Singapore: Indian challenger D Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw with white pieces in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship against defending champion Ding Liren of China here Saturday.

The second draw in a row left both players with an identical tally on 2.5 points apiece, still shy of 5 more points in order to win the championship.

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The two players signed peace after 40 moves. It was the third draw of the match.

The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game before the two played out draws in the second and fourth game.

The 18-year-old Gukesh is the youngest ever challenger for the crown and had won the third game on Wednesday.

After missing out on a simple rook trade that could have made life easy, Gukesh admitted that he blundered midway, though he survived the scare.

"I realised I blundered but I don't know how it happened. I didn't know how bad it was really... my position almost collapsed. Yeah, I just blundered but it was OK... I was confident that I would hold on," said Gukesh in the post-game press conference.

On the 14th and 15th move, Liren spent a lot of time and found the best solution when it just looked that Gukesh was ready to press for more.

However, the aggression shown by Gukesh only made things worse for him when a draw looked imminent.

“I just should have gone for the rook's trade and the game would have been a draw anyway," said Gukesh.

“I am not sure why the opponent did not play (a Bishop manoeuvre) that I was very worried about," he added.

On his performance so far in the match, Gukesh said, "It is still early, not even halfway through. Important games yet to come. Considering I was trailing after losing the first game, it is nice to be here. I am trying to take one game at a time."

Liren was his usual self and conceded that he did not realise he had advantage in the endgame.

When asked if a draw was a good result as black, the defending champion said, "I always try to play my best and somehow it settled for a draw.

"Results are not ideal because I have got some chances in the games till now, even today I had advantage but I didn't realise, there is something to improve in the next rounds."

It was the first time in the match so far that Liren did not have any problems with his black pieces. The defending champion was at ease as Gukesh yet again employed the King's pawn opening and faced the French defense for the second time in the match.

Having lost the first game in the same opening, caution was the name of the game for Gukesh as he went for the Exchange variation only to find Liren well equipped.

The opening, though has been tried at the top on and off, did not present black with any herculean defensive task as Liren showed after exchanging the queens early.

A pair of rooks changed hands soon after, leaving Gukesh with a level position. But, the Indian, true to his style, tried to create an imbalanced position soon after by allowing Liren to get a protected passed pawn on the sixth rank.

Liren did not find the most tested continuation and instead went for an equal endgame with Bishops of opposite colours. There was no doubt about the result of the game anymore but Liren decided to part with a pawn and got a fortress which did not allow any player to make further progress.

As per rules, the players had to complete a minimum of 40 moves and once that was done, there was nothing that could change the result of the game.

Admires Dhoni, Djokovic:

Aside of chess, Gukesh said former India captain MS Dhoni and tennis player Novak Djokovic are the two sportspersons he admires most.

"When I was younger, it was Indian cricketer MS Dhoni, now it's Novac Djokovic. I think both are great athletes and I really admire a lot of things about both of them."

Dhoni plays for for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and Gukesh is from Chennai.

Impact of Paddy Upton:

In October, Gukesh had roped in famous mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, who has worked with the 2011 cricket World Cup winning Indian team, to prepare for this match.

"I have been working with Paddy for the last few months in preparation for this match. It has been enjoyable working with him, he has really helped me mentally and physically in preparing for this match in different ways."

Why he closes eyes in between moves?

"I usually do this quite often during games. Sometimes, it is easier to calculate when eyes are closed," Gukesh said.

"Maybe at some point, I am also like I am sitting in this room and there is nothing to see and so just close your eyes. But mostly I am thinking about the moves."

The Moves:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 c4 7.Bc2 Bd6 8.Qe2+ Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.0–0 Re8 11.Re1+ Kf8 12.Rxe8+ Kxe8 13.Bg5 Nbd7 14.Nbd2 h6 15.Bh4 Nh5 16.Re1+ Kf8 17.g4 Nf4 18.Bg3 Nb6 19.g5 hxg5 20.Nxg5 Bd7 21.Ngf3 Re8 22.Ne5 Bxe5 23.dxe5 Nd3 24.Bxd3 cxd3 25.f3 Nc4 26.Nxc4 dxc4 27.Re4 Bc6 28.Rd4 Bxf3 29.Kf2 Bc6 30.Rxc4 Rd8 31.Rd4 Rxd4 32.cxd4 Bd5 33.b3 Ke7 34.Ke3 Ke6 35.Kxd3 g6 36.Kc3 a6 37.Kd3 Kf5 38.Ke3 Ke6 39.Kd3 Kf5 40.Ke3 Ke6. Game drawn. (PTI)