World Champion Ding Liren was unable to punish GM Gukesh Dommaraju after the Indian star blundered in game five of the 2024 FIDE World Championship, on Saturday, November 30.

After five games, both players have won one game each with the overall score of the best-of-14 contest at 2.5-2.5, with nine games to go.

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Gukesh picked the quiet Exchange French, went for a risky g4-push, and later stumbled into a very difficult position. However hard Ding tried to take advantage and push for a win, the game fizzled out and ended in a draw after 40 moves with a threefold repetition.

Game 4 in the 2024 FIDE World Championship Match in Singapore ended in a 42-move draw after threefold repetition on Friday, November 29, a result that ensured the title match remained level at 2 points apiece ahead of the fifth round on Saturday.

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If the 18-year-old from Chennai beats Ding Liren, after 14 classical games, he will become not just the 18th World Champion but also the youngest in history, breaking the record set by Garry Kasparov in 1985.

The World Championship Match consist of 14 games. The player who scores 7.5 points or more wins the Match, and no further games are played.

If the score is equal after 14 games, the winner is decided by a tiebreak.