Ding with the White pieces came out somewhat passively but certainly not as pusillanimously as Game 10.

No serious opportunities arose for either side; once many pawns and most of the minor pieces came off the board all that was left was hardly unbalanced.  Ding even conceded his b-pawn as the time control approached as, with all of the few pawns left were on one side of the board, no true disadvantage came from the material deficit.  Another minor slip allowed Black to confine the White king to its back rank, allowing the Black king positional superiority but in no way enough to do anything but draw.

Then like a bolt from the blue the Champion violated the cardinal rule of defending an inferior position:  keep the pieces on and get the pawns off.   By taking up White’s most foolish offer to trade rooks and then forcing the bishops off, Black was able to quickly achieve the most elementary of wins.

The French Defense made its reappearance, Ding having used a rarity on the way to scoring a win with the Black pieces in Game 1.   In this contest Ding was first to deviate, but with a poorer concept.  Gukesh missed numerous opportunities to gain a clear advantage–overlooking the killshot on move 31 may haunt the young Challenger for some time– and Black managed to escape in a well-known drawn rook-and-pawn endgame.

Enjoy the interactive game viewer below, no chess knowledge required.