World Chess Championship: D Gukesh loses lead after stunning comeback from Ding Liren in Game 12

Young Indian Grandmaster D. Gukesh lost his lead as defending champion Ding Liren staged a stunning comeback in Game 12, levelling the score at 6-6 in the World Chess Championship. The scenario was reminiscent of the 2023 World Championship, where Ding overcame a 5-6 deficit by winning Game 12 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, ultimately forcing a tiebreaker and claiming the title. With only two games remaining, Gukesh and Ding are now tied 6-6 in the 14-game classical format match. Legendary Susan Polgar highlighted the enormity of Ding Liren’s win in a tweet.

The decisive result after 39 moves spanning nearly four hours marked a dramatic turnaround for the 32-year-old defending champion from Zhejiang province. Just a day earlier, he had appeared visibly shaken after making a one-move blunder that cost him a crucial game. Sunday’s victory had placed Gukesh on the brink of claiming the trophy. However, Monday’s defeat left the Indian challenger devastated. The defending champion kept up the pressure relentlessly until Gukesh finally conceded after 3 hours and 54 minutes.

Ding, playing with the white pieces, opened with the English (1. c4) for the second time in the match, opting for a setup designed to exert long-term pressure with g3 and Bg2. Although he fell behind on the clock by more than 30 minutes by his 10th move, he successfully thwarted Black’s main ideas and consistently found precise moves that left Gukesh struggling for counterplay. Ding entered his first defense of the world championship on the back of a dismal run—28 classical games without a win—that had dropped him to 23rd in the world rankings and made him a roughly 3-to-1 underdog in the best-of-14-games match.

It was Ding Liren who opened the account with a win in the first game of the World Chess Championship match. The win also ended his long wait for a victory in the classical format. The reigning world champion was going through one of the leanest patches of his career in the lead-up to the title clash in Singapore. However, he stunned Gukesh in the opening game.

However, Gukesh made a resounding comeback in Game 3 to level the scores. After the action-packed start to the match, Gukesh and Liren traded as many as seven draws on the trot before Gukesh broke the deadlock in Game 11 on Sunday. Playing with white pieces, Gukesh went for the kill and took a lead that could have proved decisive. However, Liren was on top of his game on Monday, playing a game with an accuracy of over 90 percent to make a stunning comeback and send a strong message.

Both players will now look forward to Tuesday’s rest day before the match resumes on Wednesday, with Gukesh playing the white pieces in Game 13.