Chess
World Chess Cship 2024: Gukesh and Ding play out another draw in round five
Both players decided to end the match as a draw by mutual agreement after the 40th move, they sit at 2.5 points a piece.
The fifth round of the 2024 World Chess Championships between Ding Liren and Gukesh ended in a draw. (Photo Credit: FIDE)
The fifth round of the 2024 World Chess Championships between Chinese GM Ding Liren and 18-year-old Indian GM Gukesh D ended in a draw, on Saturday.
The finals, happening in Singapore, is a best-of-14 event played in the classical format, and after four rounds, Gukesh and Liren are level on points, with 2.5 points each.
Gukesh, playing with the white pieces, went with the same opening move as round one, starting with the 1.e4.
As expected, Liren started with the French defense, the most popular response to 1.e4 from players using black pieces.
In just the ninth move, both players traded off their Queens, a bold move from the Indian but Liren was also responding in kind.
Liren kept putting Gukesh under pressure but within a few moves, Gukesh was able to come out of it, a feature that ran throughout this round.
It could also be said that Liren did not press hard enough when he held the advantage, something of a pattern to be seen in Liren's games in recent times, where he is said to have drawn games despite being in good positions.
As the match went on and on, a draw was the most likely conclusion and as expected, the two GMs, by mutual agreement, decided to call the fifth round a draw.
The sixth round will be played tomorrow, before the second rest day of the finals.
