advantage.
While Gukesh left no stone unturned, the Chinese player kept his calm and traded pieces when necessary. Despite his best efforts, Gukesh pushed forward in the theoretical drawn endgame but his opponent was up to the mark. In the end, the game reached a two-versus-three rook-and-pawn endgame, and the Indian kept playing until no hope was there.
