Singapore: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh conceded a defeat in the 12th game of the ongoing World Chess Championship against Ding Liren on Monday. The scores are now tied at 6-6 as a result. The 18-year-old Indian challenger was leading after securing a victory in the 11th game, which came after seven consecutive draws, but Ding levelled the scores. Both the players are now 1.5 points away from the tally required to secure the championship in the 14-round classical format.
It was a first victory for Ding with white pieces and Gukesh’s preparation wasn’t good enough to avoid the loss. The Chinese opted for an English opening and Gukesh responded with a Benoni defense with colours reversed. The Indian started missing out creating counter play in the middle game. By the 15th move, Liren was in advantage with whites and he got the space advantage.
In a surprising twist, World Champion 🇨🇳 Ding Liren defeats Challenger 🇮🇳 Gukesh D in Game 12 of the FIDE World Championship, presented by Google, emulating his Game 12 victory in the previous World Championship. #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/FVcOX4YmB5
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 9, 2024
Gukesh made an error in the 22nd move and that helped the opponent capitalise on the situation. Liren then attacked with his central pawn on the 27th move. The Indian then lost a couple of pawns and a rook invasion from the opponent also left him vulnerable. Liren sacrificed a rook in the end and bagged the game in 39 moves.
The remaining two games are going to be played on Wednesday and Thursday after a rest day on Tuesday. Irrespective of the result on Wednesday, the match will be played till 14 games and the contest is likely to go into a tiebreaker - where games are of short duration to determine a winner.
