A Battle of Equals

India’s D Gukesh contemplates a move against Ding Liren of China at the World Chess Championship in Singapore yesterday. Pic/PTI

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren played out a mostly risk-free draw in the fourth round to remain level on points in the World Chess Championship battle here on Friday.

The two players signed peace after 42 moves vide repetition and are tied on two points each after four games of the 14-round showdown. The first to reach 7.5 points will be crowned the champion.

Big prospect

Gukesh, 18, who was playing with black on Friday, is the youngest ever challenger for the title and had won the third game on Wednesday.

"Towards the end, I had some chances to press better but with black, this is all you can expect," Gukesh said after the game.

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"I am just trying to make good moves," he added when asked about the prospect of becoming the youngest world champion. Liren, 32, had won the opening game before the two played out a draw in the second game.

"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," he added.

With just 10 games remaining under the classical time control, Gukesh will have the advantage of playing white in the fifth game.

Liren banking on skills

On Friday, Liren started with the bird's opening trying to take out on the queen's bishop early in the opening which was a clear indication that the Chinese wanted to fight the Indian on the skill rather than preparation. Gukesh was up to the task in responding as he matched Liren move for move and the pieces traded hands leading to equality.

The players eventually reached rook and pawns endgame which was theoretically drawn and the split of a point was a just result. Viswanathan Anand is so far the only Indian to have won the title, having claimed it five times in his career. The semi-retired legend made the ceremonial first move for Gukesh on Friday.

The game took shape sans theThe two players will have their second rest day on Monday.

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