World Chess C’ship: A dull draw in game 4 leaves Gukesh and Liren at 2-2

After a day of rest and reflection, the battle for the world chess championship resumed on Friday and after 42-moves each, game 4 ended in a tame draw with the series now level at 2-2.

The defending champion Ding Liren, playing with white pieces, started proceedings and surprised the young Indian with a Zukertort Opening.

Gukesh, however, was equal to the task and after 11 moves was in front of Liren by a good 13 minutes on the clock.

A draw by repetition in Game 4⃣ of the FIDE World Championship after 42 moves, D. Gukesh and Ding Liren end another day of fierce battle.

Score:
🇮🇳2-2🇨🇳
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After 13 moves, Liren spent almost a quarter of an hour on a move and was left with a little over a hour on the clock.

Thereafter, the Chinese began a phase of relentless attack with an attempt to get the Indian to play lines that might be different from is preparation.

But Gukesh, calm as ever, offered his Bishop, to push the game towards a draw as the most realistic outcome.

With both Bishops off the board, followed by Rooks, Liren began losing his ambitions of pushing for a victory.

Thereafter, both Queens were exchanged, and a repetition of the moves signaled the end of the 42-move game, with both players walking away with a half-a-point each.

Speaking to the media after the game, Liren said that he was a in "good mood."

"I had a rest day to recover from the tough defeat in game 3. So I came here in a good mood."

He went to acknowledge that he deliberately attempted a different opening to 'surprise' his opponent.

"I tried to surprise my opponent in the opening. It worked well. Not so bad. But advantage was very small. He neutralised my initiative."

Gukesh, however, appeared to be unfazed by the new opening and stated in the post-match press conference that he had seen it before.

“It was not a completely new line. I had seen it somewhere, but it was a bit of a surprise when I saw it on the board. At some point, I felt that he had some slight edge, but I felt I had neutralised it.”

Both players will resume the duel in game 5 on Saturday.