Gukesh, Ding grind out another draw in game 9
Singapore: Stalemate continued in the World Chess Championship as the ninth game between Indian challenger D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China ended in yet another draw to remain level on points here on Thursday.
The sixth consecutive draw -- and seventh of the match -- left both players on an identical tally of 4.5 points each, still shy of 3 points in order to win the championship.
The two players signed peace after 54 moves. Friday is a rest day and they will resume the battle on Saturday.
Just five more classical games are left to be played in the USD 2.5 million prize money championship and if a tied result happens after 14 rounds, there will be games under faster time control to determine the winner.
The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game while the 18-year-old Gukesh had emerged victorious in the third game.
The second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth games had ended in draws.
Gukesh said he would like to improve his performance in critical moments.
“It is still the same, the approach ... we just try to play good chess. In the last few games I have managed to play very good chess and for me the main thing will be go there with the same energy, play the same level of chess and slightly improve on some critical moments.
“I just hope to continue playing good games, and hopefully, at some point when I do the right things, I believe that the results will come,” said Gukesh. In the remaining five games, Liren will have white thrice, but Gukesh said there was not much difference (whether having black or white).
“Nowadays there is not much difference between white and black, because of the computers .. all the lines that were considered dubious, the computers make them work. Now its an equal game with both colours, so I wouldn’t say it’s a huge advantage.”
The Catalan opening has featured in top level games for many decades now and Gukesh chose it this time to test Liren’s preparation.
The Chinese yet again sank in to a long thought in the opening and found some creative ideas to keep the white forces at bay. The first exchange took place on the 14th turn with Gukesh using just 15 minutes of his allotted two hours in the first time-control while Liren had used over 50 minutes.
