Ding Liren defeats Gukesh to tie battle at FIDE World Championship

Chinese defending champion Ding Liren of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Championship defeated Gukesh Dommaraju of India in Game 12 in Singapore on Monday, tying the score 6-6.

Having lost Game 11 on Sunday, Ding was in a very unfavorable situation as he trailed 6-5 with only three games to go. He began the contest with the English opening, the second time he did so in the competition. After Gukesh responded by aiming for a Queen's Gambit declined setup, Ding made a Reti setup, with a kingside fianchetto.

The battle remained equal until the middle game. Both played with patience, waiting for the best moment. Then came some of the decisive moves when Gukesh targeted Ding's backward d3-pawn, but the Chinese world champion saw it coming and struck with 18.d4 in response.

Ding took control of the game after that, capitalizing on his central pawns combined with his pair of bishops. After losing two of his pawns, Gukesh continued to search for a defensive source, but failed to find it in the end.

"Yesterday was a difficult game to deal with, but I tried to continue with my normal routine and be refreshed for this important game," Ding said. "Today I had a cup of coffee before the game, which helped me feel much more energetic, and also, I had some snacks to maintain my energy levels for the critical moment. I think I played a very good game and found some good moves."

"In the second half of the match, I had chances in many of the games," Gukesh told reporters. "Today was obviously a bad game, but I wouldn't draw too much from it. Bad games happen. But if you look at the second half overall, I think we are both playing better than the first half. 6-6 is overall the fair result, but since I was leading after yesterday, it is a bit disappointing to lose this game."