World Chess Championship Live, Match 12: “It was a very difficult match for me”

Gukesh aims to become the youngest classical chess champion in history.

After one of the most exciting games of the match, in which both players spent almost an hour on a single move, he defeated the champion Ding Liren and set the match score at 6-5 with only three games to play.

“It was a very difficult match for me. Already on the fourth try, I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice. I remembered a match I played in a quick tournament against GM Adhiban but I didn’t remember the other moves. I spent 40 minutes calculating absurd variations” explained a visibly sad Ding after the match.

On this occasion, the lack of time was decisive. With just seven minutes remaining, Ding made a mistake on move 28, dropping a piece in a one-move combination. Instead of 28…Nb4, thus returning his extra pawn with decent draw chances, he played the loser 28…Qc8 and after 29.Qxc6 had to give up.

Gukesh was very grateful to his coaching team: “Congratulations to my team for their efforts in preparing for this opening, which surprised my opponent. Then I made some stupid mistakes, but I’m happy I was able to get back in place” were his first impressions after the match.

In an attempt to stay positive, Ding Liren recalled that in the previous match he managed to come back in the twelfth match.

“In the last match, I made a comeback from the twelfth match, so I hope to play well tomorrow.”