1 month ago
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Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju are no closer to a verdict in their world championship match after Thursday’s ninth game fizzled out to a sixth successive draw after 54 moves and 3hr 56min, leaving the $2.5m contest deadlocked at 4½-4½ with five games to go.
The 18-year-old challenger from Chennai, playing as white, opted for the popular Catalan opening before springing the first surprise with 10 Bc3, a near-novelty at the highest level which prompted Ding to spend nearly 20 minutes considering his response.
But the champion was able was able to comfortably neutralize the initiative and clear the queenside tension in the middlegame. The draw was all but a handshake away by the time the queens and a pair of rooks came off the board in a rapid furry (25 Qxc5 Qxb6 26 Qxb6 Raxb6 27 Rc6 Rxc6 28 Bxc6), even if Gukesh toiled on for more than another hour before settling for the half-point with only the kings left on the board.
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“I think it was just a very precise game from both sides,” Gukesh said afterward. “Maybe I had some edge after [16] Ba5 and maybe [20] Qb5.”
Ding entered the scheduled three-week match having gone 28 classical games without a win, dropping to 23rd in the world rankings and prompted the oddsmakers to price him as roughly a 3-1 underdog. But he sprang a major surprise in Game 1 by winning as black, dramatically ending the 304-day winless streak and delivering the opening salvo in a contest of mounting intensity.
Game 2 was a 23-move draw, before Gukesh roared back with a win in Game 3. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth games were each peaceful results.
“No one is clearly better in this match, so it’s going to be tough to win,” Ding said.
The competition resumes on Saturday with Ding marshaling the white pieces in Game 9 following Friday’s rest day. Whoever reaches seven and a half points first will be declared the champion at Resorts World Sentosa, an island resort off Singapore’s southern coast.
“So far it’s been a very interesting match,” Gukesh said. “A few missed chances for me, a few missed chances for him. We’ve both shown fighting spirit and some entertaining chess. Five more exciting games to go.”
