Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Indian challenger Gukesh Dommaraju held World Champion Ding Liren of China in the second game of their World Championship 2024 match at the Santosa Resorts in Singapore on November 26, opening his account in this 14-game match after losing the opener.
Gukesh, considered the overwhelming favourite to claim the title and become the youngest ever World Champion at the age of 18, had suffered a shock defeat in the first game on November 25. So, holding Ding to a draw with black pieces was good for his confidence.
In the second game, the Indian Grandmaster seems to have stabilised the nerves that hit him on the first day. On Tuesday, the Indian teenager survived a surprise sprung by the World Champion, who opted for a rarely played line in King Pawn Opening but neutralized the position to steer the game to a draw through a three-fold repetition of moves. The game ended in 23 moves.
Ding, who played with white pieces, felt he missed a couple of lines that could have given him a bigger advantage while Gukesh said he was not much surprised by the opening formation chosen by the reigning World Champion and though white had a slight advantage but black could survive if he played correctly.
It was a tense affair as the two players gave every move a lot of thought. The Indian player decided to not take any risks and centralised his pieces, pushing Ding Liren to press for victory and make mistakes in the process.
However, the Chinese GM who is 14 years older than his opponent, did not overexert himself and avoided a time scramble and shook hands with Gukesh happy to share the point.
The Chinese GM now leads the 14-game match with one and a half points while Gukesh has half a point. The two players will meet again on November 27 for the third game before they take the first break in the three-week encounter.
The FIDE World Championship 2024 match is the first in 138 years to feature two contestants from Asia and the two players are competing for the title and a prize fund of $2.5 million.
