Ding, Gukesh settle for tame draw in Game 9

The deadlock between world champion Ding Liren and Indian challenger Gukesh Dammaraju persisted when Game 9 of their World Chess Championship match ended in a draw after 54 moves in Singapore today.

After their sixth draw in a row, Ding and Gukesh are level on 4.5 points each as they head into the third rest day.

Gukesh seemed to have got the early momentum today in this Catalan Opening game and by the 20th move, he was winning a pawn on the queenside. However, he could not find accurate move for his queen thereafter, and this resulted in a massive trade of pawns and pieces, equalising their positions. Gukesh did try to prolong the game as he sought a winning position, but his failure to find a winning progression handed over the advantage to Ding.

However, with the defending champion seemingly content with draws, instead of showing aggression, the game petered out to a draw.

In the post-match press briefing, Ding, when asked to comment on his passive play, said, “I saw that I am always underestimating my position and my opponent is always overestimating his. I also saw someone say I always make a draw even if I’m better, but this didn’t affect me.”

The game was so ‘drawish’ that the two players ended with the same time, 38:30 minutes, left on the clock.

Chess engine analysis showed they had almost the same accuracy level, too — the accuracy figure for Gukesh was 99.2 and 99.3 for Ding, meaning that they played a high number of perfect moves.

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, commentating on chess24.com, said he was disappointed that Gukesh did not put enough pressure on Ding to force a win and again missed several chances.

However, Gukesh was unfazed by such criticism. “I think it was just a very precise game by both. I may have had the edge at some time but I guess I didn’t play precisely,” he said.

Ding, despite being the defending champion, continued to play the underdog card. “I am always under some pressure in the opening. My opponent always has some ideas in the opening. Even today it was the same and at one point I forgot which knight goes where in this (particular opening),” the Chinese star said.

With five games to go before the tie-break stage, the two players will resume the contest on Saturday.

Ding and Gukesh tried to set the tone for the upcoming games. “It is going to be tough to win. No one is clearly better in this (World Championship) match, so it’s going to be tough to win,” said Ding.

Gukesh, who had chosen aggressive and even risky lines to try to force a win, echoed Ding’s sentiments. “We’ve both shown fighting spirit and entertaining chess — and five more exciting games to go,” he said.