D Gukesh vs Ding Liren, World Chess Championship 2024 Game 8 Highlights: Ding forces draw against Gukesh in 51 moves

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Bb4

3. Nd5 Be7

4. Nf3 d6

5. g3 c6

6. Nxe7 Nxe7

7. Bg2 f6

8. O-O Be6

9. b3 d5

10. Ba3 O-O 

11. Rc1 a5

12. Ne1 Re8

13. f4 exf4

14. Rxf4 dxc4

15. bxc4 Ng6

16. Re4 Na6

17. Nc2 Qc7

18. Nd4 Bf7

19. d3 Ne5

20. Nf3 Nd7

21. Rxe8+ Rxe8

22. Rb1 b5

23. cxb5 Qb6+

24. Kf1 cxb5

25. Bb2 Bxa2

26. Bd4 Nac5

27. Rc1 Bb3

28. Qe1 Be6

29. Qf2 Rc8

30. Be3 Rc7

31. Nd4 Bf7

32. Nc6 Rxc6

33. Bxc6 Qxc6

34. Bxc5 h6

35. Ke1 b4

36. Qd4 Ne5

37. Kd2 Qg2

38. Qf2 Qd5

39. Qd4 Qg2

40. Qf2 Qd5

41. Qd4 Qa2+

42. Rc2 Qe6

43. Qd8+ Kh7

44. Qxa5 b3

45. Rc1 Qd5

46. Qb4 Qg2

47. Qe4+ Qxe4

48. dxe4 b2

49. Rb1 Ba2

50. Rxb2 Nc4+

51. Kc3 Nxb2

And the game ends in a draw. After four and a half hours of grueling chess, finally Ding is able to force a draw against Gukesh in 51 moves. 

Wow, brave from Gukesh as the Indian denies the three-fold repetition for the second time in this World Championship. Gukesh wants to try his chances, even with material imbalance. 

Ding has repeated moves twice as the game is heading towards another draw. Gukesh is on the 40th move and a choice to make as well, whether to take the draw or continue in an inferior position. 

As we approach the 40th move, both Gukesh and Ding are playing not the best moves according to the engine. The accuracy has dropped down to 90.5 for Gukesh and 91.5 for Ding. 

Gukesh has fallen behind Ding on the clock. This is swindle of ultimate level. 

Three moves, three bad ones from Gukesh who allows Ding to get into a better position. The Chinese now can pressurise him to convert the endgame. 

Gukesh makes another bad move and his advantage has fizzled out. Can Ding put pressure on the Indian from here. 

Now Gukesh makes an inaccurate move which lowers his advantage. This has been a very complex game. 

Another bad move from Ding and the eval bar is giving huge advantage to Gukesh. 

16 minutes, 16 moves left for Ding to reach 40 moves. Gukesh has nearly 50 minutes on the other hand. 

Ding’s rook to b1 doesn’t look very promising and he is also down to 18 minutes on the clock. 

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Bb4

3. Nd5 Be7

4. Nf3 d6

5. g3 c6

6. Nxe7 Nxe7

7. Bg2 f6

8. O-O Be6

9. b3 d5

10. Ba3 O-O 

11. Rc1 a5

12. Ne1 Re8

13. f4 exf4

14. Rxf4 dxc4

15. bxc4 Ng6

16. Re4 Na6

17. Nc2 Qc7

18. Nd4 Bf7

19. d3 Ne5

20. Nf3 Nd7

Gukesh has double the time than Ding at the moment. Ding’s clock reads 36 minutes while Gukesh has 1 hr 12 mins

Gukesh still has 30 minutes edge while his accuracy is 98.9. Ding has been playing be an accuracy of 98.4. 

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Bb4

3. Nd5 Be7

4. Nf3 d6

5. g3 c6

6. Nxe7 Nxe7

7. Bg2 f6

8. O-O Be6

9. b3 d5

10. Ba3 O-O 

11. Rc1 a5

12. Ne1 Re8

13. f4 exf4

14. Rxf4 dxc4

Gukesh was brilliant to have kept Ding out of his preparation right from the start and his novelty has surprised the Chinese in a big way. 

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Bb4

3. Nd5 Be7

4. Nf3 d6

5. g3 c6

6. Nxe7 Nxe7

7. Bg2 f6

8. O-O Be6

9. b3 d5

10. Ba3 O-O 

Gukesh keeps blitzing out his moves and still in his opening preparation. His play has given him a 30-minute lead on the clock. 

Gukesh plays a novelty in the seventh move and forces Ding to use 14 minutes to castle of the king side. 

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Bb4

3. Nd5 Be7

4. Nf3 d6

5. g3 c6

6. Nxe7 Nxe7

7. Bg2 f6

English Opening: Reversed Sicilian, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack is how the game has opened up. 

Ding Liren starts with c4 and Gukesh responds with e5. 

Round 1

Liren began his title defence in style as he trumped Gukesh with black pieces in the opening round. 

Round 2

Gukesh and Ding played out a tame draw in the second round. 

Round 3

Gukesh struck back, claiming a win with white to level the points. 

Round 4, 5, 6

The next three games ended in draws, with both players largely playing within themselves. 

Round 7

Though Gukesh held a significant time advantage early on, Ding fought back to prevent the Indian Grand Master from gaining a lead. 

The World Chess Championship match will consist of 14 classical games. Each game will adhere to a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting from move 41.

The 2024 World Chess Championship match between D. Gukesh and Ding Liren consists of 14 games. The first player to score 7.5 points will be crowned the World Champion. If the match ends in a tie after all 14 games, a tiebreak will be held the following day to determine the winner.

Game 1 - November 25, 2024 - Ding Liren beat Gukesh

Game 2 - November 26, 2024 - Round ended in a draw

Game 3 - November 27, 2024 - Gukesh beat Ding Liren

Rest Day - November 28, 2024 - Thursday 

Game 4 - November 29, 2024 - Round ended in a draw

Game 5 - November 30, 2024 - Round ended in a draw

Game 6 - December 1, 2024 - Round ended in a draw

Rest Day - December 2, 2024 - Monday 

Game 7 - December 3, 2024 - Round ended in a draw

Game 8 - December 4, 2024 - Wednesday 

Game 9 - December 5, 2024 - Thursday 

Rest Day - December 6, 2024 - Friday 

Game 10 - December 7, 2024 - Saturday 

Game 11 - December 8, 2024 - Sunday 

Game 12 - December 9, 2024 - Monday 

Rest Day - December 10, 2024 - Tuesday 

Game 13 - December 11, 2024 - Wednesday 

Game 14 - December 12, 2024 - Thursday 

Tie-breaks (If needed) - December 13, 2024 - Wednesday

Where to watch the D. Gukesh vs Ding Liren World Chess Championship 2024 matches?

The World Chess Championship 2024 match between Gukesh and Ding will be streamed on FIDE social media handles (YouTube, Twitch), Chess.com social media handles (YouTube, Twitch) etc.

You can follow all the live action, commentary, moves and live chess board widgets on Sportstar’s daily match blog.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the World Chess Championship, where India’s D. Gukesh will take on reigning champion China’s Ding Liren in Game 8 at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on Wednesday.

After seven rounds, the World Championship series is tied of 3.5-3.5