D Gukesh vs Ding Liren, World Chess Championship Game 7 Highlights: Match ends in draw, scores tied at 3.5-3.5

All the moves from Gukes vs Liren Game 7 that ended in a draw:

1. Nf3 d5
2. g3 g6
3. d4 Bg7
4. c4 c6
5. Bg2 Nf6
6. O-O O-O
7. Re1 dxc4
8. e4 Bg4
9. Nbd2 c5
10. d5 e6
11. h3 Bxf3
12. Bxf3 exd5
13. exd5 Nbd7
14. Nxc4 b5
15. Na3 Qb6
16. Bf4 Rfe8
17. Qd2 Rd8
18. Nc2 Nf8
19. b4 c4
20. Be3 Qa6
21. Bd4 Rxe1
22. Rxe1 Qxa2
23. Ra1 Qb3
24. Ra3 Qb1+
25. Kg2 Rd7
26. Ra5 Qb3
27. Ra3 Qb1
28. Ra5 Qb3
29. Rxb5 Qd3
30. Qf4 Qxc2
31. Bxf6 Qf5
32. Qxf5 gxf5
33. Bxg7 Kxg7
34. Rc5 Ng6
35. Rcx6 Ne5
36. Rd4 Nc6
37. Rf4 Ne7
38. b5 Kf6
39. Rd4 h6
40. Kf1 Ke5
41. Rh4 Nxd5
42. Rxc6 Nc3
43. Rc6 Ne4
44. Ke1 f6
45. h4 Rd3
46. Bd1 f4
47. gxf4+ Kxf4
48. Bc2 Rd5
49. Rc4 f5
50. Rb4 Kf3
51. Bd1+ Kg2
52. Rb3 Re5
53. f4 Re7
54. Re3 Rh7
55. h5 Nf6
56. Re5 Nxh5
57. Rxf5 Ng3
58. Rf8 Rb7
59. Ba4 Kf3
60. f5 Kf4
61. f6 Ne4
62. Bc2 Nd6
63. Rd8 Ke5
64. Bb3 Nf7
65. Rd5+ Kxf6
66. Kd2 Rb6
67. Bc4 Rd6
68. Kc3 Rxd5
69. Bxd5 Nd6
70. Kb4 Nxb5
71. Kxb5+ a6+
72. Kxa6

Here’s a look at the final board position as both players move to 3.5 points in the World Chess Championship 2024 after seven matches. The first to reach 7.5 points will win the 2024 world title.

Game 7 between Gukesh and Liren ends in a draw! Great resilience from Ding even when he looked down and out to secure a draw here. The World Chess Championship 2024 is currently tied at 3.5 points each.

This is going very fast as Gukesh continues to fight hard to search for a win but draws look like the most possible result.

52. Rb3 Re5
53. f4 Re7
54. Re3 Rh7
55. h5 Nf6
56. Re5 Nxh5
57. Rxf5 Ng3
58. Rf8 Rb7
59. Ba4 Kf3
60. f5 Kf4
61. f6 Ne4

Rc4 and Rb4 by Gukesh over the last two moves and this keeps him in a strong position. But Liren goes with Kf3 followed by Bd1+ for Gukesh. Oh wow, Liren goes Kg2.

The last few moves:

48. Bc2 Rd5

49. Rc4 f5

50. Rb4 Kf3

51. Bd1+ Kg2

And Gukesh goes for the capture only for his Pawn to be put off the board by the black King on f4.

47. gxf4+ Kxf4

f4 is the latest move by Liren but that pawn is in danger of getting captured.

The last two moves:

45. h4 Rd3
46. Bd1 f4

With under five minutes to go, Ding plays f6 in response to Gukesh’s Ke1. This looks like a good move from Ding.

Liren is up against the time here. The reigning world champion only has a little over 10 minutes to go.

The last move was Ke1 by Gukesh on the 44th move.

All the moves since the extra time was added.

41. Rh4 Nxd5
42. Rxh6 Nc3
43. Rc6 Ne4
44. Ke1

Plenty of time for Gukesh and Ding seems to have gotten cornered.

Last three moves since extra time was added:

41. Rh4 Nxd5
42. Rxh6 Nc3
43. Rc6 Ne4

A pawn was captured by Ding’s black Knight on d5 on his 41st move but the experts are still discussing his Ke5 which is seen as a massive blunder.

Last two moves:

41. Rh4 Nxd5
42. Rxh6 Nc3

Both players have now got an extra 30 minutes. The last move from Ding was ke5 and the computer feels it was a wrong move.

The last 40 moves:

1. Nf3d52. g3g63. d4Bg74. c4c65. Bg2Nf66. O-OO-O7. Re1dxc48. e4Bg49. Nbd2c510. d5e611. h3Bxf312. Bxf3exd513. exd5Nbd714. Nxc4b515. Na3Qb616. Bf4Rfe817. Qd2Rad818. Nc2Nf819. b4c420. Be3Qa621. Bd4Rxe1+22. Rxe1Qxa223. Ra1Qb324. Ra3Qb1+25. Kg2Rd726. Ra5Qb327. Ra3Qb128. Ra5Qb329. Rxb5Qd330. Qf4Qxc231. Bxf6Qf532. Qxf5gxf533. Bxg7Kxg734. Rc5Ng635. Rxc4Ne536. Rd4Nc637. Rf4Ne738. b5Kf639. Rd4h640. Kf1Ke5

So Gukesh has completed his 40 moves within the permitted timeframe and will now get 30 extra minutes. Ding has one more move to go for extra time.

Last few moves:

37. Rf4 Ne7
38. b5 Kf6
39. Rd4 h6
40. Kf1

Ding has been really impressive so far. Though he was in a problem, he has managed to swing the play in his favour a bit with the evaluation bar giving Gukesh less than one point advantage now.

Last few moves:

35. Rxc4 Ne5
36. Rd4 Nc6

Queens are off the board as Gukesh manages to breach the fort with white pieces and expose the king.

30. Qf4 3Qxc2
31. Bxf6 Qf5
32. Qxf5 gxf5
33. Bxg7 Kxg7
34. Rc5 Ng6

This time Gukes presses his advantage after moving the white Rook back to Rs5 and captures the pawn on b5. However, him taking the Queen to f4 has left many surprised including the computer.

28. Ra5 Qb3
29. Rxb5 Qd3
30. Qf4

It’s an excellent game by Gukesh as he plays Ra5 which was tipped as the best move and on the evaluation bar he has an advantage of 1 point.

And while experts thought Ding would go a6, he opted for Qb3 leading to Ra3 by Gukesh and Qb1 by Liren.

With a check against Gukesh after Liren’s Queen ventures out to b1, the Indian GM takes his King to g2. The last move from Liren has been Rd7.
23. Ra1 Qb3
24. Ra3 Qb1+
25. Kg2 Rd7

Some crazy moves over the last few minutes and after Gukesh went Bd4 it was expected. Black Rook took out the white Rook on e1 followed by Gukesh’s white Rook taking out the black Rook. Liren has taken out the pawn on a2 with his black Queen.

21. Bd4 Rxe1+
22. Rxe1 Qxa2

Liren has responded by taking his black queen to a6 and Hungarian GM Peter Leko is not impressed. He says, “Lazy move as it does not put white on pressure.”

It’s Be3 that Gukesh plays and can now capture black Queen on b7. But of course, that Queen can strike first.

Ding plays c4 in advance to b4 from Gukesh. The Indian GM can now go and capture Rook on e8 with his black Rook but he can also play Bishop e3 to put the black Queen in danger.

A simple b4 by Gukesh on the 19th move and it’s not just that Liren has realised that he is in a worse shape and trying to create a defensive wall, he is also way behind on the clock. Gukesh almost has 30 minutes advantage.

The Knights from both players have seen some movement in the last two moves as Ding tries to fortify his defence.

18. Nc2 Nf8

After Rfe8, Ding plays Rad8 and now both his Rooks are standing side-by-side. Gukesh currently has over 50 minutes advantage on the clock.

16. Bf4 Rfe8
17. Qd2 Rad8

15. Na3 Qb6
16. Bf4

While Bishop B4 is played by Gukesh, Liren is once again stumped. His body language is down as he seems worried while thinking about his next move.

13. exd5 Nbd7
14. Nxc4 b5
15. Na3

Gukesh has played Na3 after capturing a black Pawn on c4 with the same Knight. This move has been ratified by the computer which means Gukesh has clearly seen something that Ding can do in the future.

11. h3 Bxf3
12. Bxf3 exd5
13. exd5

Liren opts for capturing the white Knight on f3 but Gukesh responds immediately by taking out the black bishop with his white bishop. Liren also took out white Pawn on d5 followed by Gukesh taking it out with exd5.

It’s e6 as we expected from Liren on his 10th move. Is Gukesh out of his preparation? If that is the case Gukesh may slow down a bit and that would be the best idea. GM Peter Leko feels Gukesh is leading currently.

His next move could be Nbc4.

While many would have expected Gukesh to go h3, he has gone for d5. How much time will Liren take this time to respond? He can capture white Knight on f3 but e6 looks like the best move.

Knight bd2 has been played by Gukesh followed by c5 for Liren. The computer doesn’t like the c5 move from Ding but the Chinese GM it seems is planning to get out of Gukesh’s preparations.

Gukesh is busy trying to remember something.

8. e4 Bg4
9. Nbd2 c5

After much deliberation, Liren captures the black Pawn on c4. It took 30 minutes for Liren to make that move. Gukesh has gone e4 on the latest move.

Gukesh has stumped Liren with Re1 honestly! This as confused Liren who is not sure what should be the next move because everything looks okay but he’s not sure where the danger is. We know the Re1 is a very rare move for masters level but in Lichess’ data White has won 50% of matches after Re1 and 5% ended in draws, which means Gukesh has an advantage today.

There have been no moves since Gukesh went Re1 on his seventh attempt. Liren has been in thinking mode for around 13 minutes now. Will Liren take c4?

Gukesh has played Rook e1 on his last move which is quite a new move considering many would have expected him to take a3 with the Knight. Also, Gukesh has left his pawn on c4 to be captured but it will be interesting to see if Liren takes the bait.

Opening move so far: 

1. Nf3 d5
2. g3 g6
3. d4 Bg7
4. c4 c6
5. Bg2 Nf6
6. O-O O-O
7. Re1

It’s an Nf3 on the board by Gukesh! We have officially started Game 7 in the World Chess Championship 2024. Liren is already in the thinking mode. Nf3 is a very flexible move which can lead to multiple openings. Liren has responded and it’s a d5 followed by g3 by the Indian GM.