FOURTH GAME STALEMATE

Gukesh settles for a draw vs Ding; over to Game Five at World Chess Championships match

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

HE scoreboard will tell you that the points from the fourth game were split. What it won't say was the way the fourth game almost ground to a halt after both players got out of the opening with just the dark-coloured bishops off the board among the heavy-hitting pieces here on Friday.

Even though the engine maintained a more or less drawn position, the tension was palpable inside the playing hall. If both players didn't play precise lines over the next few moves, the engines were giving a clear edge to one player.

That's why world champion Ding Liren, and D Gukesh, the youngest candidate in history at the World Chess Championship match, took their time. There was an imminent danger of a knife-fight over the board but both players wanted to lock the draw before broadening their horizons, if possible.

It kind of resulted in a Mexican standoff with both sides potentially staring down several heavy opposition pieces but without the necessary risk. It was a lot of war but without any of the shooting. At one point, one hour elapsed for just five moves across both players.