Chess
World Chess C’ship: Gukesh succumbs to Liren and the clock in game 12
The scores are now level at 6-6 with two games remaining.
"At least the score is still tied. And there are two more games remaining," said Gukesh after the loss. (Photo Credit: FIDE)
After blundering in game 11 and handing the advantage to the Indian challenger, Ding Liren produced a near perfect performance to fight back and overhaul D Gukesh in game 12 on the World Chess Championship at Singapore on Monday.
With two games left to play, the championship is now tied at 6-6.
A must-win game
With his back against the wall coming into the game 12, Ding Liren began with an English Opening.
Gukesh did respond well and forced Liren into periods of hard thinking.
Quickly, after just eight moves, the defending champion had fallen behind on the clock, spending 27 minutes after just 8 moves.
Gukesh, in contrast, had just barely three minutes.
After Ding Liren's 10th move, his chances of winning were at 28.5 percent while Gukesh's stood at 17.1 percent.
At this stage, it did appear that the Indian would hold on for a draw.
So much so that after just making 17 moves, Liren was left with 37 minutes and needed to make his remaining 23 moves in 17 minutes.
But from that point onwards, the tide of the game turned on its head.
The reigning World Champion strikes back!
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) December 9, 2024
Ding Liren takes a hard-fought win over Gukesh in Game 1⃣2⃣ of the #FIDEWorldChampionship to level the overall score 6-6.
Two more rounds to go!#GukeshDing #Chess ♟️ pic.twitter.com/W9rdKBOekJ
Gukesh in time trouble
It was time now for the Indian to face the heat, with just 35 minutes left to make 24 moves and move past time trouble.
And when Gukesh took almost 40 minutes on his 17th move, after the 22 move mark, Liren's chances of winning were up to 77.6 percent.
From that point on the Indian teenager was up against the clock and under massive pressure. Simply put, the game was a lost cause.
Grandmaster Anish Giri summed up the Liren’s performance on the night as impressive.
“Just engine stuff all the way," he said.
What’s next
Tuesday is a rest day after which games 13 and 14 will take place on December 11 and 12.
With two games remaining, the first player to attain 7.5 points wins the championship.
