Ding Liren equalized at the World Chess Championship and has a good chance of successfully defending his title before the decisive phase. After a concentrated performance with the white pieces, the 32-year-old Chinese equalized 6-6 against his 18-year-old challenger Dommaraju Gukesh from India. Whoever gets 7.5 points first is the world champion.
After his major mistake under time pressure in the game on Sunday, which gave Gukesh the lead, Ding started the twelfth game under pressure. Once again, the Chinese thought much longer about his moves at the beginning, which, as so often happens, gave Gukesh, who appeared well prepared and acted more quickly, a time advantage. Ding then gained a slight positional advantage and put his opponent under increasing pressure. After a serious mistake by the Indian in the middle game, Ding didn’t miss his chance and took his second win in the current duel.
“What a comeback, everything is open again,” said national chess coach Jan Gustafsson on the chess24 portal and certified that Ding played “a flawless game under the highest pressure”. The two opponents now go into the final two games with an even starting position. With the score at 7.5:7.5, a tiebreak would have to decide. The fourth day of rest is scheduled for Tuesday.
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