World Chess Championship 2024, D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 11 Live Updates: Gukesh, Ding Liren neck and neck in Singapore

World Chess Championship 2024, D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 11 Live Updates: Indian challenger D Gukesh once again proved a match for defending champion Ding Liren of China as the 10th game of the World Chess Championship match between them ended in a draw without much excitement here on Saturday. It was by far the easiest of the game with black pieces for Gukesh as the position played itself out of a London system game where Ding Liren took no chances and was also seemingly happy with the draw .

The seventh straight draw — and eighth of the match — left both players at an identical 5 points apiece, still 2.5 points short of winning the championship.

The two players signed peace after 36 moves.

There are only four classic games left to play in the $2.5 million prize money championship, and if a tie occurs after 14 rounds, there will be faster time-controlled games to determine the winner.

32-year-old Liren had won the first game while 18-year-old Gukesh emerged victorious in the third game.

Liren continued with his London system in the opening and came up with a slight early change that left the pawn structure symmetrical. The tactic might have worked on another day, but Gukesh for once decided not to press hard as black from an equal position.

Gukesh, the youngest challenger ever, had his task cut and cleared all the tests with flying colors.

“With black to get a solid draw like that is always a good result. There are four more exciting matches to come,” Gukesh said later at the post-match conference.

“Obviously it’s getting closer and closer, but the thing is to play good games. I’ve had some experience in four-game matches. I’ve rarely lost with white, but in this situation I’ll play with black.”

Before the start of the 10th game, Liren had three white games against Gukesh’s three, but now it’s an even field with only four games left.

“Black and white doesn’t make a huge difference these days. There are only four very exciting games to go,” said the Indian.

“Now the cost of a game is higher than before, but my approach and my goal is still the same – to play good games.”

To this, Liren said, “There is not so much room for mistakes, every loss will lead to a very bad situation. We have to be careful with every move.”

For Gukesh, the hardest decision was to go for an all-equal position on move 11, and even though the position had come up a few times before in Grandmaster games, it didn’t seem like either the Indian or Liren were aware of what happened in those games. games.

It didn’t take long for the world to decide when Liren went for a series of trades, including the queen, that the game was headed for a draw.

However, according to the contract, both players were still required to play 40 moves before agreeing to share the point.

Gukesh offered a trade with the last rook left on the board on move 23 and Liren had to trade it. A few moves later, the Knights also went off the board, leading to a pure Bishops endgame with neither side having anything to play for.

Liren could probably only have the advantage psychologically, as his bishop and king were superior around the center, but black had no weakness to pounce on, the result was a foregone conclusion.

While the clock time was a critical factor in the end, with Liren under pressure most of the time, it was not the case in game 10 as both players had over 35 minutes to complete the last four moves when agreed to draw lots.

With just four games to go, all eyes will be on Gukesh to strike in the next game.

For Liren, the plan has worked so far and it’s safe to say that Gukesh has been matched move for move, despite many world-class players believing it will be a one-sided contest.

Catch all the action of Game 11 live on TimesofIndia.com!