"I believe in Fischer's quote – 'I believe in making good moves.'"
D Gukesh came up with this gem when a reporter asked him if, like the great Garry Kasparov, he also believes in coincidence.
Alas, that — the Verbal Gambit Accepted at a postgame press conference — proved to be the only sparkling passage of action in Singapore on Friday. Because challenger Gukesh and reigning champion Ding Liren played out a quiet draw in the fourth game of their World Chess Championship match.
The result, which needed neither great energy nor a great move, can be considered quite encouraging for Gukesh as he was playing with black. The 14-game match heads into the fifth game on Saturday with 2-2 scoreline.
Russia's Kasparov believed that he would be the 13th world champion as he was born on the 13th (Apr, 1963). If 18-yearold Gukesh dethrones Ding, he will be the 18th world champion. Hence the question on coincidence, and the Indian's quip.
However, going by Gukesh's response, it's clear that he believes in alignment of thoughts and deeds, not alignment of stars. When asked about which former player he would love to play against, he unsurprisingly took the name of Robert the XIth (Fischer, the 11th world champion).
"He is someone I really admire," said Gukesh, "It will be cool to play a game against him."
The game itself was devoid of much drama. And since both players managed their time well, the time pressure was taken out of the equation.
Ding was supposed to come up with a new idea since he was playing with white pieces after the rest day and would have liked to regain the lead.
Though he managed a semisurprise with an unpopular line in Reti Opening (5.Ba3), the Indian was up to the task and equalised. The point was split after 42 moves and three hours & 40 minutes of play.
For his second successive White, Ding failed to press hard with circumspection reigning over aggression.
Ding shifted from 1.e4 to 1.Nf3, keeping former champion Magnus Carlsen's estimation that the Chinese could have prepared seven different openings for his seven games with white — the strategy that he followed for last year's title match against Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Ding and Gukesh took more than 15 minutes for their ninth and 13th moves respectively.
Experts were united that Gukesh's 13th move (Ne5) was a nice choice as he refused to go for various passive options at that point. It was not among the top three choices of Stockfish. On the 16th turn, Ding's Nf3 (offer to exchange knights) was a subtle offer for a draw.
Gukesh's 30...f5 was a weakening move that screamed "I am 18 years old," according to Judit Polgar on the Chess24 webcast. "Anand would have opted for more straightforward liquidation and draw," she added.
In the endgame of queen, rook and four pawns each, it was Ding's turn to stay away from traps -- a dip in alertness would have lost his queen for rook -- and steer the game to absolute safety. But then it was a tall order to expect the world champion losing two successive games after the reversal with black pieces in the third game on Wednesday.
After they made the first time-control comfortably, Ding and Gukesh could have agreed for a draw. But they chose to repeat moves instead as the potency of Gukesh's cfile pawn diminished further after the queen exchange.
Earlier, Ding tried to thwart Gukesh from the short castle by offering bishop exchange on the seventh move on the f8 square. But the Indian took the white bishop with the knight and not the king. By opting to waste an additional knight move and still managing to castle, Gukesh underlined his confidence and preparedness in the position.
