World Chess Championship: Gukesh and Ding End Game 10 in Another Draw
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Singapore, Dec 7 (NationPress) The ongoing series of draws continued in the FIDE World Chess Championship Final match between the current champion Ding Liren from China and his challenger Gukesh Dommaraju from India. Game 10 wrapped up in a rather uneventful draw as both players stuck to their cautious play style.
To date, each player has secured one victory and there have been a total of eight draws.
The 10th game concluded after just 36 moves and lasted only two and a half hours, marking it as one of the quickest matches in this 14-game series, where the first to achieve 7.5 points will claim the lion's share of the total prize pool of US$2.5 million.
With both competitors tied at five points each, they are set to face off again in the 11th game on Sunday, with Gukesh taking the white pieces.
Ding Liren chose to revisit the London System, the same opening he played in Game 6. He briefly paused before his first move, raising eyebrows as if he had forgotten his strategy.
This marked the first instance of Ding repeating an opening in this match, creating a buzz when Gukesh deviated from his previous strategy with a knight move. Gukesh took some time for his initial ten moves, while Ding spent nearly half an hour on his 11th move.
During the middle game, both players exchanged numerous pieces, including a knight, a bishop, and a rook each, along with their queens, leading to an endgame where the Chinese Grandmaster held a slight edge.
However, the advantage was minimal, prompting him to adopt a risk-free approach once again. Both players executed solid moves and avoided errors. Gukesh expressed satisfaction with the solid draw, and with only four games remaining, both competitors acknowledged the necessity of avoiding mistakes.
