Grandmaster D Gukesh moved ahead towards becoming the youngest-ever world champion defeating Ding Liren of China in the 11th game of the World Chess Championship here on Sunday.
With just three games to come, Gukesh took the lead for the first time in the match, with the scoreline now reading 6-5 in favor of the 18-year-old Indian.
History is now on Gukesh’s side as no challenger in modern chess has ever scored a win after being tied 5-5 after the 10th game.
The Indian started with the Knight moves on his first turn and was surprised as Liren went for a reverse Benoni opening.
The move was shocking as it looked like an over-the-board decision rather than a planned one.
After only five moves, Gukesh had a lead of over an hour on the clock, which is never too easy for the opponent to recover in crunch games.
However, if everyone thought that the opening had gone seriously wrong for Liren, the Chinese had different ideas as he capitalized on an erroneous plan by Gukesh in the early middle game.
Things turned upside down when Liren went to complete his development and missed out on a simple maneuver that would have probably given the defending champion slightly better prospects.
Gukesh spent a lot of time in the middle game but the nature of the position remained double-edged.
As the clouds began to clear, Gukesh came up with a spectacular pawn sacrifice on the queen’s side to give moving space for his rooks.
As the clouds began to clear, Gukesh came up with a spectacular pawn sacrifice on the queen’s side to give moving space for his rooks.
Just as he doubled them on the file to exert pressure, Liren simply crashed and made the blunder in a blink.
The Chinese player was left dejected as he immediately realized the mistake. Gukesh played the winning move in quick time.
The Chinese player was left dejected as he immediately realized the mistake. Gukesh played the winning move in quick time.
In the remaining three games, Liren will have two games as white and this would be the best chance for him if he has to stage a comeback. Gukesh is just three draws away from winning his maiden world championship title.
