Indian Grandmaster D. Gukesh bounced back to draw a largely uneventful second game against defending champion Ding Liren of China in the World Chess Championship on Tuesday.Playing with black pieces, Gukesh made a comeback of sorts, having lost to Liren in the opener of the 14-game showdown on Monday. It was a good recovery by Gukesh, as Liren could do very little with his white pieces and had to share the point.“Draw with black in the world championship match is always nice, and it’s too early; we still have a long match,” the Chennai-based GM said in the post-game press conference.“I think after I was surprised in the opening, I reacted pretty decently, and I didn’t give him any chances. It was a solid game with black, which is nice,” he added.If Monday was the day when nothing he did worked according to plan, Tuesday changed everything for Gukesh as he could not have asked for a better start.The moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 d6 7.0–0 h6 8.Be3 Be6 9.a5 Bxc4 10.dxc4 0–0 11.Bxc5 dxc5 12.b3 Qxd1 13.Rfxd1 Rad8 14.Rdc1 Nd4 15.Ne1 Rd6 16.Kf1 g6 17.Rd1 Rfd8 18.f3 Kg7 19.Kf2 h5 20.Ne2 Nc6 21.Nc3 Nd4 22.Ne2 Nc6 23.Nc3 Nd4.Game drawn.Gukesh recovers in drab draw.
