 "World Chess Championship: Gukesh, Ding Liren play out draw in Round 4; Indian GM admits he 'had chances to press better'")
Reigning champion Ding Liren recovered from the defeat against D Gukesh to hold the Indian Grandmaster to a draw in Round 4 of the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Friday. Both reigning champion Ding and challenger Gukesh remain level on two points each as a result of Friday’s stalemate at Resorts World Sentosa in the city-state, with another 10 rounds to go.
Gukesh had been given a rude wake-up call in the opening round as Ding, who had defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in last year’s final in Astana, defeated the Indian Grandmaster and seized the lead. Gukesh would then collect his first point with a draw in the following round before drawing level with the Chinese GM with a convincing victory in Round 3 on Wednesday.
🇮🇳 Gukesh D used 15 minutes for the first 5 moves.
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 29, 2024
⏲️ 5 minutes for 3...Bf5 and 7 minutes for 5...Nbd7
❓ Was he surprised by 🇨🇳 Ding Liren’s opening choice?
1. Nf3 d5
2. e3 Nf6
3. b3 Bf5
4. Be2 h6
5. Ba3 Nbd7
Game 4 of the FIDE World Championship Match, presented by @Google is… pic.twitter.com/DH3AKYBf1l
The two players, however, decided to play out a game that was mostly risk free on Friday, with Gukesh playing with black pieces, and shook hands after 42 moves vide repetition. Round 5, in which Gukesh will be aiming to seize the lead for the first time in the World Championship showdown in Singapore, will take place on Saturday.
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More Shorts‘Had chances to press better’: Gukesh
Gukesh, who had become the youngest champion in Candidates history to earn the right to challenge Ding for the world title, admitted he could have pressed better in the closing stages of the fourth round.
“Towards the end, I had some chances to press better but with black this is all you can expect,” said Gukesh after the match.
“I am just trying to make good moves,” the 18-year-old added when asked about the prospect of becoming the youngest world champion.
🇮🇳 Gukesh D: I guess I should say I kind of believe more in Fischer's quote. I believe in good moves. Yeah, I'm just trying to make good moves."
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 29, 2024
Question: Garry Kasparov has said many times that he believes a bit in numerology. He was born on the 13th of April and was the 13th… pic.twitter.com/32Cp4Q3PwH
Ding, the first Chinese player to be crowned chess world champion , said the Rest Day on Thursday helped him recover from the third-round defeat against Gukesh, although he did try and play it safe.
“This round, I tried to play safe. It turns out I got a little bit of an advantage. The score is still balanced. There are more games to come,” Liren said.
“I had a rest day to recover from the tough loss. I am in a very good mood. It worked well, not so bad,” the 32-year-old added.
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