D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 9 Highlights: Round 9 ends in draw, scores tied at 4.5-4.5

A look at the 54 moves made today in Game 9 before the rest day.

Gukesh and Ding have just drawn Game 9 of the World Championship: 4.5 to 4.5 before the next rest day tomorrow and 5 more games to play! https://t.co/bCjfeSxNXx #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/VcfMZUN7O3

— lichess.org (@lichess) December 5, 2024

All the moves from Game 9 between Gukesh and Ding Liren:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8
13. b4 c5
14. bxc5 bxc5
15. Qb2 Nb6
16. Ba5 dxc4
17. Nxc4 Bxf3
18. Bxb6 axb6
19. Bxf3 Ra6
20. Qb5 Rxa2
21. Nxb6 Qa7
22. Qb1 Rb8
23. dxc5 Ra6
24. Qb5 Bxc5
25. Qxc5 Qxb6
26. Qxb6 Raxb6
27. Rc6 Rxc6
28. Bxc6 g5
29. Kg2 Rb2
30. Kf1 Kg7
31. h3 h5
32. Ra1 Rc2
33. Bb5 Rc5
34. Bd3 Nd7
35. f4 gxf4
36. gxf4 Rc3
37. Kf2 Nc5
38. Ke3 Nxd3
39. exd3 Rc2
40. Kf3 Rd2
41. Ra3K g6
42. Rb3 f6
43. Ra3 Kf5
44. Ra5+ e5
45. fxe5 Rxd3+
46. Ke2 Rxh3
47. exf6+ Rxf6
48. Kf2 h4
49. Kg2 Rg3+
50. Kh2 Kg6
51. Rb5 Rg5
52. Rxg5+ Kxg5
53. Kh3 Kf6
54. Kxh4

Game 9 of the World Chess Championship 2024 match ends with bare kings in a 54-move draw.

it’s over! Round 9 of the World Chess Championship 2024 ends in a draw after 54 moves. The scores are tied 4.5-4.5 now with five more games to go.

It seems like this match is heading towards a draw. Even GM Giri on commentary tried out different moves but draw is emerging as the best result.

41. Ra3K g6
42. Rb3 f6

The 40th move has been played by both the players so they will get 30 minutes extra.

40. Kf3 Rd2

The moves are flying here with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock for both players. But it looks like they are ready to settle for a draw.

31. h3 h5
32. Ra1 Rc2
33. Bb5 Rc5
34. Bd3 Nd7
35. f4 gxf4
36. gxf4 Rc3
37. Kf2 Nc5
38. Ke3 Nxd3
39. exd3 Rc2

All the moves so far:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8
13. b4 c5
14. bxc5 bxc5
15. Qb2 Nb6
16. Ba5 dxc4
17. Nxc4 Bxf3
18. Bxb6 axb6
19. Bxf3 Ra6
20. Qb5 Rxa2
21. Nxb6 Qa7
22. Qb1 Rb8
23. dxc5 Ra6
24. Qb5 Bxc5
25. Qxc5 Qxb6
26. Qxb6 Raxb6
27. Rc6 Rxc6
28. Bxc6 g5
29. Kg2 Rb2
30. Kf1 Kg7
31. h3 h5
32. Ra1 Rc2
33. Bb5 Rc5
34. Bd3

Wow! Liren replies with Pawn capture on c5 with a black Bishop followed by the Queen taking out that Bishop while the black Queen takes out the white KNight on b6. And now the Queens are gone and two Rooks as well.

Move 24 to 31:

24. Qb5 Bxc5
25. Qxc5 Qxb6
26. Qxb6 Raxb6
27. Rc6 Rxc6
28. Bxc6 g5
29. Kg2 Rb2
30. Kf1 Kg7
31. h3 h5

After burning over 10 minutes, Gukesh comes up with Qb5 on the 23rd move. GM Anish Giri is of the opinion that the match is going to end in a draw and hence Gukesh took as much time as possible to make sure he isn’t missing any killer plan.

Finally, Gukesh captures the pawn on c5 besides bringing his white Queen to b1. Ding has also moved his Rook from a2 to a6.

Last two moves:

22. Qb1 Rb8
23. dxc5 Ra6

Ding has got only 27 minutes left to play the next 19 moves but Gukesh currently has over an hour to play the same number of moves. He has time to assess how good or bad is the Qa7 move.

Wow! So the white Queen has moved to b5 and the white Knight has taken out the black pawn on b6. Ding has taken his Queen to a7 and the Took has come down to a2.  Gukesh is clearly baiting Ding with Knight on b6.

The last two moves:

20. Qb5 Rxa2
21. Nxb6 Qa7

Just a recap of all the moves played so far:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8
13. b4 c5
14. bxc5 bxc5
15. Qb2 Nb6
16. Ba5 dxc4
17. Nxc4 Bxf3
18. Bxb6 axb6
19. Bxf3 Ra6

Some big moves have been made on the board. Gukesh takes the black Knight on b6 with his dark-coloured Bishop. That Bishop is taken out by a black pawn that was on a7. On the next move, the white light-coloured Bishop takes out the black Bishop on f3 followed by Ra6 from Ding.

LIVE view of the board position after 19 moves:

This is interesting! After Gukesh’s white Qb2, Liren plays 15…Nb6 and the India GM responds with Ba5. Will he capture the black Knight?

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8
13. b4 c5
14. bxc5 bxc5
15. Qb2 Nb6
16. Ba5

Instead of going for a pawn capture, Gukesh opted for Qb2 on his 15th move and now Ding has to make the crucial call. He is over 30 minutes behind Gukesh on the clock.

Pawn capture for both the players on c5 and we have this brilliant formation in the middle. Gukesh can go for more pawn capture and Ding can as well which is why currently the Indian GM is thinking, which move to make first. Gukesh is on the clock right now.

“Gukesh and Ding are following a 2018 Bundesliga game played between France’s Erwin L’Ami (rated 2644) and Ukraine’s Sergei Fedorchuk (rated 2611), ending in a win for the Dutch grandmaster.”

BTW, Ding has played c5 on the 13th move.

Here are all the moves so far:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8
13. b4

Ding is currently 38 minutes behind on the clock as compared to Gukesh.

B4 is on the board from Gukesh! And as a result, Ding is back into the thinking mode as he keeps losing time. He has already lost around 45 minutes.

Liren replied with Qc7 after Gukesh played 11.Nbd2 followed by Rac1 and Rfd8 for the Indian and Chinese GMs respectively. In a long time, Gukesh has been forced to think for so long.

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3 Bb7
11. Nbd2 Qc7
12. Rac1 Rfd8

Ding is once again in thinking mode and we must say this, Gukesh has been better with black pieces and his defense has been better. The last move was 11.Nbd2 from Gukesh and Ding is behind by almost 30 minutes on the clock.

After thinking for a while and gathering his thoughts, Ding replies with Bb7 against white Bc3. Gukesh quickly goes Nbd2 which shows he is still not out of his preparation.

Ding is still trying to pick his next option after Gukesh played Bc3 on his 10th move. Giri has revealed that he played 10.Bc3 against Niemann earlier in 2024 but lost.

Gukesh has already opted for castling and white Queen has moved to c2 while Bc3 has been played. Ding has a nice pawn structure in place and Knights on f6 and d7.

Live view of the board position and all the moves so far:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2 Nbd7
9. Rd1 b6
10. Bc3

Here are the opening moves of the Game 9:

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. g3 Bb4+
4. Bd2 Be7
5. Bg2 d5
6. Nf3 O-O
7. O-O c6
8. Qc2

The first moves have been made and it’s 1.d4 from Gukesh, while Liren opts for Nf6.

We take a look at all the 51 moves from game 8 as World Chess Championship 2024 stands at 4-4.

4-4 between Ding and Gukesh! Both players had their chances today in Game 8 of the World Championship, but in the end it was another draw: https://t.co/iSnQEXg1gA #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/eE4opCmIdl

— lichess.org (@lichess) December 4, 2024

Ding offered a draw via a three-fold repetition in Game 8 to Gukesh but he refused before finally sharing points with Liren. Here’s how Carlsen reacted to that decision.

“This clearly was on the delusional side for Gukesh. He was kind of smiling about it afterwards that he felt that there was no danger, but maybe there was. Maybe in practical terms there wasn’t a lot of danger and honestly, I think his position was okay.

“He’s still the one who has to save the draw. But this clearly shows the disrespect he has for Ding. Like saying ‘I can play on from any position. You’re not going to try to beat me,’” the Norwegian said.