Teenage challenger Gukesh Dommaraju beat China’s Ding Liren in the 11th game of their world championship match, taking a crucial lead as the tournament entered the final stretch.
Gukesh, whose win gave him a 6-5 lead with just three games to play, forced a resignation from Ding after the defending champion made a blunder under time pressure in Sunday’s contest.
The victory ended seven consecutive draws and gave the 18-year-old Gukesh a big psychological advantage into the homestretch of the 14-match series.
“Obviously, this is a very, very important win,” said Gukesh, who played with the white pieces.
But he also remained cautious, adding that “there’s still three more very, very important games to go.”
Ding, 32, admitted that it was “a very difficult game” for him, but added he would try to bounce back on Monday when he will make the first move with white.
Both players were cautious from the start, making only five moves in the first hour of play. The Indian prodigy spent an hour of pondering before making the 11th move.
The players went into a pulsating time-pressure game after almost four hours, especially Ding, who had just less than 10 minutes on his alloted time.
When the Chinese player resigned, Gukesh’s supporters gathered in the public area at Resorts World Sentosa hotel in Singapore and erupted into applause, chanting his name.
“Indian fans are the best. I’m really grateful for all the support… All these things give me the extra energy I need.”
If both players are tied in 14 games, the match will move to a tie-breaker, which will be played on December 13.
At his age, Gukesh is the youngest player in history to compete in the World Championship and he is looking to surpass Garry Kasparov as the youngest undisputed world chess champion.
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