Chess
World Chess Championship: Ding Liren, D Gukesh set for thrilling 13th game tomorrow
All eyes will be on Wednesday's 13th game when China's Ding Liren and Indian Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh will face each other in the penultimate game of the FIDE World Chess Championship Match with both the players leaving no stones unturned to clinch the title.
In a thrilling encounter in Singapore, China’s Ding Liren recovered from his previous defeat and beat Gukesh in Game 12 to tie the match 6-6 on Monday.
Chinese champion player Ding Liren lost Game 11 after committing a blunder but recovered sharply to return in the title clash.
"If there is a lucky number for me, I think it's 17, not 12, but there is no 17th game in the match." - 🇨🇳 Ding Liren#DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/GXJbNf1Hzh
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 9, 2024
Taking positional advantage, 32-year-old Ding wonderfully capitalised on his plan to pressure his young Indian opponent.
With the match now evenly poised at 6-6, all attention is on the last two games which will decide the match winner.
Repeating his 2023 stance, Ding once again showed his brilliance in bouncing back and thrashing the opponent in the 12th game just like he did against Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the last World Championship match.
On Monday, Ding opted for the English Opening and his Indian challenger responded with Agincourt Defence.
After the win, Ding said: "I am feeling extremely happy."
He said: "I just continued the same routine and tried to bounce back today."
"In the second half, I had chances in many of the games. Today was obviously a bad game, but I wouldn't draw too much from it. Bad games happen. But if you look at the second half overall, I think we are both playing better than the first half" - 🇮🇳 Gukesh D at the game 12… pic.twitter.com/h7gn11hqMY
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 9, 2024
After the defeat, Gukesh, the youngest-ever challenger for the title, said during a press conference: "In the second half, I had chances in many of the games. Today was obviously a bad game, but I wouldn't draw too much from it."
"Bad games happen. But if you look at the second half overall, I think we are both playing better than the first half," he said.
The Indian player said he felt disappointed about losing the game after taking the lead on Sunday.
After a day off on Tuesday, all eyes will be on Wednesday's 13th game and the approach the two players will take to take an early lead.
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