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On Tuesday, November 26, Indian GM Dommaraju Gukesh earned a much-needed draw in the second game of the World Chess Championship 2024 match against reigning champion Ding Liren in Singapore. Following a loss in the first game, Dommaraju Gukesh had to respond with a better performance, and after earning a draw, the 18-year-old remarked that this is still a long match despite holding the Chinese GM with the black pieces.
As of this writing, world champion Ding Liren is ahead with a scoreline of 1.5-0.5 versus Dommaraju Gukesh in the 14-game World Chess Championship 2024 match. After Liren played the first new move in the opening, Gukesh managed to defend his position carefully before securing a draw by threefold repetition after a 23-move game, which lasted for around three hours.
A draw with black in the world championship match is always nice
In his comments after game two of the World Chess Championship 2024 match, Dommaraju Gukesh was pleased with his performance and remarked, “A draw with black in the world championship match is always nice and it’s too early, we still have a long match.” Notably, Dommaraju Gukesh has the opportunity to become the first world champion from India after the legendary Viswanathan Anand.
Dommaraju Gukesh also spoke about the pressures of being in such a high stakes match, and remarked, “There is obviously some pressure for anyone playing in a World Championship; there is a lot of pressure. But I also see it as a privilege that I can represent so many people and my country.” “I am just focusing on one game at a time. Hopefully, things go my way,” he further added.
Moreover, world champion Ding Liren, who was struggling in classical chess ahead of his title defence, expressed his happiness at drawing the game two after winning the first one a day prior. He remarked, “In the first game I played something new in the opening and of course it requires a lot of memory. Today I also played not a common move (for me) 1.e4 and I prepared a lot.”
