Although he has regrouped, D Gukesh is still not playing well in the World Chess Championship match. He drew the second game with black pieces against Ding Liren in Singapore on Tuesday, and that was well enough to be considered satisfactory.
Magnus Carlsen, ranked first in the world, had predicted that Gukesh wouldn’t be able to win the entire match the next day following the reversal in the first game with White. Carlsen warned Take Take Take that if he stumbled again, he might lose as well.

Even if China’s defending champion maintains his one-point lead with a score of 1.5-0.5, Gukesh will make his comeback to white in the third of the 14 classical games on Wednesday before Wednesday’s rest day.
There was nothing spectacular or noteworthy about the second game. In the Italian Four Knights variant (also called Guico Piano), when both players made seven knight plays, Ding once more made the opening move, and after roughly two hours, forty-five minutes, and only twenty-three moves, the draw was forced.
The players took use of the rule’s exemption, which states that three repetitions are not permitted before the 41st move in order to split a point.

There have only been three instances of the Italian opening in World Championship games this century: Carlsen defeated Nepo in 2021 while wearing black, and he drew twice with Sergei Karjakin in 2016. On Tuesday, however, the Four Knights version was first shown.

The players had employed the Italian opener during their draw in the Sinquefield Cup earlier this August in Saint Louis. On Tuesday, Ding switched to the Four Knights version after having previously participated in two other Italians in the same event against Anish Giri and Wesley So.

Soon after they castled, the 13th move switched the bishops and queens. Prior to then, however, Gukesh correctly declined the offer to accept Ding’s a5 pawn.

It was hard to make any real headway with all eight pieces on the board, but the 32-year-old world No. 23 handed away the open ‘d’ file in the hopes of some counterplay. The players concluded it was not worth extending the game after spending a lot of time on the board, so they ended up using knight maneuvers to take it to a more tranquil route.

“The opening did not come as a major shock. In his post-game evaluation, Gukesh said, “I was just trying to remember what I had seen. It was one of the topical lines.” I was in a not too bad condition. White was slightly ahead, but if Black plays cautious, as I was, it’s easy to draw.”

It makes sense that the 18-year-old Indian challenger was wary following the previous experience of the opening loss. Rather than discussing his abilities, self-assurance, and ability to control his anxiety, he stated, “One game at a time and hoping it will go my way.”

Gukesh made reference to Monday’s loss, saying, “We knew things could happen. It’s part of the game to lose. It wasn’t unexpected. We had been ready (for that situation). And we’re following our plan.”

Gukesh insisted that he wouldn’t do something foolish because Tuesday’s game wasn’t even close to being a must-win scenario. “The only way to try and win is to play a good game,” he stated.

Despite playing the first 12 moves in four minutes as opposed to Gukesh’s twenty-four, Ding said that he misplayed the opening setup. On the official livestream, however, five-time world champion V Anand believed that Ding had won the first fight. “I may also be a little worse. “The main idea was to play carefully,” Ding subsequently stated, adding, “I was totally okay with a draw.”

“I think it will be a big fight because my rival is a point down and he has white pieces,” Ding stated about Wednesday’s third game. I’m prepared for combat.” And he didn’t sound just hopeful for once.