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. 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.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

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.

If the atmosphere was over the edge the last few days, it was like watching paint dry on Thursday. What Liren did during the game's concluding stages was a homage to the game state; he stretched his hands behind his chair to relax and, pardon the reference to the popular meme, chill.