Courtesy: Google
On Thursday, December 5, in the Game 9 of the World Chess Championship 2024 match, challenger Dommaraju Gukesh, the Indian GM, who had the white pieces, got held to a draw by the world champion Ding Liren, the Chinese GM, following a gruelling 54-move slugfest in Singapore. With the sixth straight drawn game between Dommaraju Gukesh and Ding Liren, the fate of the championship hangs in the balance as they are level on 4.5 points ahead of the third rest day in the match.
In the Game 9 of the World Chess Championship 2024 match, Dommaraju Gukesh opted for the Catalan opening for the first-time with the white pieces, which led to Ding Liren falling behind 50 minutes on the clock. But after a few trades in the middle game, the world champion managed to equalise the position, following which the challenger went into a deep think of his own, to keep his chances of a win going.
We've played entertaining chess. Five more exciting games to go: Dommaraju Gukesh
In his bid to force the issue on the board, Dommaraju Gukesh allowed Ding Liren to get a better position, but ultimately, the Game 9 ended in a draw after both players only had their kings left to play with. During the post-match interview, the Indian GM alluded to the missed chances for both the players, and remarked, as per the Indian Express, “A few missed chances from me, and a few missed chances from him.”
“We've played entertaining chess. Five more exciting games to go,” Dommaraju Gukesh further added. Meanwhile, world champion Ding Liren spoke about how neither he or his opponent have been clearly better than each other before saying, as per the Times of India, “I saw [comments] that I’m always underestimating my position and my opponent always overestimates his position. I also saw someone said that I’m always making a draw, even if I’m better. This doesn’t affect me, I think.”
