 "D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 9 LIVE Streaming: What happened in Game 8 and how to watch Game 9 of World Chess Championship")
After five straight draws, chess fans will hope to see a conclusive result when D Gukesh and Ding Liren turn up for Game 9 in the ongoing World Chess Championship 2024 on Thursday (5 December) at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. Defying his poor form, the reigning world champion of China, Ding Liren, won Game 1 in the 14-match series followed by a draw and a win for 18-year-old Gukesh. But the last five matches have ended in a draw including Game 7 and Game 8 which saw both players failing to capitalize on multiple opportunities.
In Game 8 between Gukesh and Ding on 4 December (Wednesday), the latter started the match with favoured white pieces and played 1.c4, the English Opening. Ding followed the ongoing pattern of not repeating the opening move from previous matches in the Championship, forcing a fresh position on the board.
Gukesh vs Liren Game 8 recap
Gukesh, however, was ready for it as he played his first 10 moves in a jiffy, showing excellent preparation while Ding struggled to remember his. It took just 13 moves for the 32-year-old Chinese GM to lose half of his time as Gukesh controlled the center.
While the game stayed in balance, Liren was forced to play a wrong move under time pressure as he went for 25.Bb2, sacrificing his a2-pawn.
“I sacrificed the a2 pawn based on a miscalculation, because I figured that he couldn’t block on c5 with any of the knights, and that would allow me to play Ra1 and pick up the a5 pawn,” Ding later said in the post-match press conference explaining his decision.
A much bigger moment came at move 26 when Gukesh played 26…Nac5 but 26…Ndc5 was the correct option as per the engines.
“Blocking with 26…Ndc5 (instead of 26…Nac5) looked weird to me. I thought that my move was winning, but I missed his key move 28.Qe1, when 28…Nxd3 loses to 29.Qc3. If I had spotted this idea, then I would probably have thought a bit more. It was a very tricky position, and he found these ideas very quickly – great defense by my opponent,” Gukesh said on his decision.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsDing immediately opted for 27.Rc1 and while he won the exchange, Gukesh had two passed pawns. This was when Ding offered a draw via a three-fold repetition, but Gukesh refused it. However, after a while, it became clear that drawing was the best outcome and the same was agreed upon.
D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 8 details:
White: Ding Liren
Black: Gukesh D
Result: 0.5-0.5
Game length: 51 moves
Opening: English Opening
Variation: King’s Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack
Match score: 4-4
D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Game 6 details:
White: D Gukesh
Black: Ding Liren
Date: 5 December 2024 (Thursday)
Time: 2.30 PM IST (5 PM Singapore time)
Venue: Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore
LIVE streaming information: Game 9 of the World Chess Championship 2024 between D Gukesh and Ding Liren will be live-streamed on FIDE’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
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