World Chess Championship 2024 Game 13 highlights: Game 13 ends in draw after five-hour struggle

On Twitter, chess legend Susan Polgar has this to say aftergame 13 ended in a draw: "It is official! We will have the final classical game 14 tomorrow! Ding has a slight edge because he has white (50.5-49.5). But anything can happen!" 

"It's fitting that the match has gone into the final round," says Gukesh.

"Approach will be to be at my absolute best shape. Enjoy this, whatever the outcome it. Give it my best. This is a dream," says the Indian teenager. 

"Felt normal in today's game. Just felt some pressure out of the opening," says Ding when asked about the fatigue he felt today after almost three weeks in the match.

"Last time was more stressful," says Ding Liren when asked to compare the pressure of trying to win last year's world championship compared to this year's pressure of defending the crown.

Gukesh is speaking after today's draw at the post-game press conference.

"As close as the match gets. Quite excited. Of course it's an important game (game 14 tomorrow), and I will try to do my best," says Gukesh.  

"I came for a ffight today, was feeling fresh and feeling confident. Had cool idea prepared, so was excited and eager to play."

"I'm very tired after a long game," says Ding Liren. "Tomorrow will be a golden game. So (thinking about) what will be the strategy."

After a five-hour battle, the game ends in a draw. Both players will be back tomorrow to fight it out one final time in the classical format.

If that does not happen, the players will have to duke it out in the faster time control.

Just three pawns and a rook left on the board for Gukesh, Ding meanwhile has a pawn less on the 64 squares.

Gukesh might want to keep on playing, to extend Ding Liren's stay in the middle. After all, Ding Liren will play with white pieces tomorrow and Gukesh might want to reduce his prep time back home. 

Ding Liren has also spoken about being tired in previous games. So maybe Gukesh wants to extends his misery in the middle. 

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand turns another day older today. And chess legend Judit Polgar posts a heartwarming story about him on X. 

"'She is one of us' - I will remember his words until I can breathe. When he said that some 20 x years ago, I knew I arrived where I thought I always belonged, but that meant a lot. The bond and respect have always been strong between us. Wishing Happy Birthday to a wonderful personality, the five-time World Chess Champion, and the amazing mentor of the new generations of Indian chess players, Vishy Anand!

"Even a decade after I had made a place for myself in the game, journalists kept asking my rivals what they thought about competing against me, a woman. When a reporter asked Vishy if, being a woman, I was good enough, he replied 'She is very strong and is one of us'. It showed that I was not only respected within the chess circle, but also well accepted as a colleague," Judit Polgar wrote on X.

Judi Polgar also posted this photograph of herself with Anand and his wife Aruna Anand taken in 1996, in Geneva.

Anish Giri, waiting for this game to end, like the rest of us, posts on Twitter: "Wake me up when tiebreak begins."

As the pace of the game slows down while we find ourselves in the end game, Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri has been doing some body language analysis. Not of the two players in the middle. But of their chairs.

" Gukesh's chair no longer looking dominant. Ding's chair is still standing straight," posts Anish Giri on X. 

French chess grandmaster Romain Édouard explains how Gukesh could have won.

"Gukesh clearly missed 31...Rf8 32.Nd6 Rc7, as otherwise he would have played 31.Rxe8+ Qxe8 32.Ne4 and most likely won the game... Today will end in a draw and it's gonna be tough for the Indian psychologically!" he posts on X.

... Gukesh walks into his private lounge. He's watching the screen to see if his opponent is making a move. This image might become the new Gukesh chilling meme. 

Ding, meanwhile, is in deep thought like he's trying to find a way to save the world from global warming. 

Both players leave the board after the tense final minutes, where they fought their way over the time control. They have earned themselves a break after that edge-of-the-seat where Gukesh tried to push the accelerator, and Ding tried to defend. 

A flurry of moves as we crossed the time control. 

Chess legend Susan Polgar heaps praise on the Indian teenager as we see both players close in on Move 40, where they will both get 30 more minutes. 

"No one can say that Gukesh is not giving everything he has to try to win, and Ding giving everything he has to hold!" she posts in a tweet. 

She then tweets: "One more move to make! Two heavyweight warriors with different styles going at it!"

Gukesh plays 31.Ne4 and Ding is very aware of the impending trouble. 

The world champion is starting to feel the heat! Just look at these expressions. His time is almost down to seven minutes. 

Chess legend Susan Polgar gives her opinion on the game situation: "Gukesh is doing the right thing by playing aggressively, keeping the tension, but not risking everything to win at all cost. Very mature and disciplined decision by the 18-year-old. Ding has to speed things up but it is not so simple given the position on the board, the importance of the game, and what is at stake."

If Gukesh manages to win today, he again takes one-point lead in the World Championship with just one more game left. 

'Incredibly tense game and relatively high level! My prediction - Gukesh will win,' predicts grandmaster Pavel Eljanov who has been a second to Magnus Carlsen against Vishy Anand in 2013 and also helped Boris Gelfand. 

The game is heating up after Gukesh's 27.d5. Ding replied 27...exd5. Gukesh then immediately plays, 28.Qxd5+ 

...Ding's light-squared bishop has not moved even once! He's just been sitting there on its starting square, chilling! 

After Ding Liren plays 24...Re8, the evaluation of Gukesh's chances rises! Just look at predictions from Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model that FIDE is relying on to give predictions:

Gukesh's chances of winning: 52.8%

Game ending a draw: 41.8%

Ding Liren's chances of winning: 5.4%

Gukesh and Ding Liren both have the same time on the clock as we had towards the 20th mvoe from both players. AS both players make their 20th move, both players now have just 35 minutes to make the final 20 moves before they get additional time on the clock and increment of 30 seconds per move. 

Here are all the moves so far on the board. 

1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e5 Nfd7
5 Nce2 c5
6 c3 Nc6
7 a3 Be7
8 Be3 Nb6
9 Nf4 cxd4
10 cxd4 Nc4
11 Bxc4 dxc4
12 Nge2 b5
13 O-O O-O
14 Nc3 Rb8
15 Nh5 f5
16 exf6 Bxf6
17 Qf3 Qe8
18 Nxf6+ Rxf6
19 Qe2 Qg6
20 f3 Rf8

The clock situation is starting to level out by the 17th move. And Gukesh had about a full hour extra on the clock at some point in game 13. 

The FIDE data shows that Gukesh has not left his chair AT ALL in this game after 2 hours and 30 minutes. Ding, meanwhile, spending some time in his lounge thinking. And chilling.

Gukesh does capture with an en passant. He claims Ding's f file pawn and in return Ding's bishop reclaims the square.

16 exf6 Bxf6 on the board.

After those set of moves, Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model, that FIDE is relying on to give predictions for each game at the world championship in Singapore, has these predictions

Gukesh's chances of winning: 35.9%

Game ending a draw: 55.2%

Ding Liren's chances of winning: 8.9%

Gukesh spending some time now thinking his 16th move. he's spent almost 19 minutes on his move. 

To en passant or not to enpassant, that is the question! 

1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e5 Nfd7
5 Nce2 c5
6 c3 Nc6
7 a3 Be7
8 Be3 Nb6
9 Nf4 cxd4
10 cxd4 Nc4
11 Bxc4 dxc4
12 Nge2 b5
13 O-O O-O
14 Nc3 Rb8
15 Nh5 f5

So Ding spots the Qg4 move coming, and moves his f pawn ahead to block Gukesh's queen. But what this means is that we have en passant available if Gukesh's pawn, currently on e5, fancies it. 

Gukesh moves his knight out of the way and now the Qg4 move, which Gukesh had missed earlier, is available. But will Gukesh bite the bullet and go for it? 

here are all the moves so far:

1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e5 Nfd7
5 Nce2 c5
6 c3 Nc6
7 a3 Be7
8 Be3 Nb6
9 Nf4 cxd4
10 cxd4 Nc4
11 Bxc4 dxc4
12 Nge2 b5
13 O-O O-O
14 Nc3 Rb8
15 Nh5

FIDE's press officer for the 2024 world championship, Michael Rahal points out: "The engines were giving Gukesh a solid advantage if he had played 12.Qg4 attacking the g7-pawn, but instead he has chosen to develop his knight (12.Nge2)."

As he thinks about his 13th move, Ding Liren has just 50 minutes on the clock. That means he has make 28 moves in 50 minutes. Gukesh, on the other hand, has almost an hour and 40 minutes on his clock.

Here are all the moves on the board so far: 

1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e5 Nfd7
5 Nce2 c5
6 c3 Nc6
7 a3 Be7
8 Be3 Nb6
9 Nf4 cxd4
10 cxd4 Nc4
11 Bxc4 dxc4
12 Nge2 b5
13 O-O

So Ding Liren's knight does all the hardwork. It runs a odd marathon in his half of the board, using up four moves: 3...Nf6, 4...Nfd7, 8...Nb6 and then 10...Nc4.

And with one swift move with his bishop, Gukesh picks off the hyper-active horsey. 

Ding claims back the square. But the world champion just used up four moves on the same piece and it didn't really do a whole lot on the board.

Football has its soothsayer, in the shape of Paul the Octopus who predicted game results for the 2010 World Cup. 

Chess has it's soothsayer neural network. Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model, that FIDE is relying on to give predictions for each game at the world championship in Singapore, has these predictions after 10 cxd4 Nc4

Gukesh's chances of winning: 43.6%

Game ending a draw: 35.1%

Ding Liren's chances of winning: 21.3%

This is something we have seen from Ding Liren game after game at the ongoing world championship, he spends plenty of his time in the opening phase thinking about his moves. Then he starts to speed up in the middle game and blitzing out moves. 

It's not a strategy that has always worked for Ding Liren. He lost game 3 on time, after all. He has courted massive time trouble in multiple games at the world chess championship. 

... we have a move with the black pieces. 

Ding Liren has just spent 37 minutes on move no 8. He plays 8... Nb6. 

Ding is already down to 1 hour 4 minutes on his clock, while Gukesh has used up 55 seconds on his clock for his 8 moves. 

After Ding's 8th move, it looks like Gukesh has paused for a think. But in a few minutes, Gukesh responds with a 9.Nf4.

And Ding is back to thinking. 

Ding Liren has been spending copious amount of time on the clock to make his moves. He's now spent 15 minutes on his 8th move. 

He's rocking in his chair, moving forwards and backwards. 

Stockfish has these three options for Ding here: 8...a5 or 8...b5 or 8...cxd4

... and Gukesh has taken this game into unchartered waters already. The masters database has no games in the file from history after Gukesh's 8th move: 8 Be3.

Ding, meanwhile, spent 17 minutes on 7 ... Be7. And, it must be mentioned, he did it with a massive sigh!

After Ding Liren revealed that his second Richard Rapport had sent him a file called Strike Bvack, Peter Heine Nielsen, who has been a second to Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen in world championship matches in the past, posts: "The concept of using file names to convey emotional messages, is a tradition at WC matches. This is Daniil Dubov, that despite being forced out of his comfortable bed in Thailand, did find the strength to rename the file before emailing..."

He then ended the tweet with a photo of the file name:

Ding Liren is thinking long and hard about his seventh move as a reply to Gukesh's 7.a3.

And the FIDE broadcast points out that in the masters database, we have had only 11 games in history that have followed this sequence of moves!

The Stockfish engine suggests that the best reponses from black here are: 7...cxd4 or 7...f6 or 7...Be7

Gukesh playes 1.e4. He's played this twice before. And for the third time, Ding Liren responds with the French Defence as a reply to Gukesh pushing the king's pawn. Clearly, Team Gukesh would have spent a lot of time on the rest day brushing up their tactics for this. 

Ding had won game 1 with black pieces after using the French Defence. 

Here are the first few moves of Game 13: 

1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e5 Nfd7
5 Nce2 c5
6 c3 Nc6
7 a3

So Ding Liren arrives on the heels of Gukesh. He is made to wait his turn outside the fair play officer's room as Gukesh is being checked.

The Indian challenger is the firts to arrive at the playing arena. He powerwalks his way past the fans into the fair play officer's room for last-minute fair play checks. He will then head into the "fishtank".

As he emerges out of the lift, he does a look back and gets a "go for it" head nod from his father Dr Rajini Kanth.

And then a little "you got this" nod from his trainer Gregorz Gajewski.

Anticipation at fever-pitch as players will arrive in a few minutes. 

The score is tied at 6-6. Two more games before Ding and Gukesh have to settle this in tiebreaks. 

December 11, Today: Game 13 

December 12, Thursday: Game 14

December 13, Friday: Tie-breaks (*IF* needed)

After beating Gukesh in the 12th game of the world championship, Ding Liren revealed that his trustworthy second, Hungarian grandmaster Richard Rapport, had sent a file to him. 

Speaks at the post-game press conference, Ding Liren revealed: "He *(Richard Rapport) sent me a file named Strike Back. And today it happened."

The Hungarian grandmaster Richard Rapport has been a second to Ding Liren since the last world chess championship, where the Chinese GM had defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in the tiebreaks to become the 17th world champion in the sport. 

Ding Liren was reeling. With just three games remaining in the 2024 World Chess Championship, his teenage challenger Gukesh had handed him a defeat in Game 11 which left the Chinese GM a full point behind. 

The prospect of losing his world champion's crown was looking like a realistic possibility. 

Then, Ding Liren struck back. And in some style! He forced a resignation out of the Indian teenager on Monday after one of the most clinical games of his career. It was the kind of game that left players like chess legend Susdan Polgar in awe. "Where has this Ding been in the past two years?" she remarked. 

The World Championship is now level at 6-6 with just two more games left. 

After doing this thrice last year at the World Championship against Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren again demonstrated his ability to stage comebacks. 

READ MORE: How Ding Liren clawed his way back into World Championship 

Game 1: Ding Liren beats Gukesh with black pieces

Game 2: Draw

Game 3: Gukesh beats Ding Liren with white

Rest Day - November 28

Game 4: Draw

Game 5: Draw

Game 6: Draw

Rest Day - December 2 

Game 7: Draw

Game 8: Draw

Game 9: Draw

Rest Day - December 6

Game 10: Draw

Game 11: Gukesh beats Ding Liren with white

Game 12: Ding Liren beats Gukesh with white

Rest Day - December 10

GUKESH 6-6 DING LIREN after 12 games at the 2024 World Chess Championship 

At the age of 18, Gukesh is just two games away from being the youngest ever world champion in history. But chess legend Susan Polgar believes that the teenager from Chennai still has a massive ceiling on hos potential.

“Shortly after he became a grandmaster, I saw something very special in his game, approach to chess, and demeanor. He has the important intangibles rarely seen in young players this age,” she wrote.

Polgar added: “That’s why I said all the way back then that I believe he will go the furthest among the current crop of young and extremely talented Indian prodigies. Some thought I was crazy for saying that. But here we are, a few days before a possible historic moment. Gukesh still has NOT hit his peak chess potential yet."

READ MORE

We're just about an hour away from the World Chess Championship. The scores are tied at 6-6. Gukesh has white pieces today. Ding Liren will play with white tomorrow. 

If there is no resolution after the two games, we go into tiebreaks day after. 

Susan Polgar praises Ding Liren after Chinese world champion's win in Game 12.

"This is Ding's best game in the past 2 years. This is his real strength when he is in good form. What a statement to make after a horrible blunder yesterday!" posted Polgar on X. 

"This will be Gukesh's biggest test in his young career! How to come back from such a loss? Luckily, he has a day off to recuperate. For those who said that Gukesh would destroy, demolish, humiliate, and massacre Ding, they were all wrong! As I said all along, this will be a close match, and it will be. Do not count either player out yet! Sit back and enjoy!"

In a previous tweet she had remarked: "Someone please report brutality on the board! Where has this Ding been in the last 2 years?"

The Gukesh vs Ding Liren battle has seen eight draws so far! 

As per the rules of World Chess Championship 2024, the players cannot draw a game by agreement before black’s 40th move.

A claim for a draw before black’s 40th move is permitted only in cases of a draw by threefold repetition or a stalemate.

The time control for each game in the classical portion is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest
of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41.

Did You Know?

IF a player arrives in the playing area after the actual start time of the game, he shall lose this game by default. 

The time control for each game in the classical portion is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest
of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41.

Did You Know?

IF a player arrives in the playing area after the actual start time of the game, he shall lose this game by default. 

Chess legend Susan Polgar has broken down the match situation after both Gukesh and Ding Liren were tied after Game 12. This is what she has to say on Twitter:

The score is 6-6 with 2 games left! How should they approach the last 2?

- Gukesh: Keep the pressure and steer the games towards sharper and more dynamic positions like in game 11. 

- Ding: Keep the pressure but keep the game towards a more positional and static positions like in game 12.

What they must NOT do?

- Get into time pressure. This would be bad for both sides as blunders can happen with little time on the clock and no increments (until move 41).

- Think about the playoff and become impulsive.

This match is far from being decided for either player.

Here's what Magnus Carlsen had said about the World Chess Champipnship's Game 12: "This did look like a world championship game, but not one from this century. This looked like a Alekhine vs Bogoljubow (1929 World Chess Championship match between challenger Efim Bogoljubow and world champion Alexander Alekhine). Somebody who was just severely outmatched. You get a playable position from the opening but then the better player wins. Today the better player was Ding by far."

Here's what Hikaru Nakamura had to say about Game 12: "A very surprising game. A lot of people expected Ding Liren to kinda fall apart after what happened in Game 11. It was a case of the opening prep going wrong for Gukesh right away. Once Ding got an easy position to play with simple plans he just rolled over Gukesh as though it was a normal game when you’re higher rather than the other player. It was very weird for me."

Game 1: Ding Liren beats Gukesh with black pieces

Game 2: Draw

Game 3: Gukesh beats Ding Liren with white

Rest Day - November 28

Game 4: Draw

Game 5: Draw

Game 6: Draw

Rest Day - December 2 

Game 7: Draw

Game 8: Draw

Game 9: Draw

Rest Day - December 6

Game 10: Draw

Game 11: Gukesh beats Ding Liren with white

Game 12: Ding Liren beats Gukesh with white

Rest Day - December 10

GUKESH 6-6 DING LIREN after 12 games 

December 11, Today: Game 13 

December 12, Thursday: Game 14

December 13, Friday: Tie-breaks (*IF* needed)

With just two more games remaining in the World Chess Championship, Gukesh will play with white pieces in Game 13 whiel Ding Liren has white tomorrow in the final classical game. 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Game 13 of the World Chess Championship where Gukesh is playing with white pieces.