HALF A POINT FOR GUKESH

The Indian Grandmaster plays out a draw against Liren on second day of the championship

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

In some of the games at the last two chess Olympiads in Mahabalipuram and Budapest, D Gukesh kept trying to squeeze water out of stone. Invariably, he succeeded. It kind of explained why he managed to go on long winning runs, eventually winning individual gold from Board 1 in both those team events.

That, though, was then. You need different tactics to prosper in an unforgiving environment like the World Championship where the onus is on 'not doing anything stupid'. The teen didn't do anything stupid at the last two Olympiads but he constantly kept pushing and prodding.

On Tuesday, he was more than happy—the phlegmatic Indian teen even allowed himself a smile at the post-match press conference—to walk away with a draw while playing with black pieces against Ding Liren in game two of the Championship in Singapore. The Chinese world champion leads the 14-game series 1.5-0.5, but this game saw Gukesh perhaps easing himself into the long grind after admitting to 'some nerves' before the first game on Monday.