In the 13th and penultimate classic game of the World Cup match, challenger Gukesh with the white pieces was under strong pressure to succeed. If this and the last encounter end in a draw, a tiebreak in rapid chess would follow, in which world champion Ding would be clearly favored. Because while Gukesh is currently fifth in the world rankings in classical chess (and world champion Ding is only ranked 22nd), things are completely different in rapid chess with a greatly reduced time limit: Here Ding is in second place behind Magnus Carlsen, while Gukesh is only in 46th position.
Accordingly, Gukesh initiated a thrilling game in which he gained an advantage after an original opening game, but missed a great opportunity at the critical moment. Afterwards, Ding defended himself in a truly world-class manner, despite very short consideration time, and kept the game and match level. A very exciting 14th game is on the program on Thursday – and possibly a tiebreaker on Friday.
#thrilling #fight
