Another tight draw as Ding Liren and Gukesh D battle for world chess title | World Chess Championship 2024
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Dean Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju led to a third consecutive draw in the sixth game of their World Cup clash on Sunday in Singapore as the Indian teenager overcame a dubious decision to deny a draw despite being inferior to settle for a bloodless result after 46 moves over four hours.
Ding, the 32-year-old champion from China, played a new first move (1 d4) for the third time in three games with white’s favored pieces, opting for the modern London system and creating structural imbalances early by doubling Black’s pawns on the c-file. It was the same opening he opened in game 6 of his world title match with Jan Nepomnyashti last year.
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The players
of China Dean Liren defending the world chess title against a fast-rising Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju. The 14-game best-of match is scheduled to take place from November 23 to December 15 at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore with a total prize pool of $2.5m (£1.98m).
Ding became China’s first men’s world chess champion by defeating Yan Nepomnyashti last year in Kazakhstan, winning the title vacated by longtime world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway. But the 32-year-old from Zhejiang province has played just 44 classic games in the 19 months since winning the world title as he battles personal difficulties, including depression, and will go in as an underdog in his first world title defence.
Gukesh, better known as Gukesh D, stunned the chess world by winning the eight-man tournament in Toronto at the age of 17 to become the youngest contender for the world championship, finishing on top of a stacked field that included Oblivious, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. The 18-year-old could break the record for youngest world champion held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he dethroned Karpov in their 1985 rematch. in Moscow.
The format
The match will consist of 14 classic games, with each player receiving one point for a win and half a point for a draw. Whoever reaches seven and a half points first will be declared the champion.
The time control for each game in the classic part is 120 minutes per side for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increase of 30 seconds per move starting on move 41.
If the score is tied after 14 games, tiebreaker games will be played with faster time controls:
• A match will be played consisting of four quick games with 15 minutes per side and a 10-second increment starting on move 1. If a player scores 2½ points or more, they will win the championship.
• If the score is still tied, a mini-match of two quick games will be played, with 10 minutes per side and a five-second increment, starting on move 1. If a player scores 1½ points or more, they will win the championship.
• If the score is tied after the fast part, a mini-match of two blitz games will be played, with a time control of three minutes per side and a two-second increment, starting on move 1. If a player scored 1½ points or more, he would won the championship. A draw will take place before each mini-match to decide which player plays the white pieces.
• If the blitz mini-match is tied, a single blitz game will be played with a time control of three minutes per side and a two-second increment starting on turn 1, and the winner will win the championship. A draw of lots will decide which player plays the white pieces. If this game was a tie, another blitz game with reversed colors would be played with the same time control and the winner would win the championship. This process is repeated until one of the players wins a game.
Players are not allowed to agree to a draw before Black’s 40th move. A tie claim was previously only allowed if a threefold replay or stalemate occurred.
The schedule
Saturday, November 23 Opening Ceremony and Technical Meeting
Sunday 24 November Day off
Monday, November 25 Game 1
Tuesday, November 26 Game 2
Wednesday, Nov. 27 Game 3
Thursday, November 28 Day off
Fri 29 Nov Game 4
Saturday, November 30 Game 5
sunday 1 dec Game 6
Monday, Dec. 2 Day off
Tue, Dec 3 Game 7
Wednesday, Dec. 4 Game 8
Thursday, Dec. 5 Game 9
Fri Dec 6 Day off
Saturday, Dec. 7 Game 10
sunday 8 dec Game 11
Monday, Dec. 9 Game 12
Tue Dec 10 Day off
Wednesday, Dec. 11 Game 13
Thursday, Dec. 12 Game 14
Fri 13 Dec Tiebreaker (if necessary)
Saturday, Dec. 14 Closing ceremony
All games start at 17:00 local time, 14:30 in India, 9:00 in London, 4:00 in New York.
Both players signaled their depth of preparation by implementing their moves well in a fiery match where Gukesh had built up material but was forced to deal with Ding’s centralized pieces and potential counterplay.
As the game progressed, Gukesh’s attempts to press with open lines were neutralized by White’s accurate defense. The 18-year-old spurned a draw offer by refusing a three-fold repeat with 26…Qh4!?, instead taking a draw by repeating with Qe7!, prompting audible gasps from the gallery gathered outside the soundproofed gaming room.
“I just thought I always had a counterplay and saw no reason to take it.” [a draw] now,” said Gukesh. “I wanted to make a few more moves and see what would happen.”
But with time pressure mounting for both players, Ding seemed to give up his advantage with a queen exchange (34.Qc2!?). The position boiled down to a romp endgame with neither player able to find a break before ending with a series of replays after 4 hours and 15 minutes.
Ding enters the first defense of his World Cup after going 28 classic games without a win, a miserable run of form that has seen him drop to 23rd in the world rankings and has oddsmakers putting him as a rough 3-1 long shot in a match.
But he sprung a big surprise in Monday’s first game by winning as blackdramatically ending a 304-day winless streak. Game 2 on Tuesday it was a tame 23 move drawbefore Gukesh struck back on Wednesday with a win in game 3. The fourth and fifth games were all calm draws.
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The fifth Gukesh, now the youngest world title challenger, could break the record for youngest undisputed world champion held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he dethroned Anatoly Karpov in their 1985 rematch. in Moscow.
The aggregate score in their $2.5 million clash at Resorts World Sentosa is 3-3 before the break on Monday. The first to reach seven and a half points will be declared the champion of the planned three-week competition at Resorts World Sentosa, an island resort off the southern coast of Singapore.
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