D Gukesh vs Ding Liren, World Chess Championship 2024 Game 6 Highlights: Gukesh, Ding play out third consecutive draw

That’s it from us in our coverage of Game 6 of the World Chess Championship. With Monday being the second ‘Rest Day’ of the ongoing event, Ding and Gukesh will get some time to assess their progress so far in Singapore and work on some of their shortcomings.

Do join us on Tuesday when the two Grandmasters resume their battle for global supremacy in Game 7. Till then, goodbye!

Here’s what the board looks like at the end of Game 6, followed by the full set of moves:

1. d4 Nf6
2. Bf4 d5
3. e3 e6
4. Nf3 c5
5. c3 c5
6. Bb5+ Nc6
7. Bxc6+ bxc6
8. Bxd6 Qxd6
9. Qa4 O-O
10. Qa3 Ne4
11. Nfd2 e5
12. Nxe4 dxe4
13. Qxc5 Qg6
14. Nd2 Qxg2
15. O-O-O Qxf2
16. dxe5 Rb8
17. Nc4 Be6
18. Rd2 Qf3
19. Re1 Bxc4
20. Qxc4 Qf5
21. Qxc6 Qxe5
22. Qd5 Qe7
23. Qd6 Qg5
24. Qd5 Qe7
25. Qd6 Qg5
26. Qd5 Qh4
27. Red1 g6
28. Qe5 Rbe8
29. Qg3 Qh5
30. Qf3 Qa5
31. a3 Qb5
32. Rd4 Qe2
33. R1d2 Qf3
34. Kc2 Qxf4
35. exf4 f5
36. h4 e3
37. Re2 Re7
38. Kd3 Rfe8
39. h5 gxh5
40. Rd5 h4
41. Kxf5 Rd7+
42. Kc2 Kg7
43. Rg2+ Kh8
44. Re2 Kg7
45. Rg2+ Kh8
46. Re2 Kg7 (repetition)

Looks like Gukesh has finally accepted a draw after rejecting Ding’s offer earlier in the game, with the two players shaking hands after 46 moves.

There was some late drama in store though. Ding capture of Gukesh’s pawn on f5 was followed by the latter giving the Chinese GM a check by moving his rook one square to his right to the d file, forcing his opponent to move his king to c2.

Ding then gives Gukesh a check by moving his rook to g2, evoking a similar response from the Indian. And that is the beginning of a threefold repetition – the very thing Gukesh had rejected earlier in the game – that ensures another stalemate.

Both Ding and Gukesh move their pawns around for a bit before moving on to their rooks – while Ding uses his to block the path of a pawn along the e file, Gukesh rearranges his rooks with one in front of another on the same file.

Ding, meanwhile, had moved his king to c2 after the queen exchange, and his rook by one step to d5.

Ding had been teasing the possibility of a queen exchange for some time now and Gukesh finally accepts it in the 34th move, promptly losing it to Ding’s pawn along the f file.

Gukesh responds by taking his queen dangerously close to his opponent’s king, nearly offering a check e2. Ding moves his rook to d2 in response and Gukesh moves his queen diagonally by one square to f3, right in front of the white queen with his pawn on the e file standing guard.

The Chinese GM responds by pushing his a pawn forward by one square. And that’s got Gukesh thinking once again, going back into his familiar meditative pose.

Gukesh moves his queen away by one square and instead of continuing to chase that piece around, Ding decides to move his queen to f4.

Both players have five pawns each along with both rooks in addition to the queens.

Here’s how things stand after 28 moves. Are we going to witness the two players pick up pace briefly, only to shake hands after completing their 40th move like they did yesterday? Or will there be a result today?

1. d4 Nf6

2. Bf4 d5

3. e3 e6

4. Nf3 c5

5. c3 Bd6

6. Bb5+ Nc6

7. Bxc6+ bxc6

8. Bxd6 Qxd6

9. Qa4 O-O

10. Qa3 Ne4

11. Nfd2 e5

12. Nxe4 dxe4

13. Qxc5 Qg6

14. Nd2 Qxg2

15. O-O-O Qxf2

16. dxe5 Rb8

17. Nc4 Be6

18. Rd2 Qf3

19. Re1 Bxc4

20. Qxc 4Qf5

21. Qxc6 Qxe5

22. Qd5 Qe7

23. Qd6 Qg5

24. Qd5 Qe7

25. Qd6 Qg5

26. Qd5 Qh4

27. Red1 g6

28. Qe5 Rbe8

The Indian GM decides it’s his turn to threaten the rival queen, as he moves his rook four squares to his left to the e file – with the white queen standing three square down the same file.

The AI win predictor continues to back Ding, with the Chinese GM having a 37.3 per cent chance of winning Game 6 compared to 10.8 per cent for Gukesh.

Gukesh’s winning chances, however, improve to 13.1 per cent with Ding’s falling to 29.9 per cent after the latter moves his queen to e5 in the 28th move.

Gukesh moves his queen to back to e7, prioritising on protecting the piece. The next three moves follow a similar pattern – d6-g5-d5 – as Ding continues to chase Gukesh’s queen around, with the repetition hinting to the possibility of the two players playing out a third consecutive draw.

Gukesh, instead, choose to break free from the repetition and moves his queen to h4 in order to liven the game up. Next thing you know, Ding moves his rook to the d file right next to his king while the Indian decides to advance the pawn right in front of the king to create some space.

Ding moves his queen to d6 in the 23rd move, placing it right next to Gukesh’s once again. As expected Gukesh decides to play it safe and moves his queen three squares diagonally to g5 to build some space with his white counterpart.

All Ding does is move his queen one square down the d file to once again challenge the black queen.

Ding had taken more than 30 minutes for one of his moves yesterday, and ends up consuming as much time for his 21st move today, eventually moving his queen forward to capture Gukesh’s pawn along the c file. The Indian responds by capturing the white pawn at e5.

Ding then moves his queen to d5, placing it right next to Gukesh’s with the Indian forced to retreat his most powerful piece to e7, strengthening the perimeter around his king.

“Contrasting approaches. Ding is very, very solid with white. It’s not like his ideas are lacking venom. But not taking a lot of risk yet.

“Gukesh pushing a bit more. But every once in a while he stumbles. Yesterday, practically a mircale he got away. Gukesh putting more pressure, but need to be more exact,” says the five-time world champion.

The Chinese GM now has his hands on his head as he contemplates his 21st move, with Game 6 appearing to head towards a rook endgame at the moment.

Here’s how things stand after 20 moves from both players, with the pace of the game having considerably slowed down over the last couple of moves:

1. d4 Nf6

2. Bf4 d5

3. e3 e6

4. Nf3 c5

5. c3 Bd6

6. Bb5+ Nc6

7. Bxc6+ bxc6

8. Bxd6 Qxd6

9. Qa4 O-O

10. Qa3 Ne4

11. Nfd2 e5

12. Nxe4 dxe4

13. Qxc5 Qg6

14. Nd2 Qxg2

15. O-O-O Qxf2

16. dxe5 Rb8

17. Nc4 Be6

18. Rd2 Qf3

19. Re1 Bxc4

20. Qxc 4Qf5

The Hungarian-American GM feels Ding is full of confidence at the moment and has taken Gukesh by surprise.

Ding continues to crank out moves. I did not check but it seems that this is the fastest Ding has played in both world championship matches. He shows full confidence even tbough there is no advantage on the board. 19 moves in less than 6.5 minutes!

There is no doubt that Gukesh… pic.twitter.com/pqgarUlnVl

— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) December 1, 2024

Ding responds to losing his remaining knight by capturing Gukesh’s remaining bishop at c4. The Indian responds by moving his queen a couple of squares along the f file to the fifth rank.

Both Ding and Gukesh have a their rooks intact and guarding the king along with the queen, unlike Saturday’s game in which they had opted for a queen exchange as early as the ninth move.

After forcing the rival queen to retreat one square, Ding decides to push his kingside rook to e1, forming a wall of protection around his king from Gukesh’s most powerful piece on the board.

Gukesh then takes his sweet time for his response, going into the meditative state at times as Ding decides to leave the hall for a bit and head to a nearby lounge to contemplate his next set of moves.

After spending several minutes pondering over his next move, Gukesh decides to capture Ding’s remaining knight by moving his bishop to c4.

Gukesh threatens Ding’s pawn on the b file by moving his queenside rook one square to the left. The Chinese GM responds by taking his knight to c4. Gukesh takes aim at only knight by moving his remaining bishop to e6.

At this point, Ding decides to issue a counter-threat by moving his rook to d2 after the castle, forcing Gukesh’s queen to retreat one square to f3.

Here’s what the first 15 moves look like in Game 6, with both players frenetically moving their pieces around in the opening minutes:

1. d4 Nf6

2. Bf4 d5

3. e3 e6

4. Nf3 c5

5. c3 Bd6

6. Bb5+ Nc6

7. Bxc6+ bxc6

8. Bxd6 Qxd6

9. Qa4 O-O

10. Qa3 Ne4

11. Nfd2 e5

12. Nxe4 dxe4

13. Qxc5 Qg6

14. Nd2 Qxg2

15. O-O-O Qxf2

After sacrificing both of his bishops, Ding goes for a knight exchange by the 12th move. Both players move their queen around thereafter – Ding placing it right next to Gukesh’s at c5 and the Indian responding by moving it to g6.

Gukesh then has his queen at the rival king’s doorstep by the 14th move. Ding responds by castling his king with the queenside rook in the 15th.

After starting with the Queen’s pawn, Ding decides to advance his dark-squared bishop to f4, to which Gukesh responds by moving his Queen’s pawn. The Chinese GM later moves his kingside knight to f3. Gukesh later frees up his king for an early castle by moving his bishop to d6.

Ding offers an early check with his light-squared bishop, which ends up in an exchange with Gukesh’s queenside knight. Ding then initiates a bishop exchange in his eighth move, his piece getting captured by Gukesh’s queen.

Gukesh decides to castle in Move 10 after Ding advances his queen to a4.

Ding Liren is the first to arrive at the venue and he makes the first move as he’s playing with white pieces for the third time in the ongoing championship.

And he opts for a d4 opening! Gukesh responds by taking his knight out for a stroll first thing to f6!

Arjun becomes the 16th player in the world to achieve a 2800+ Elo rating and the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand.

The December #FIDERating lists are out!

The world’s top 10 chess rankings remained largely unchanged this past month.

🇮🇳 Arjun Erigaisi entered the 2800+ rating club, becoming the 16th player in history to achieve this feat.
Among women, 🇨🇳 Tan Zhongyi gained 10 points, while… pic.twitter.com/4Tk0hpHvEv

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 1, 2024

Here’s Indian legend and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand keeping himself busy ahead of Game 6 in Singapore:

5-time World Champion GM Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) 🇮🇳 is playing a 10-board simultaneous exhibition before Game 6 of the FIDE World Championship Match 2024, presented by Google! #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/cRcNrVTczt

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 1, 2024

Here’s a recap of Game 5, which witnessed an exchange variation of the French defence and in which Gukesh nearly paid the price for capturing one of Ding’s pieces with a pawn instead of a rook:

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5ex
3. exd5 exd5
4. Nf3 Nf6
5. Bd3 c5
6. c3 c4
7. Bc2 Bd6
8. Qe2+ Qe7
9. Qxe7+ Kxe7
10. O-O Re8
11. Re1+ Kf8
12. Rxe8+ Kxe8
13. Bg5 Nbd7
14. Nbd2 h6
15. Bh4 Nh5
16. Re1+ Kf8
17. g4 Nf4
18. Bg3 Nb6
19. g5 hxg5
20. Nxg5 Bd7
21. Ngf3 Re8
22. Ne5 Bxe5
23. dxe5 Nd3
24. Bxd3 cxd3
25. f3 Nc4
26. Nxc4 dxc4
27. Re4 Bc6
28. Rd4 Bxf3
29. Kf2 Bc6
30. Rxc4 Rd8
31. Rd4 Rxd4
32. cxd4 Bd5
33. b3 Ke7
34. Ke3 Ke6
35. Kxd3 g6
36. Kc3 a6
37. Kd3 Kf5
38. Ke3 Ke6
39. Kd3 kf5
40. Ke3 Ke6