SINGAPORE: The 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.
Once both players played the recommended moves, it was a question if they wanted to be overly ambitious -- like how Gukesh had been in the first game -- or come back for another skirmish on Saturday. To be fair, Gukesh tried to tease out a half-chance in the endgame but it wasn't to be.
After the match, the 18-year-old did agree that he was surprised by the opening but content with the way he reacted. "It wasn't a completely new line for me," he said. "Although it was a bit of a surprise. I was playing over the board from early on. I think I reacted well enough, neutralising his edge. It was a solid game and even towards the end, I had some chances to press better. With Black, it's all you can expect."
What should please him a lot is the way he reacted even though he was out prep -- "playing over the board" -- from fairly early on. It was roughly around the time the engine gave a marginal advantage to White but it didn't last for long. "I had a rest day to recover from the tough loss and today (Friday) I was in a very good move," Liren said after the game. "I tried to surprise my opponent and it worked well, but the advantage was small and he neutralised my initiative."
The initiative Ding referred to was an unconventional opening with White, especially when he moved his dark-coloured bishop to 5...a3. It elicited several gasps from the fans inside the playing area. After mulling over the board for seven minutes and change, Gukesh came up with 5...Nbd7, the perfect move to maintain parity in the game.
Both dark-coloured bishops were removed from the game soon afterwards but the pace itself wasn't all that; it was all a bit like watching paint dry. But it's why the World Championship is such a fascinating event; it can tire you out multiple ways and it demands your full concentration at all times.
Both players showcased their technical side, especially the Indian who played 13...Ne5. On the commentary for chess24, Judit Polgar, said "I'm puzzled' while trying to analyse the move. It did two things, something Polgar admitted 10 minutes later. It forced Liren on the backfoot as it made him spend a considerable amount of time on his reply (14...a4).
From hereon in, the most likely result was a draw. And that's what transpired just after the three-hour mark.
Overall, after the first four games, the Indian teen has every reason to be happy just because of the way he has handled Ding's white games. While he did give his opponent a small chance in the second game, both games have been relatively incident-free. Even if there are 10 more games remaining, it already feels like the title will be decided by what Gukesh does when he has white pieces.
Gukesh's white games have been a struggle: Anand
Speaking about the Championship so far, Viswanathan Anand said 'all the games have been combative so far'. "The games have been interesting. Gukesh's white games have been more of a struggle. Ding has been looking for a different kind of play. Even today, Ding has been in reasonable position to exert pressure. Both players have been probing for every inch."