D Gukesh Vs Ding Liren, World Chess Championship Game 12 Highlights: Defen-DING Champion Defeats Indian Challenger To Tie Scores At 6-6

Welcome to the live coverage of the FIDE World Chess Championship where India's D Gukesh is currently challenging the title-holder of China Ding Liren.

We are in the Game 12 of the competition now. Courtesy of a win in the last game, Gukesh now leads Liren 6-5 in the championship. The first person to reach 7.5 wins the title. So, three draws in the last three outings would make D Gukesh the youngest world champion in the storied history of chess.

Liren begins with an English opening which is pawn to c4 and Gukesh replies with pawn to e6.

Remember, Liren has whites today and Gukesh is playing with black pieces.

First four moves

1 c4 e6

2 g3 d5

3 Bg2 Nf6

4 Nf3 d4

5 O-O Nc6

6 e3 Be7

So Gukesh's Be7 has forced Liren to think long. Gukesh has looked fully prepared and this move from the Indian has forced the champion to take some time.

Ding took 12 minutes to develop his knight to C3, and he swiftly opts for a short castle on his next move. After the first nine moves, both Ding and Gukesh have identical accuracy according to the engine, with each player achieving an accuracy of 99.6%.

Dommaraju Gukesh played h6 as his 10th move after taking 15 minutes. Now, it is Liren's turn and he is trailing by 30 runs on the clock already.

Ding (White) vs Gukesh (Black)

1. c4 e6

2. g3 d5

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. Nf3 d4

5. O-O Nc6

6. e3 Be7

7. d3 dxe3

8. Bxe3 e5

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Re1 h6

11. a3 a5

12. h3

The middle is packed, and all eyes are on Gukesh to see which line he chooses. He knows the stakes and is making the most of his time advantage over the world champ. Even after spending seven minutes, he’s still got a solid half-hour edge on Ding.

Whoa, Ding’s showing some expressions, now that’s a rare sight. He’s picking up the pace while Gukesh carefully plays Rb8. But Ding’s instant reply with Qc2 has Gukesh looking a little caught off guard. Did the champ finally throw him a curveball?

Ding's moving quicker now, looks like someone handed him an energy bar. Gukesh takes his time with Rb8, and Ding instantly fires back with Qc2. Gukesh looks a little surprised.

Has Ding finally caught him off guard?

Ding (White) vs Gukesh (Black)

1. c4 e6

2. g3 d5

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. Nf3 d4

5. O-O Nc6

6. e3 Be7

7. d3 dxe3

8. Bxe3 e5

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Re1 h6

11. a3 a5

12. h3 Be6

13. Kh2 Rb8

14. Qc2 Re8

15. Nb5 Bf5

16. Rad1 Nd7

17. Qd2 Bg6

18. d4 e4

19. Ng1 Nb6

Ding (White) vs Gukesh (Black)

1. c4 e6

2. g3 d5

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. Nf3 d4

5. O-O Nc6

6. e3 Be7

7. d3 dxe3

8. Bxe3 e5

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Re1 h6

11. a3 a5

12. h3 Be6

13. Kh2 Rb8

14. Qc2 Re8

15. Nb5 Bf5

16. Rad1 Nd7

17. Qd2 Bg6

18. d4 e4

19. Ng1 Nb6

20. Qc3 Bf6

“I really don’t see much hope for Gukesh now.” Viswanathan Anand said on Chessbase India stream.

Ding now holds a 1.8 evaluation advantage. After Gukesh's questionable Bg6 move, AI suggests Ding has a 77.6% chance of winning. It looked like a move made in panic, a response that Ding can easily counter.

Gukesh is struggling, LIKE LITERALLY.

The knight retreats to b8, and now Gukesh is left with just 8 minutes to make 15 moves. This is tough for the young challenger.

Meanwhile, Ding’s sitting pretty with 17 minutes on the clock, casually weighing his options and letting Gukesh stew in his own tension.

The real issue for Gukesh is that all his pieces are locked in key positions, make a move and the whole setup could collapse like a house of cards. Ding’s just chilling, waiting for it to all fall apart.

Ding (White) vs Gukesh (Black)

1. c4 e6

2. g3 d5

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. Nf3 d4

5. O-O Nc6

6. e3 Be7

7. d3 dxe3

8. Bxe3 e5

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Re1 h6

11. a3 a5

12. h3 Be6

13. Kh2 Rb8

14. Qc2 Re8

15. Nb5 Bf5

16. Rad1 Nd7

17. Qd2 Bg6

18. d4 e4

19. Ng1 Nb6

20. Qc3 Bf6

21. Qc3 Bf6

22. Qc2 a4

23. Ne2 Bg5

24. Nf4 Bxf4

25. Bxf4 Rc8

26. Qc3 Nb8

27. d5 Qd7

28. Nc7 Rf8

29. Bxe4 Nc6

30. Bg2 Rcd8

31. Nd5 Nxd5

32. cxd5 Nb8

33. Qxc5 Rc8

34. Qd4 Na6

35. Re7 Qb5

And that’s it, Gukesh folds and resigns on the 39th move. A tough end to this round as the 2024 World Championship is tied once again, now at 6.0-6.0.

Ding (White) vs Gukesh (Black)

1. c4 e6

2. g3 d5

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. Nf3 d4

5. O-O Nc6

6. e3 Be7

7. d3 dxe3

8. Bxe3 e5

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Re1 h6

11. a3 a5

12. h3 Be6

13. Kh2 Rb8

14. Qc2 Re8

15. Nb5 Bf5

16. Rad1 Nd7

17. Qd2 Bg6

18. d4 e4

19. Ng1 Nb6

20. Qc3 Bf6

21. Qc3 Bf6

22. Qc2 a4

23. Ne2 Bg5

24. Nf4 Bxf4

25. Bxf4 Rc8

26. Qc3 Nb8

27. d5 Qd7

28. Nc7 Rf8

29. Bxe4 Nc6

30. Bg2 Rcd8

31. Nd5 Nxd5

32. cxd5 Nb8

33. Qxc5 Rc8

34. Qd4 Na6

35. Re7 Qb5

36. d7 Rc4

37. Qe3 Rc2

38. Bd6 f6

39. Rxg7+

DING WINS

"Thought I was quite comfortable out of the opening, but after queen to d2, I wasn’t sure what to do."

Reflecting on the loss after yesterday's victory, Gukesh says: "It's obviously not pleasant to lose, but yesterday’s game could’ve gone either way. So I guess it’s fine. At least the score is still tied, and there are two more games left."

That's all for this match. We'll meet you again on December 11 for Game 13. There's a one-day break to refresh and rest. Until then, bye bye.