Chess
World Chess C'ship: D Gukesh beats Ding Liren in Game 11 to take 6-5 lead
Gukesh took a one-point lead in the 14-game match as he now leads 6-5, with the match likely having taken a decisive turn in favour of the Indian youngster.
Gukesh Dommaraju (Photo Credit: Eng Chin An/FIDE)
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh forced resignation from defending champion Ding Liren in Game 11 of the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Sunday, marking it his second win over Liren in the Championship.
Gukesh took a one-point lead in the 14-game match as he now leads 6-5, with the match likely having taken a decisive turn in favour of the Indian youngster. The player who first reaches 7.5 points will be declared the winner.
Playing under pressure, Liren committed errors and shook hands with his Indian counterpart.
Both players resorted to a delay-delaying approach from the onset of the game. Ding had over 8 minutes to make 16 moves at one stage while Gukesh needed to make 15 moves in just under 15 minutes.
Gukesh spent an hour on his 11th move-in. At one point in the game, the 18-year-old Indian built up a time advantage of one hour and seven minutes after just eight moves. This is because Liren used up his first hour on just five moves after burning up 38 minutes on his fourth move and 22 on his second.
How did the Game 11 unfold?
Gukesh opened the game with a Reti and surprised Liren by pushing his pawn to e3 on his fourth move.
This move by Gukesh bemused the Chinese player. Liren spent over 38 minutes deciding his response.
Gukesh tried to be innovative in his fifth move and forced Liren into yet another prolonged deliberation of 22 minutes. By this point, Ding wasted an hour on the clock, while Gukesh had barely used 32 seconds.
On the 11th move, Gukesh spent one hour and 17 seconds on a single move, making it the longest pause of the World Championship so far.
As the pressure mounted on him, Liren fell to errors. In contrast, Gukesh made solid moves and claimed an advantage, with Lireng making errors on move 26 and 28, when he misplaced his queen on c8. It shifted the game decisively in Gukesh’s favour.
Gukesh did not waste the chance and grabbed the knight on c6 with his queen. With Liren realising his mistake, he shook off hands and left the board.
