Ding Liren lets Gukesh off the hook
Longer report coming soon.
Against all odds, World Champion Ding Liren missed a great chance to pile up the pressure in the match this afternoon, misplaying a significant advantage in the endgame.
Defending the black pieces, the Chinese champion efficiently neutralized his opponent’s exchange variation in the French defence and seemed to be well on his to scoring his second win.
However, just when the time was ripe, uncertainty kicked in and the position played tricks on his mind, allowing the challenger to claim a draw and go into the sixth game tied at 2.5.
“Towards the end of the game, I was very worried about my position after the manoeuvre 27…Be6 followed by 28…Rc8. I was quite relieved when my opponent played 27…Bc6, as I thought it would be a draw” a very reassured Gukesh explained in the postgame press conference.
The champion understood that he had missed a big opportunity: “I didn’t see the idea with 28…Rc8, I was thinking of moving the king to the kingside, like some kind of Berlin pawn structure. I didn’t realize that it was a big advantage for me.”
The sixth game of the match will take place on Sunday, December 1st at 5 PM local time in Singapore. Ding Liren will play White.
FACT SHEET, Game 5, FIDE World Championship:
White: Gukesh D
Black: Ding Liren
Result: 0.5-0.5
Match score: 2.5-2.5
Game length: 40 moves
Opening: French Defence
Variation: Exchange variation
The full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/Side-events.php
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)
Photos: Eng Chin An and Maria Emelianova / FIDE_chess
About the event
Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.
The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.
Sorce: FIDE NEWS
