World Chess Championship 2024 Game 8 highlights: Gukesh vs Ding Liren ends in draw

Ding Liren says at press conference: "At last world championship there were so many up and downs."

"In today's game, I didn't realise that I was winning," admits Ding. 

The world champion adds: "Just felt uncomfortable from his opening. Not nervous."

Fionally, the game ends in a draw after 51 moves. Gukesh avoided a draw offer on the 41st move despite being in worse position, but he doesn't have enough on the board to push for a win. 

The game does end in a draw after all. Both players have four points each. 

Chess legend Susan Polgar was puzzled at the way Ding Liren was playing. "Ding is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He plays crazy side lines (at the risk of self destruct) to try to gain an upper hand to win. This takes courage. But after achieving better positions (sometimes by opponent's accuracies), he's happy to repeat moves to draw."

As Gukesh was thinking his 40th move, Ian Nepomniachtchi posted on X: "Qg2 Qf2 Qd5 Qd4 Qg2 Qf2 and everyone is happy!"

Nepo, who played against Ding last year, does not seem happy himself.

But Gukesh has played 41...Qa2+ to reject a draw offer.

Ding Liren is a rook up now while Gukesh has a pawn and a knight more on the board. Both players have waltzed past the time control and earned themelves additional time on the clock. 

We were heading towards a very very sharp position on the board. Then Ding Liren started repeating moves, even though he has an overwhelming advantage on the clock. And Gukesh is left ot make one final move which will see a draw solemnised.

Gukesh opts --- for the second time at the 2024 world chess championship --- against playing for a draw! 

Gukesh has just over 8 minutes to make 5 moves, while Ding Liren has just over 10 minutes. 

Susan Polgar is a fan of how Ding Liren has played himself out of trouble. 

"This is a nasty double deadly pin Gukesh got himself into! The last few moves by Gukesh are strange. All of a sudden, Gukesh came from nearly taking the lead to now fighting to hang on to an even match! People who never experienced it cannot understand the level of stress these players are in, and nerves play a massive role in winning or losing," says the chess legend on Twitter.

Here's the image Susan Polgar posted with this tweet:

A fascinating couple of graphics on the FIDE broadcast here. With both players low on time and playing in a complicated game, the eval bar is yo yoing wildly. 

Why are both players so low on time? Because they spent so much of it on the previous few moves: 

After Ding Liren's move 26, chess legend Susan Polgar posted on X: "It would take another miracle for Ding to save this game. Proper time management is crucial in a world championship. One cannot get into time pressure over and over again and expect to do well. It may work in some games but the odds are against you. This is one of the most important lesson I can give to young players. Fix it immediately before it becomes a lifetime bad habit. Many incredible players over the years failed to reach the pinnacle because of poor time management."

Just nine minutes later, Polgar adds: "Ding may just have another miracle after all!"

Between move 20 and move 27, we have had the most upheaval on the eval bar. Gukesh was winning just a couple of moves back. Then we saw the game swing in the space of a cpouple of moves. 

Here's a graphic from FIDE showing the eval bar mood swings: 

So Gukesh is now starting to dominate this game both on the board and on the clock! His bishop gobbles up a free white pawn on the a file (25...Bxa2). After the 26th move from Ding Liren, where the world champion is threatening Gukesh's queen with his bishop. 

Ding Liren plays 22.Rb1. And once again, Leela Zero, an AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast, crinkles its nose at his chances. 

BEFORE 22.Rb1

Gukesh win: 17.1 percent 

Draw: 58.1 percent

Ding Liren win: 24.8 percent

AFTER 22.Rb1

Gukesh win: 34.0 percent 

Draw: 51.9 percent

Ding Liren win: 14.1 percent

So Ding Liren plays 20.Nf3 and now Gukesh is thinking of a response. Meanwhile, here are the predictions from Leela Zero, an AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast:

Gukesh win: 33.5 percent 

Draw: 52.4 percent

Ding Liren win: 14.1 percent

After he makes move 20 (20.Nf3), Ding Liren has 27 minutes for his next 20 moves. He's now in a scramble once more to get in all his moves. He's lost game 3 on the clock and made his 40th move in game 7 with just seven seconds left on the lock.

Today the longest time he's spent on making moves are for: 

17.Nc2: 15 minutes, 30 secs

8.O-O: 13 mins, 53 secs

15.bxc4: 12 mins, 10 secs

We're now in the middle game of game 8 of the world chess championship. Here's how the game has progressed: 

So Ding Liren plays 17.Nc2 and it causes massive tremors on the evaluation bar of Leela Zero, an AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast:

BEFORE 17.Nc2:

Gukesh win: 19.2 percent 

Draw: 58.5 percent

Ding Liren win: 22.3 percent

AFTER 17.Nc2:

Gukesh win: 30.4 percent 

Draw: 48.1 percent

Ding Liren win: 21.5 percent

Here's what the board looks like after 17.Nc2:

Ding Liren has burnt up an hour of his time for just his first 15 moves. Gukesh has 30 more minutes on the clock,

we have the following sequence of moves: 

1 c4 e5
2 Nc3 Bb4
3 Nd5 Be7
4 Nf3 d6
5 g3 c6
6 Nxe7 Nxe7
7 Bg2 f6
8 O-O Be6
9 b3 d5
10 Ba3 O-O
11 Rc1 a5
12 Ne1 Re8
13 f4 exf4
14 Rxf4 dxc4
15 bxc4 Ng6

Ding Liren's centre pawns HAVE NOT MOVED AT ALL. And we're in the 12th move! 

This goes against the basic tenets of chess, where you're asked to try and control the centre of the board. 

After Ding Liren plays 13.f4, here are the predictions from Leela Zero, an AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast:

Gukesh win: 27.7 percent 

Draw: 52 percent

Ding Liren win: 20.3 percent

here's how the 8th game of the world chess championship has built up so far: 

After 11 moves from both players, here are the predictions from Leela Zero, an AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast:

Gukesh win: 21.3 percent 

Draw: 57.2 percent

Ding Liren win: 21.5 percent

So very even game at the moment. 

Gukesh has an exceptional pawn structure in the middle of the board. 

After about nine moves, Gukesh is finally the one doing some thinking on the board. Ding Liren leaves for some personal time in his player lounge. 

Meanwhile, here are all the moves so far: 

1 c4 e5
2 Nc3 Bb4
3 Nd5 Be7
4 Nf3 d6
5 g3 c6
6 Nxe7 Nxe7
7 Bg2 f6
8 O-O Be6
9 b3 d5
10 Ba3 O-O

Gukesh is up by almost 25 minutes on the clock after 9 moves. Ding spends plenty of clock time thinking long and hard about Move no 9. Gukesh still in deep prep. 

When Ding finally makes a move, the Indian teenager basically opens his eyes and plays a move within seconds and the world champion is back on the clock. 

Ding Liren's knight jumps past the defensive ranks of Gukesh and captures the Indian's bishop right in front of the king. Gukesh's knight takes revenge and picks off the rival knight. 

Ding has spent 16 more minutes by the 8th move. And FIDE's stats show that Gukesh has spent over 8 percent of his time on the board with his eyes shut, meditating.  

So we have the King's English Variation in the English Opening. Lichess notes that we have the Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack. As per Lichess, "Black plays an early Bb4, immediately threatening to weaken White's pawn structure after the trade Bxc3. This line was popularized by Vladimir Kramnik and Alexei Shirov, who played the opening in slightly different ways."

And Ding Liren opts for an English Opening as he pushes his pawn to c4. This is his fourth game with white pieces. And this is fourth different first move. Keeping it fresh is the world champion. Changing his openings like clothes is Ding Liren. The one downside for English is that the opponent has so many variations. And Gukesh responds to Ding's 1.c4 with a 1...e5And we have the following sequence of moves: 1 c4 e52 Nc3 Bb43 Nd5 Be7

The world chess championship is a battle between two players. One is usually the reigning champion, in this case China’s Ding Liren. The other is a challenger, in this case Gukesh, who qualifies by winning the Candidates tournament.

Last time, there were two challengers as reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen opted to forfeit his crown.

Both players are already on the board. Ding Liren, after his near-loss escape in Game 7, is back with black pieces today.

Chess legend Judit Polgar makes an interesting point about the time Gukesh took on Richard Rapport at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Both players were representing their countries on the top board, Gukesh for India while Rapport was playing for Hungary. 

At the ongoing World Chess Championship, Rapport is a second for world champion Ding Liren.

"This summer there was a Richard Rapport vs Gukesh game in Budapest (at the Chess Olympiad), which ended with a draw. Perhaps, it was "more" than a Chess Olympiad game. Why is it interesting? Ding started with three different first moves in 3 games: e4, Nf3, d4. And this unpredictability could come from one of his second, Richard Rapport. I am curious what brings today's game from this point of view," posts Judit Polgar. 

Gukesh, at just 18 years old, is bidding to make history by becoming the youngest World Chess Champion. If he defeats Ding Liren, he will join an elite group of 17 players who have held the title. This historic match is the first time two Asian players have faced off for the World Chess Championship. Fittingly, the event is being held in Singapore, another Asian country.

With the match situation poised at 3.5 points for each player after seven games, the second half of the world chess championship starts today. 

Playing with white pieces give a player the advantage equivalent to having the serve in tennis. The player playing with white makes the first move in chess, so, usually, they get to pick out how the battle will shape up and the strategies that will be used. The player with black reacts to white's play.

Chess legend Susan Polgar has pointed out that the draw in Game 7 will benefit world champion Ding Liren, who was on the ropes from the opening stages but manged to eke out a draw. 

"This was a big miss by Gukesh. It was inexplicable to me why he did not play the simple 44. h4 instead of Ke1. Rule of thumb: 'If you have a running pawn, let it run FAST!' His King was better off on f1 so he can defend his bishop on f3 if needed. King on e1 did not really have a purpose," she said. 

"Good save by Ding in time pressure. We are at the halfway mark with 3.5 points each. 7 games left with Ding having 4 white games."

In another post on X, Susan Polgar pointed out that the world champion how has four games with white pieces while Gukesh has three. 

Ding Liren was surprised by Gukesh's innovative opening move, 7.Re1, which caught him off guard in yesterday's game 7. This unexpected move forced Ding to spend a significant amount of time considering his response. In fact, tyhe world champion spent 28 minutes contemplating move no 7. 

Later in the game, Ding made a risky tactical attempt, sacrificing a queen to gain a positional advantage. However, Gukesh skillfully defended his position, forcing the exchange of queens and further simplifying the position.

During Game 7, the Chess24 broadcast revealed that Gukesh had spent some time sharpening his skills using the "Puzzle Rush" feature on the chess.com app earlier that morning. He reportedly achieved a score of 53, just shy of his personal best of 58.

When asked about his pre-game routine, Gukesh downplayed any elaborate rituals. He simply stated that solving puzzles helps him "warm up his mind" for competition.

Gukesh was asked if he had a specific pre-game routine and if he had any rituals.

“Not much. I just try to follow a specific routine. Puzzle Rush is always nice to do to warm up my mind,” said Gukesh.

Magnus Carlsen described the sixth game of the World Chess Championship as a fantastic and thrilling encounter. He praised Gukesh's innovative opening idea, which caught Ding Liren off guard. Carlsen acknowledged the significant preparation and courage required to play such a risky opening in a high-stakes match. He highlighted Gukesh's ambition and willingness to take risks, even at the cost of material.

“This was a fantastic game. Really couldn’t have asked for more. Best game of the match so far. One that really thrilled everybody,” Carlsen said on the Take Take Take app. “There was a fascinating idea from Gukesh in the opening and almost entirely new concept. Then he played a really good game until a certain point. Ding started fighting back and we got a fantastic back-and-forth battle. Ding found a lot resources.”

Gukesh outplayed Ding Liren in a thrilling encounter during their World Chess Championship match. The game was filled with dramatic twists and turns, with both players pushing the boundaries of strategic play.

Despite Gukesh's strong performance, Ding Liren managed to salvage a draw. The Chinese grandmaster's resilience and experience allowed him to weather the storm and avoid a decisive loss.

The intense battle between the two players showcased the highest level of chess, captivating fans and experts alike.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the world chess championship game 8.