SINGAPORE: Were you not entertained? D Gukesh isn't known for his off-the-board belligerence but he may well have torn his shirt and gone all Maximus inside the playing hall.
For the second time in the match and twice in three games, the 18-year-old Indian, vying to be the youngest world champion in history, rejected the offer of a draw by threefold repetition. What's more remarkable was that in game six, he was objectively in a worse position when he decided he wouldn't shake hands after 40 moves.
So, he moved his Queen to the A2 square for a check. Ding Liren found a book move that put the teen under entirely avoidable pressure. The move was rated as a 'mistake' by the engines. Liren, the world champion, now had a 50% chance of winning according to Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model used by FIDE during the tournament.
But he needn't have worried. Liren, who cannot seem to get out of this rut of believing in his position, made an inaccuracy as he moved his Queen to d8 for a check. It dropped the eval bar to almost level. The beginning of the end this truly wild game deserved.
The duo not only traded pieces but also made mistakes. One Liren mistake was met by some loose play by the Indian. An inaccuracy by the 32-year-old was offset thanks to one from Gukesh... and so, on they went. Both players had chances to win the game to take a decisive lead. As it transpired, they kept teasing their fans but couldn't continue on the winning line. At various points in the game, both players had a winning advantage on the eval bar but quickly frittered it away thanks to some moves which weakened their positions on the board.
After they recovered and tried to recalibrate their heavy machinery towards the general direction of the opposition King, the iron had gone cold.
The first decisive blow of the game was struck by the Chennai lad as he had gained a significant time advantage. With Black, that's a bonus as it puts additional pressure on the White pieces.
With the extra time secured, he set a devilish trap in the middle game. He went against the engines and the humans as he placed his Knight on the d7 square on the 20th move. It was rated as an 'inaccuracy' by the engines. On the commentary box for chess24, Peter Leko, a World Championship runner-up, was puzzled. "It's a defensive move," he said.
The natural move in this particular line for White was 22...Rb1. After trading off their Rooks, Liren moved his remaining Rook there. As soon as he moved there, the engines liked Gukesh's position (the evaluation moved from level to -0.6). The players sensed a subtle shift and it showed in their body language. Liren, the more expressive of the two, was shaking his head and looked visibly uncomfortable to be in this position. On the other hand, Gukesh was a picture of comfort.
To compound matters for the world champion, he had an unconventional -- and not in a good way -- pawn structure. Both his central pawns were on their starting blocks (first time that has happened in a World Championship game since the 1930s) beyond the 14th move. He was down on the clock but he had to spend all of that time to put firefight every other move.
It changed a few moves later.
26...Nac5 (D Gukesh; inaccuracy)
27...Bb3 (Gukesh; inaccuracy)
28...Be6 (Gukesh; inaccuracy)
29...Kf2 (Ding Liren; good)
30...Be3 (Liren; good)
As soon as Liren made the 30th move, the eval bar gave him an advantage of 1.0 -- at this level, a lot. The Indian hadn't seen a key resource and it was now objectively bad for Black. In compensation, the latter had two passed pawns on the a and b rack but Liren's heavy hitters were controlling key squares.
Would Ding be able to squeeze? No was the answer
Just after the time control, he wanted to go back to his room but Gukesh, who didn't even realise how bad he was, soldiered on, believing he had a W locked and loaded. It didn't come to fruition and after pieces were escorted off the board, the draw was a logical endpoint for an equal bishop pawn endgame.
“Blocking with 26…Ndc5 (instead of 26…Nac5) looked weird to me," Gukesh said after the game. "I thought that my move was winning but I missed his key move 28.Qe1, when 28…Nxd3 loses to 29.Qc3. If I had spotted this idea then I would probably have thought a bit more. It was a very tricky position and he found these ideas very quickly – great defence by my opponent."
Liren was quick to praise Gukesh for 'outplaying me'. "He outplayed me once again but then he missed some important details and let me back into the game."
With chances coming thick and fast for both players, it may only be a matter of time before one of them finds that decisive win.
On Thursday, Gukesh will play with White before the third rest day of the final.