World chess champ Ding, teen challenger even after six games

SINGAPORE: The 2024 World Chess Championship remained finely poised Sunday after defending champion Ding Liren and teenage challenger Gukesh Dommaraju played out a thrilling 46-move draw.

The score is tied at 3.0 points each after six games, rounding off the first week of the 14-game match. Monday will be a rest day and play resumes Tuesday. The 32-year-old champion from China started strongly, putting his 18-year-old Indian challenger on the defensive.

But Gukesh recovered to send the match down into a dramatic double-rook endgame, with pawns strewn across the board. A threefold repetition after 46 moves from both players ended the game in a draw after more than four hours.