D Gukesh played out a draw with tournament leader and top seed Fabiano Caruana
D Gukesh started off on a positive note, beating Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh draws with defending champion Ding Liren in second game of World Chess Championship in Singapore.
'The championship was well fought this year.' 'Ding played better than expected. Gukesh was below his level, but good enough to beat Ding.'
India's D Gukesh outplayed Ding Liren to seize a 6-5 lead in the World Chess Championship final
Chess governing body FIDE's general assembly agreed to consider lifting parts of a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in a vote on Sunday in Budapest.
Caruana became the sole leader and also got back to number two in live world rankings.
With all games ending in draws, the lead positions remained unchanged and Gukesh continued to be at the top of the tables along with Fabiano Caruana of United States who drew a keenly contested game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Arjun Erigaisi briefly reached a career-high live rating of 2771.2 earlier this week and is the only Indian since Vishwanathan Anand to do so.
While the mind games will go on in the last two games and a potential tiebreaker, American Hikaru Nakamura and world number one Magnus Carlsen feel that the balance had tilted slightly in Ding Liren's favour.
The next three games wherein Gukesh will play with two whites and a solo black is perhaps the best opportunity for the Indian to go ahead in the match and put pressure.
D Gukesh played out a creditable draw against top seed Fabiano Caruana but slipped a rung to the joint second position.
Vidit Gujrathi also put an end to his losses by settling for a draw with Caruana.
With a maximum of 11 games remaining under classical time control, the scores are tied at 1.5-1.5. This was after Liren won the opener and the second game ended in a draw.
The Indians were never the favourites in the entire scheme of things but yet, Gukesh has withstood the early storm and so has Praggnanandhaa.
'If Gukesh wins, he has to survive in Game 14.' 'But if Liren wins, then it will be game over for Gukesh.'
D Gukesh held reigning world champion Ding Liren of China to a draw in a highly anticipated contest
The Indian challenge in the women's section might already have ended as Zhongyi stood firmly ahead on five points while Goryachkina had 4.5 points in her kitty.
If Gukesh prevails in the end, he would break the current record set by the legendary Garry Kasparov, who became world champion at the age of 22 in 1985.
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has a word of advice for World Championship contender D Gukesh ahead of his clash against China's Ding Liren -- just focus on your preparation and don't count yourself as a "huge favourite" going into the title showdown.
China's Ding Liren stormed back in fine fashion with a victory against Gukesh Dommaraju in Game 12 of the World Chess Championship 2024 to level the match at 6-6.
Giving prominence to experience over youthful exuberance, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand feels the three Indian participants remain far from winning the Candidates chess title, saying they "should first settle into the tournament."
India's D Gukesh bounced back with a finely crafted game to outwit compatriot Vidit Gujrathi and regain his joint lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after the eighth round in the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto on Friday.
If I do the right things, I have all the chances in the world: Gukesh
The triumph entitles Gukesh a clash against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the last quarter of the year.
Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh shot into sole lead after defeating Firouzja Alireza of France in the 13th and penultimate round of Candidates' Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday, his quest for the extraordinary placing him on the cusp of becoming the youngest ever World Championship contender.
The sixth game of the World Chess Championship between India's D Gukesh and China's Ding Liren ended in a draw.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
Teen sensation R Praggnanandhaa will enter as the favourite among the three Indian participants in the Candidates chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto from Wednesday to decide the challenger for the next world championship match.
First-time challenger D. Gukesh on Tuesday insisted he is not weighed down by the favourite's tag heading into the World Championship clash against China's Ding Liren, having enjoyed a purple patch after overcoming a rough phase.
Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention
Grandmaster R Pragnanandhaa held tournament leader and defending champion Anish Giri of Holland to a draw on the day.
'Shameful action by the chief arbiter Marghetis towards me during the game. Middle of the game during the most intense moment when I was walking during Ian move... he came to me and told me not to walk anymore because my shoe is making noise on the wooden floor.'
Gukesh tried his hands at the Ruy Lopez as white but did not get much against Praggnanandhaa. Both the teenagers have been showing great skills here against the world's best and there was nothing to choose between them when pieces flew off the board in tandem. The game was drawn in 41 moves.
With five points in his kitty from eight games, D Gukesh jointly leads the standings with Anish Giri of Holland.
'I like to be challenged by the strongest players on the planet, even though it's going to get more difficult with this young Indian generation coming up. But I am not entirely depressed.'
With seven rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year, Anish Guru maintained his sole lead on 4.5 points out of a possible six and he is now trailed by Iranian turned Frenchman Firouza Alireza who is on 4 points.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi scored crushing victories, while D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with a draw in a brilliant sixth-round outing for the Indian men's team at the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto.
Gukesh faced the in-vogue Italian opening as black against Caruana and the players battled it out in the main variation.
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