Africa-Press – Mauritius. World champion GM Ding Liren struck back, winning game 12 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship match, on Monday, December 9, after his tough loss in game 11 on Sunday. Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju resigned on the 39th move, leaving the World Championship 2024 tied again, this time at 6.0-6.0.
“It is complete domination from Ding Liren” – IM Jovanka Houska
After beating Ding in game 11, Gukesh on Sunday held a crucial 6-5 lead going into the final three games.
Ding, playing with white in game 12, had the chance to strike back immediately at Gukesh’s lead. The risk of losing meant Ding’s shot at defending his world champion title would effectively be over going into a rest day on Tuesday.
On Monday, Gukesh who took a giant step towards making history in Singapore earlier on Sunday by defeating Ding in 29 moves in Game 11, was unable to avoid defeat, which he had last tasted in game 1.
Zhu Jing, the Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, makes the first ceremonial move for game 12 of the FIDE World Championship Match 2024, on Monday, December 9. Courtesy of FIDE
Earlier, the two had played out successive draws.
After 72 moves and more than five hours of play, Game 7 the 2024 FIDE World Championship match, on December 3, ended in a draw. Game 8 was one of the most exciting encounters ever played in title matches, with chances for both players, which finally ended in a draw after the challenger once again rejected a draw by threefold repetition.
Game 9, which also ended in a draw, saw Ding, who was playing black, opt for the Bogo-Indian defence which transposed into one of the most popular lines of the Catalan Opening. In the next round, another draw, playing with white, the champion once again went for the London system, repeating the line he used in game six.
If the 18-year-old from Chennai beats Ding, after 14 classical games, he will become not just the 18th World Champion but also the youngest in history, breaking the record set by Garry Kasparov in 1985.
The world’s youngest World Championship challenger, India’s GM Gukesh Dommaraju, thinks about his next move against defending champion China’s GM Ding Liren in Game 12 at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, on Monday, December 9. Courtesy of FIDE
Ding and his challenger are facing each other in a 14-game classical chess match.
The player who scores 7.5 points or more wins the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund. If the score is equal after 14 games, the winner is decided by a tiebreak.
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