Gukesh squanders advantage to settle for draw in Game 7.
IMAGE: India’s D Gukesh and China’s Ding Liren played out a draw after 72 moves. Photograph: Eng Chin An/FIDE/X
The youngest-ever challenger to the crown, D Gukesh let go of a very promising position and settled for a fourth consecutive draw against defending champion Ding Liren of China in a marathon seventh game of the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Tuesday.
The stalemate, which came after five hours and 22 minutes of nerve-wracking play, left both players on an identical tally of 3.5 points each, still shy of four more points in order to win the championship.
The two players signed peace after 72 moves.
It turned out to be a tough day in office again for Liren, who was staring at a losing position for a long time, till Gukesh blundered. The Indian, playing white, got a huge advantage but miscalculated to let the Chinese off the hook in what was the longest game of the match thus far.
It was a miraculous escape by Liren after getting into what the chess pundits termed a lost rook and minor piece endgame.
IMAGE: Defending champion Ding Liren was put under the pump early on in Game 7. Photograph: Eng Chin An/FIDE/X
Gukesh acknowledged he was in a great position to take the lead halfway through the championship before he fumbled.
“It’s never pleasant to miss a winning position, but I’m happy with the fact that I outplayed my opponent quite easily in the opening. I thought I was winning if I managed to consolidate my position and it became tricky at some point. I don’t know where I missed but it should be winning,” said the Indian.
“The score is fine. Obviously, today was a missed chance. That is a bit of a disappointment, but he (Liren) also missed some chances earlier in the match. So, I think it’s fair that we are here. The second half will be, of course, crucial,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Gukesh yet again tightened the noose in the opening. He has clearly been the better player when it came to springing surprises at the start. Moving his knight forward on the first move, the Indian faced the Neo-Grunfeld defense from Liren, and as early as in the seventh turn, Gukesh came up with a surprise idea.
Liren, who seemed to have solved his opening problems in the last couple of games, was at the receiving end on Tuesday, and even though he chose normal continuation, white’s position remained preferable.
IMAGE: D Gukesh went for the trade of queens after fracturing black’s pawn structure on the king side to get an indisputable advantage. Photograph: Eng Chin An/FIDE/X
Gukesh exerted pressure through the centre and got a dangerous-looking passed pawn in the early stages of the middle game, with the advantage of the bishop pair only adding to Liren’s woes.
Even Liren conceded that he had escaped by the proverbial skin of the teeth.
“I thought my position was hopeless with lack of coordination (between forces). I have been beaten many times in the opening and the middle game. Here, I was very happy to find the ideas. I made many mistakes, (but) fortunately, I saved the game,” said Liren.
The middle game saw inaccuracies from both sides, and it seemed that Liren was close to obtaining equality. However, the process had yet again eaten up most of Liren’s available time as the players are required to make the first 40 moves in two hours without any increment.
Gukesh went for the trade of queens after fracturing black’s pawn structure on the king side as the Indian got an indisputable advantage.
IMAGE: D Gukesh during Game 7. Photograph: Kind courtesy Chess.com/X
As has happened so many times in the past, the 40th move proved to be jinxed yet again as Liren lost a pawn. The Chinese either underestimated Gukesh’s chances or it was an oversight.
Despite the advantage, Gukesh still had to go through the technicalities, which has not been his forte here.
Gukesh’s 45th move was not the best and Liren slowly clawed his back into the game with some really resourceful play.
The tenacity of the Chinese came to the fore in the second time control also after he was left with just four minutes with a 30-second increment after each move is made.
Gukesh, who would have fancied his chances after the first time control, had to split the point after all the pawns were traded and he was left with a lone bishop.
Asked if the tie-breaker was on his mind if the 14 rounds of chess failed to produce a result, Gukesh said that the match was only halfway through.
“I don’t believe in favourites, I think whoever plays the best chess will win.
The moves: D Gukesh vs Ding Liren:
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.c4 c6 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.0–0 0–0 7.Re1 dxc4 8.e4 Bg4 9.Nbd2 c5 10.d5 e6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 exd5 13.exd5 Nbd7 14.Nxc4 b5 15.Na3 Qb6 16.Bf4 Rfe8 17.Qd2 Rad8 18.Nc2 Nf8 19.b4 c4 20.Be3 Qa6 21.Bd4 Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Qxa2 23.Ra1 Qb3 24.Ra3 Qb1+ 25.Kg2 Rd7 26.Ra5 Qb3 27.Ra3 Qb1 28.Ra5 Qb3 29.Rxb5 Qd3 30.Qf4 Qxc2 31.Bxf6 Qf5 32.Qxf5 gxf5 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.Rc5 Ng6 35.Rxc4 Ne5 36.Rd4 Nc6 37.Rf4 Ne7 38.b5 Kf6 39.Rd4 h6 40.Kf1 Ke5 41.Rh4 Nxd5 42.Rxh6 Nc3 43.Rc6 Ne4 44.Ke1 f6 45.h4 Rd3 46.Bd1 f4 47.gxf4+ Kxf4 48.Bc2 Rd5 49.Rc4 f5 50.Rb4 Kf3 51.Bd1+ Kg2 52.Rb3 Re5 53.f4 Re7 54.Re3 Rh7 55.h5 Nf6 56.Re5 Nxh5 57.Rxf5 Ng3 58.Rf8 Rb7 59.Ba4 Kf3 60.f5 Kf4 61.f6 Ne4 62.Bc2 Nd6 63.Rd8 Ke5 64.Bb3 Nf7 65.Rd5+ Kxf6 66.Kd2 Rb6 67.Bc4 Rd6 68.Kc3 Rxd5 69.Bxd5 Nd6 70.Kb4 Nxb5 71.Kxb5 a6+ 72.Kxa6 game drawn.
