Singapore: Challenger D Gukesh is all set to lock horns against Defending World Champion Ding Liren in Game 14 of the World Chess Championship on Thursday. The scores are tied at 6.5 each at the end of Game 13 and the final classical Game of the contest will determine the winner. The Chinese Grandmaster will have a slight edge as he will start with white pieces and thus the odds are against the Indian player.
The winner of the fixture will be crowned as the world champion. Ding will be eyeing to defend his title while Gukesh will attempt to win his maiden title. However, a draw will take the match into a tie-breaker which will have matches with shorter time controls.
The 18-year-old Indian star appeared to be cruising towards his maiden title run when he beat Ding in Game 11 with white pieces. But, Ding made a sensational comeback with a win in the next Game and levelled the scores.
Ding had scripted a similar comeback in the last edition when he was trailing by 5-6 against Ian Nepomniachtchi after 11 games. He won the next games levelled the the scores and pushed the contest into tiebreakers. Ultimately, he won the tiebreaker and was crowned as champion.