New Delhi: India’s teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh defeated reigning champion Ding Liren in a nerve-wracking 11th game of the World Chess Championship duel in Singapore on Sunday. Playing with black pieces, Gukesh triumphed in 29 moves.
The 18-year-old Gukesh thus went ahead 6-5, first time he has had his nose in front in the best-of-14 series to decide the world champion.
The first player to reach 7.5 points will claim the coveted prize, hence three draws in the remaining games will suffice for Gukesh to be crowned the youngest World Chess Champion.
If the players are tied at 7-7, tiebreaks will be played to decide the winner.
Reflecting on Game 11, Gukesh said it could have gone either way. “This game was just a rollercoaster, it could have easily gone the other way,” the Indian said after snatching what could be the decisive victory.
Gukesh dismissed a suggestion that Liren was playing conservatively for a draw.
“I don’t think my opponent was playing for draws – he had some better positions in the match. It’s a 14-game-long match and you can’t plan from the start to take the match to the tiebreaks because in chess mistakes can happen anytime,” Gukesh remarked.
Gukesh had fallen behind in the very opening game, which Liren won with white.
Gukesh then levelled scores by checkmating his opponent in Game 3, with black pieces.
The duo has drawn 8 games so far.
