Ding staves off Gukesh's final thrust with White in Game 13

Indian challenger's push for win didn't fructify in 69-move penultimate classical game against Chinese world champion

- Susan Ninan

BENGALURU: Thirteen games, nine draws, level scores and we have a match that is now down to its final classical game and a world champion that's yet to be decided.

With the White pieces in Game 13 on Wednesday, India's Gukesh D had his chances, but reigning world champion Ding Liren found the defensive resources to survive in a 69-move draw. Both players now are at 6.5-6.5 points. Ding will play White in Game 14. Should scores still remain tied, the match will be decided in the rapid tiebreaks on Friday.

Gukesh returned to 1.e4, was met by the French Defense, and uncorked a surprise with 7.a3. Ding was visibly thrown off and later said he was "confused by the move-order trick". "I came for a fight...I was feeling fresh, I was feeling confident and had this cool idea so I was quite excited to play it," Gukesh offered.

Inside the first 12 moves, Ding fell behind by an hour on the clock. It's been a recurring theme in this match - Ding being surprised in the opening by rare, offbeat ideas, burning through his clock, falling behind and Gukesh's time advantage disappearing in the middlegame.