Gukesh, the 17-year-old from Chennai, is the youngest ever World Chess Championship contender.

India’s 17-year-old phenom D Gukesh is headed towards the World Chess Championship clash against Ding Liren after his game with Hikaru Nakamura ended in a draw.

On a dramatic day, Gukesh managed to hold Nakamura to a draw, but his fate was sealed on the other board where Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana battled for 109 moves before agreeing to a draw. There was plenty of drama on the day. For a brief while, it appeared that Gukesh would be crowned as the winner today after a blunder from Fabiano Caruana in his 41st move opened up the possibility of a draw against Ian Nepomniachtchi. But then Nepo returned the favour, and handed Caruana the upper hand. But finally, the momentum swung again and the Nepo vs Caruana game headed for a draw.

In the other games of the day, Praggnanandhaa defeated Nijat Abasov while Vidit Gujrathi agreed to a draw against Alireza after barely five minutes at the board. In the women’s section, Vaishali Rameshbabu defeated Kateryna Lagno for her fifth win in a row after four successive losses. Humpy Koneru defeated Lei Tingjie. In the women’s Candidates event, Tan Zhongyi was crowned the winner, meaning she will take on compatriot Ju Wenjun in the Women’s World Championship.