D Gukesh and Ding Liren played out a seventh consecutive draw in game 10 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship, with the scores now tied 5-5. This was the quickest draw of the championship so far, with both players playing out a three-fold repetition and forcing a draw in a little over 2.5 hours, 36 moves in.
The players head into another two games before the next rest day, with Gukesh playing with white tomorrow in game 11.
It was not much of a surprise opening from Ding Liren, opting to play his favoured London opening, and Gukesh responding along a predicted line. However, Ding was forced out of his prep around move 10, taking a long time to complete his move. Later he said, "He surprised me - I though it would be a slight advantage - but it was out of my calculation."
The game progress in the exact line of a game between Hrant Melkumyan and Ante Saric till moves 12 - which ended with a win for white. However, Ding moved into a position of very slight advantage, but Gukesh forced a position where a draw looked like the most likely outcome. The two players played out an even game, and Ding then began a three-fold repitition by move 32, and Gukesh accepted it in move 36.
Gukesh late said he was happy with the draw, saying "With black, to get a solid draw like this is a good result. Four more very interesting games to go. This game, the quality was high - maybe some improvements - but solid draw overall. It's obviously getting closer and closer, but the best approach is to play good games. That's the only way good results will come - that's what I've trained to do."
Ding also noted that the stakes are higher now, saying "There's not much room to make mistakes - every loss can become a bad situation. So, we have to be careful with every move." He also noted that he's not surprised that the match is tied 5-5, saying "Not a big surprise, since we are not so different. Also the game itself - some of the games are better for him and some for me - so it's a fair result so far."
You can relive the match, as it happened, below: