A handy lead has slipped through his grip but Indian Grandmaster
D. Gukesh will rely on his steely resolve to bounce back when he takes on the enigmatic Ding Liren in the 13th game of the World Chess Championship that has been quite a roller-coaster ride for the players.

The 18-year-old Gukesh, who is the youngest challenger to the title, and the 32-year-old defending champion from China have been locked in an intriguing battle in which both have held leads for not too long. They will resume on Wednesday after a day of rest.

The scores are currently tied at 6-6 with the first to reach 7.5 assured of the coveted crown.

Gukesh squandered away a full-point lead with just three games to go. The 12th round loss was heartbreaking for the young Indian and many experts believe that he will go for an aggressive approach in his last game with white pieces under Classical time control.

If the scores are still tied after the 14th game, tie-break games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. It won’t be off the mark to say that nerves are likely to play a crucial role in the final stretch.

While the mind games
will go on in the last two games and a potential tiebreaker, American Hikaru Nakamura and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen feel that the balance has tilted slightly in Liren’s favour.

“Ding did not have to calculate a single line in this whole game, he is being able to play the game based on positional understanding where he is very good,” Carlsen said on a podcast.

“You have to make it difficult for your opponent. That’s when mistakes happen. If you play like the way that he (Gukesh) played today (Monday), it is very easy for the opponent to play near perfectly and win,” Carlsen added.

Nakamura said: “I think there’s little pressure on Ding because we’ve talked about how his chances increase with the less time format. So there’s no doubt that he has the advantage.”

What Nakamura means is that Ding plays better in faster time controls. In both rapid and blitz, which are the faster formats, Ding’s FIDE Elo ratings are much higher compared to Gukesh’s ratings.

The scores were tied 5-5 after game 10 but the last two decisive games thereafter have breathed new life into an otherwise well-contested match in which both players have had their chances.

After what he described as a see-saw victory in the 11th game, Gukesh was simply not himself in the 12th game and his idea to play a new position backfired spectacularly.

Five-time world champion across formats, Viswanathan Anand, called it a “very impressive game” while Liren himself said, “it was the best game that I have played in recent times.”

Generally a smooth operator, Liren had looked a pale shadow of himself in the 11th game and the case was no different for Gukesh when he was completely outplayed in the 12th game. Gukesh will now have to dig deep into his resolve to deny the Chinese the advantage of momentum.

Liren was in a similar situation in the last World Championship match against Ian Nepomniachtchi. He’d won game 12 to make it 6-6, and then followed it up with draws in games 13 and 14. Then he outsmarted Nepomniachtchi in the tie-breaks.

Ding has Gukesh where he wants to. It’s up to the Indian now to break the shackles.

With inputs from PTI