Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju played to a fifth successive draw on Wednesday in the eighth game of their $2.5m world championship showdown in Singapore, leaving the best-of-14-games match all square at 4-all after a rollercoaster affair which saw both players let winning chances slip away in the middlegame.
The 32-year-old reigning champion from China, after playing a new first move (1 c4) for the fourth time in four games with the favored white pieces, fought back from the brink of disaster by finding an incredible idea from a worse position while trailing badly on time. Helped by a Gukesh blunder, Ding played confidently and quickly to turn the tables.
