China’s world champion, Ding Liren, and his Indian opponent, Gukesh Dommaraju, at 18 the youngest ever title challenger, were deadlocked at 4.5-4.5 after nine of their scheduled best of 14 games in Singapore.
If they were still level after their 14th and final classical game, half-hour rapid and, if needed, three-minute blitz tie-breakers would decide the winner.
As the match progressed, so their different approaches became more evident. Gukesh had clearly prepared in depth in a variety of openings, notably in game seven where his subtle 7 Re1, creating a small edge against a variety of Black structures, was outside the top 10 computer choices and was highly praised by the world No 1 Magnus Carlsen.
3949 Jan-Krzysztof Duda v Vidit Gujrathi, Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, London 2024. White…
