Chennai: World Champion Ding Liren of China missed a great chance to pile up the pressure on Indian Challenger D Gukesh as the fifth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship ended in a 40 move draw at Singapore on Saturday evening.
The Chinese Grand Master misplayed a significant advantage in the endgame, resulting in both the players sharing the honours.
Both the players were tied at 2.5 points each after five rounds in the 14-match series.
Defending the black pieces, the Chinese champion efficiently neutralized his opponent’s exchange variation in the French defence and seemed to be well on course for his second win after winning the first round.
However, just when the time was ripe, uncertainty cropped up 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 when Ding Liren will play White pieces.
UNI
