D Gukesh and Ding Liren in action during Game 7. (FIDE/Eng Chin An)
Ding Liren managed to salvage a draw out of a precarious situation in Game 7 in a 72-move defensive masterclass at the World Chess Championship against 18-year-old Indian challenger D Gukesh.
At 5 hours and 20 minutes, this was the longest game of the 2024 World Chess Championship, after which both players are level at 3.5 points each.
Gukesh, playing with white pieces, came out the better-prepared player in the opening and by the middle game, held a chokehold on proceedings. He continued to have the upper hand in the endgame as well.
The teenager forced Ding into long phases of thought, like on the seventh move when the Chinese grandmaster burnt up 28 minutes on his clock. This was because Gukesh’s team had come up with a novelty on move seven.
While trying to battle out of trouble, Ding spent so much time on the clock that he played his 40th move — after which the players get an additional 30 minutes on the clock — with just seven seconds left. That move was a huge blunder as well (instead of 40…Ke5, which he played, the world champion should have opted for 40…Nc8-b6, which would have earned him a chance to draw.)
“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,” admitted Ding. “Today’s game was an absolute rollercoaster. I was satisfied that I was not knocked out and will live to fight another day.”
Ding was scrambling to not lose on time for the second time at the World Chess Championship after losing Game 3 on time.
Winning Tuesday’s game would have been strategically important. Game 7 is the halfway mark of the world chess championship.
While Gukesh realised he had missed his best shot at taking the lead in the best-of-14 game match, he was not too dejected that his opponent had pulled a draw out of thin air.
“Today was a missed chance. Bit of a disappointment. But he also missed some chances earlier in the match,” Gukesh said before pointing out the positives from the game, “Obviously, outplaying him from the start. The most positive thing for today was that I felt good on the board.”
For the Chinese world champion, the draw was as good as a psychological win.
“It was hard to believe. I made many mistakes. Fortunately, I saved the game,” Ding said.
