Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City “A game or contest that ends with the score even.” That’s the dictionary definition for the word ‘draw’. For those following this World Chess Championship match, this is becoming the norm, and in a fairly boring sense of the term. For the seventh time in the last seven games of this contest, that turned out to be the outcome. This means that D Gukesh and Ding Liren are tied at 5-5. Ten games gone and four more to go, so it’s difficult to say which way this is going to tilt. Possibly not on either…

-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City Every day when the players enter the playing arena and leave the press conference room after the game, there are about a few dozen fans crowding those places. They cheer for the players before the games and ask for autographs after them. Most of them are Indians rooting for D Gukesh. Fans of Ding Liren are also present, although fewer in numbers. As the World Chess Championship duel nears the business end, the clamour around the Indian will increase and so will the pressure. The players are tied at 4.5-4.5 after nine games. In the…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City Things kept happening in the manner they had been, in this World Chess Championship final in Sentosa in Singapore. Ding Liren was well behind time compared to D Gukesh for a major part of the game and caught up eventually. For the seventh time in nine games, there was another draw. With five more rounds to play, the players are tied 4.5-4.5. The big difference was, the defending champion didn’t give any chance whatsoever to the challenger. In the last few games, Gukesh held an edge for a long time before settling for draws. This…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore For the second day running, D Gukesh’s father was spotted outside the auditorium where spectators are seated to watch the World Chess Championship. Dr Rajinikanth was once again glued to his phone. And yet again, he saw his son squander a favourable position against Ding Liren before settling for a draw. With six games to go, the scores are tied 4-4. This is becoming a pattern in this duel. The defending champion thinks a lot to make his moves in the first half, falls way behind in terms of time remaining on the clock and claws…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore Conditions in Singapore can be drastically different depending on where one is. Outdoors, it’s warm when it doesn’t rain. At the World Chess Championship match being played at Resorts World Sentosa, metro trains and buses, things can be freezing because of the air-conditioning. It’s a weird combination of hot and cold. The players, too, blew hot and cold in the seventh-round game. At the end of a marathon battle which lasted over five hours, D Gukesh saw his advantage fade away gradually and painfully. Ding Liren came back from an inferior position and intense time pressure…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore The World Chess Championship is delicately poised. Defending champion Ding Liren and D Gukesh are 3-3 after six games. With eight more rounds to play, there is no favourite. The Chinese has surprised the Indian challenger a few times, but the youngster has come back to stay even. In Tuesday’s seventh round, Gukesh will have white pieces. Singapore seems to be lukewarm for this match. There was no publicity signage visible at the airport and common people are not even aware that this is taking place in their city. That, however, doesn’t diminish the importance of…

D Gukesh survived a scare in the fifth round of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. He was in a favourable position with white pieces early on and it seemed headed for a draw, before things unfolded in an unexpected manner. In the end, the Indian was possibly fortunate to get away with a draw, which makes the score 2.5-2.5 in the 14-round match. It was quite even to begin with, in the match being played in Singapore. Neither side had a clear advantage after the opening. It looked quite Even Stevens until some time. However, and according…

If a draw can be a sign of supremacy, D Gukesh produced one on Friday. In Game 4 of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren, the Indian defended with pomp and black pieces to force a stalemate which makes the score 2-2 in the 14-game contest. Gukesh never looked in discomfort and created a situation early on which made it hard for white to penetrate. This was a big game in Singapore after a day of rest. The players had traded a win apiece and played out a draw in the last three rounds. Coming off a win…

D Gukesh made a quick comeback in the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. The Indian won the third game with white pieces to draw level in the contest. The Chinese had won the first game and the second was drawn. Following Wednesday’s result in Singapore, the players head into the first rest day with the score in the 14-game match reading 1.5-1.5. Ding fell under time pressure early on and succumbed to it in the end. He took too much time to ponder his moves and that proved decisive. At one stage towards the close, he needed to…

Victory eluded D Gukesh in the second game of the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren. It turned out to be stalemate after 23 moves following around three hours of brainstorming at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. This gave the Chinese a lead of 1.5-0.5, with 12 more games to be played. The player who reaches 7.5 points first will be declared the winner. Gukesh, who lost the opening game with the white pieces, had black in this round and he couldn’t make headway in his search of a win. The defending champion kept things tight and denied his…