World Chess C’ships: Liren denies 'disappointed' Gukesh in game 7

For vast portions of game 7 on Tuesday, the challenger D Gukesh, playing with white pieces, held the upper hand.

But Ding Liren, as he has done in some of the previous games, held on and salvaged a draw.

And at the halfway point of the championship on Tuesday night in Singapore, the players are tied at 3.5 points apiece.

A long duel

As it panned out, game 7, was a 72-move affair and one that lasted a backbreaking 5 hours and 20 minutes.

From the outset, Gukesh appeared better prepared and when the champion consumed 28 minutes to make his 7th move, observers feared the worst for Liren.

Thereafter, things took a turn for the worse for the Chinese when he was on the verge of suffering a defeat on time, much like he did in game three.

But with just seven seconds left on the clock, Liren did make a move to get into the additional 30 minutes window, which incidentally was recognized as a ‘blunder’ by commentators.

After moving into the final half-hour window, however, Liren began displaying exceptional defensive skills.

And on his 48th move, Gukesh spent over eight minutes to fall behind on the clock for the first time in the game.

By the time the Indian made his 50th move, he had just one minute left on the clock but kept pushing for a victory, while Liren was playing purely for a draw.

That said, with a rook on each side on the board, Gukesh playing with three pawns and a bishop, and Liren holding on to a knight, a draw ensued.

𝑮𝒖𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅!

The Indian prodigy was close to claiming Game 7⃣ with the white pieces at the FIDE #WorldChessChampionship , but some brilliant resistance from Ding Liren means the game ends in a draw.

🇮🇳3.5-3.5🇨🇳#Chess ♟️… pic.twitter.com/MXwKDZiTBp

— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) December 3, 2024

Deadlock at half-way mark

Nudging ahead at the halfway mark would undoubtedly have been pivotal for either player.

With Gukesh holding the advantage for most of the game, a draw would perhaps feel like a loss for the Indian.

And in the post match media interactions, the teenager did admit that the drawn outcome was indeed a ‘disappointment.’

“Today was a missed chance. Bit of a disappointment. But he also missed some chances earlier in the match.”

Liren acknowledged his inferior position in the game confessed that he was ‘outplayed.’

“I thought I was totally inferior during the game. I was getting outplayed. But like many other times, maybe the position was not so bad. And I need to have more confidence in my moves.”

Despite splitting points with the champion, Gukesh was able to reflect on the positives.

“Obviously, outplaying him from the start. The most positive thing for today was that I felt good on the board,” said the Indian.

Game 8 will take place on Wednesday.