Singapore, Nov 30 Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju played out an entertaining draw, in a game which lasted for 40 moves, to tie the score at 2.5 each after Game 5 of the ongoing World Chess Championship on Saturday.
Against all odds, World Champion Ding Liren missed a great chance to pile up the pressure in the match this afternoon, misplaying a significant advantage in the endgame.
Defending the black pieces, the Chinese champion efficiently neutralized his opponent’s exchange variation in the French defence and seemed to be well on his way to scoring his second win.
However, just when the time was ripe, uncertainty kicked in and the position played tricks on his mind, allowing the challenger to claim a draw and go into the sixth game tied at 2.5.
“Towards the end of the game, I was very worried about my position after the manoeuvre 27…Be6 followed by 28…Rc8. I was quite relieved when my opponent played 27…Bc6, as I thought it would be a draw” a very reassured Gukesh explained in the postgame press conference.
The champion understood that he had missed a big opportunity: “I didn’t see the idea with 28…Rc8, I was thinking of moving the king to the kingside, like some kind of Berlin pawn structure. I didn’t realize that it was a big advantage for me.”
The sixth game of the match will take place on Sunday, December 1. The two competitors are facing off in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match and will earn the better part of the 2.5 million Dollar total prize fund.
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