World Chess C'ship: Gukesh, Liren eye breakthrough after hat-trick of draws

Singapore: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren will be aiming to break the deadlock after three consecutive draws when they square off in the seventh round of the World Chess Championship here on Tuesday, having stayed on equal footing for most part of the interesting showdown.

Hailed as the favourite to win by many chess pundits, the 18-year-old Gukesh, who is the youngest ever challenger to the title, has not been able to really show his class and has often depended on the Chinese to play safe or make mistakes in decent positions. The two are currently locked at three points each.

If game one was a wake up call for Gukesh after a loss with white pieces, the second game was a confidence-booster for the Indian as Liren barely did anything and allowed an easy draw.

Gukesh won the third game but only after Liren miscalculated from what may have been a promising position.

In the fourth game Gukesh played solidly again when Liren gave nothing away out of an irregular opening and it was again a draw.

At this point, it was clear that Liren was banking on Gukesh to make mistakes.

Game five saw Gukesh fighting for the initiative yet again and went too far as he came under threat in the resulting endgame. Liren yet again failed to spot them and it was another draw.

The sixth game of many world championship matches have massive history and this time too, it was not disappointing for the fans.

In the last World championship, Liren had beaten Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the sixth game and back in 1972, Bobby Fischer had beaten Boris Spassky in what is a favourite of many chess fans across the world even today.

Gukesh turned down an early draw vide repetition and was worse.

However, the nature of the position remained complicated and Liren did not risk things in the queen and rook endgame that was the fourth draw of the match out of six games.

As far as the openings go, Liren has chosen three different moves with his white pieces to start the game while Gukesh has stuck to a Classical approach using only King and Queen's pawn in the beginning.

"I think so far it has been good I still can improve my play, there are lot more games, considering I was trailing after the first game I am happy to be here, it is too early," Gukesh remarked when asked if he was satisfied with his play thus far at the end of the sixth game.

On Tuesday, the Indian will play with white.

Going by the proceedings so far, things are not particularly clear and as of now, there are no favourites.

Gukesh has been his general ambitious self while Liren has shown aggression only when necessary, often missing out on key moments.

The next three games wherein Gukesh will play with two whites and a solo black is perhaps the best opportunity for the Indian to go ahead in the match and put pressure.

Liren, so far, has been better in defending the opening positions and might like the trend to continue.

Game starts at 2:30 PM IST.