After chaotic two rounds, Game Nine takes quiet turn

IF Tuesday and Wednesday were allaction from the getgo, Thursday was more of a slow burn without the final pay-off.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

When both players play precise chess for over a couple of hours, it can lead to a dull draw and that's exactly what transpired. It was so precise the evaluation bar stuck to 0.0 like it had been nailed to a mast (chess.​com put the accuracy of both players at over 99 per cent). The draw was so visible from a mile away that Hikaru Nakamura, one of the world's leading players, published his Game 9 recap even before the players had agreed to shake hands.

It means the champion, Ding Liren, and the challenger, D Gukesh, remain tied on 4.5 points with five games to go before potential rapid tie-breaks.

The game itself was free of jeopardy and it transmitted into the viewing area fairly early on.