World chess champ Ding and teen challenger Gukesh tied past halfway mark

Gukesh Dommaraju gives up strong position in middle game with inaccurate moves in eighth match of world championship in Singapore.

Defending world chess champion Ding Liren and teenage challenger Gukesh Dommaraju played to a fifth consecutive draw with neither player taking the lead after eight games.

Both players were deadlocked at four points each in the first World Championship encounter between two Asian players as the 14-match tournament went past the halfway mark on Wednesday in Singapore.

For the second game in a row, Gukesh appeared to give up a strong position during the middle game by playing a series of inaccurate moves.

However, the Indian teenager rejected Ding’s offer of a draw after 41 moves and played some attacks during the endgame in an attempt to get a result.

But the Chinese grandmaster fended off the offensive, and the players eventually shook hands on another draw after 51 moves.

Gukesh admitted that he was not aware of his perilous position when he rejected the draw and immediately put Ding under check.

“I didn’t think I was in much danger,” said the 18-year-old, who played with the black pieces.

“I always thought that in my position, maybe I would have some chances, but it was just a misjudgement of the position.”

Ding, for his part, rued his inability to press home his advantage.

“Today during the game, I didn’t realise that I was winning at some point,” the 32-year-old said.

“I think he missed some important details, which let me get back into the game, but before that, he was totally outplaying me again.

“Actually, I didn’t feel too nervous during the game, but I felt uncomfortable out of the open.”

Game nine of the series will take place at Resorts World Sentosa on Thursday.

The first player to get 7.5 points will be declared the winner.

Tiebreaks will take place if the players are tied on seven points after 14 games.

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.