Indian challenger D. Gukesh was clearly disappointed to have lost his lead in the final stages of the World Championship, losing the 12th game to Ding Liren, and admitted that he had many chances in the second half of the intriguing match. With just two games remaining, the championship match is heading to a thrilling conclusion. Both players have six points. “This game was a little disappointing. Luckily I have a day off tomorrow, I’ll just try to play good games,” Gukesh said after the Game 12 loss. However, the Indian teenager said he and the defending champion showed quality chess in the second half of the match.
“In the second half I had chances in many games. Today was a bad game, I won’t achieve much, we are both playing better than in the first half, but I think I had more chances in the second half.”
Talking about the game as a whole, Gukesh said he thought he was fine: “I felt comfortable after the opening, but after his 16th move I wasn’t sure.” Unhappy with his 17th move, the Indian said it was just a “mistake”. .
Speaking about his new opening choice, reverse Benonine, Gukesh said: “I was prepared for a few moves, I didn’t exactly remember all the details, but I knew about the position.” Speaking about the new situation in the match, which leaves both Liren and him with six points each, the Indian said: “Obviously, it’s not nice to lose this game. Yesterday everything could have gone differently. At least the score is still level, there are still two games left, so we’ll see.” Liren said he had been resting a lot since Sunday’s debacle.
“Yesterday was a difficult game because at some point I was much better and simply spent too little time on the critical moments. I ruined a very promising position,” he said.
About his preparation, the Chinese admitted that he was surprised again: “I was taken by surprise in the opening, I knew something, but not this particular variation. I put pressure on my opponent throughout the entire game and did not slip like in the last game.
“In previous games, it was not so obvious that I was also under threat worse, but today I realized that I am much better,” Liren said when asked about not pressing enough in previous games when he had chances.
Speaking about what brought his energy back and how his coach and mother helped: “Well, (Richard) Rapport sent me a file called Strike Back and my mom said, ‘You did it last time and you can do it it again.” PTI VS AT AT
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