World Championship Game 6: Gukesh’s accurate defense secures another draw

The sixth game of the FIDE World Championship match, presented by Google, ended in a draw after 46 moves this afternoon. Both players tried everything on the board, probing for mistakes in each other’s play, but neither managed to break through.

The Indian challenger, Gukesh D. could have forced a draw on move 26 by playing 26…Qe7 for the third time, but instead, he played on with 26…Qh4.

When asked about this decision during the press-conference, Gukesh explained: “I thought I might be slightly worse out of the opening but I wasn’t even sure. But with the files open in front of his king I thought I would always have counterplay and I didn’t see a reason to take the draw repetition. Obviously, I wasn’t playing for a win, I just wanted to play a few more moves and see what happened.”

The champion Ding Liren was content with the result, noting that the match is even with several more games still to be played. At the same time, he acknowledged the need to tighten up his game. “I feel like I am letting my advantage slip away at a critical moment. I have to improve this in the following games,” were Ding’s thoughts after the game.

Tomorrow is the second official rest day for the players. The seventh game of the match is scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, at 5 PM local time in Singapore, with Gukesh playing White.

FACT SHEET, Game 6, FIDE World Championship:

White: Ding Liren
Black: Gukesh D
Result: 0.5-0.5
Game length: 46 moves
Opening: London System
Match score: 3-3

A batch of photos from the game is available here: 
flickr.com/photos/fide/albums/72177720322292724

Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)

Photos: Eng Chin An and Maria Emelianova

Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/

Full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/events

About the event

Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.

The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.