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D Gukesh and Ding Liren settled for a draw in Game 10 as scoreboard stands level at 5 points each in the World Chess Championship.
World Chess Championship: D Gukesh and Ding Liren (X/FIDE)
Indian challenger D Gukesh yet again proved equal to the task with defending champion Ding Liren of China as the 10th game of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw without much excitement on Saturday.
Ding Liren opted for the London System again, repeating the opening he played in Game 6. He caused a bit of a stir by taking an unexpected pause before making the first move as if he had forgotten what opening he would opt for.
This is the first time Ding has repeated his opening in this match and it triggered a lot of excitement when Gukesh diverted from the previous game with a knight move. Gukesh had taken a bit of time for his first 10 moves but had Ding spending nearly half an hour on the 11th move.
In the middle game, the players traded many pieces, exchanging a knight, bishop, a rook each and the queens in a flurry of action before they reached an endgame with the Chinese Grandmaster enjoying a slight advantage.
But the advantage was not very big and he decided to play risk-free again. Both players played solid chess and did not make any mistakes. The two players shook hands after 36 moves.
World Chess Championship 2024: D Gukesh Vs Ding Liren, Game 10 – HIGHLIGHTS
The seventh consecutive draw — and eighth of the match — left both players on an identical tally of 5 points each, still shy of 2.5 points in order to win the championship.
Gukesh said he was happy with the solid draw and with only four games remaining, both players admitted that they can’t afford to make any mistakes now.
Just four 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.
(With inputs from Agencies)
- Location :
Singapore, Singapore