Sawt Falasteen - Indian teen challenger takes 6-5 lead in world chess championship

Gukesh, whose win gave him a 6-5 lead with just three games to play, forced a resignation from Ding after the defending champion made a blunder under time pressure.

The victory ended seven consecutive draws and gave the 18-year-old Gukesh a big psychological advantage into the homestretch of the 14-match series.

"Obviously, this is a very, very important win," said Gukesh, who played with the white pieces.

But he also remained cautious, adding that "there's still three more very, very important games to go".

Ding, 32, admitted that it was "a very difficult game" for him, but added he would try to bounce back on Monday when he will make the first move with white.

Both players were cautious from the start, making only five moves in the first hour of play. The Indian prodigy spent an hour of pondering before making the 11th move.

The players went into a pulsating time pressure game after almost four hours, especially Ding, who had just under 10 minutes on his alloted time.

When the Chinese resigned, Gukesh's supporters gathered in the public area at Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa hotel erupted into applause, chanting his name.

"Indian fans are the best. I'm really grateful for all the support... All these things give me the extra energy I need."

Ding won the opening game on November 25. Gukesh came back to claim game three after Ding lost on timing after he was unable to play his first 40 moves in 120 minutes.

If both players are tied in 14 games, the match will move to a tie-breaker, which will be played on December 13.

Ding became the first Chinese player to be crowned world champion when he defeated Russia's Ian Nepomniatchi in Kazakhstan last year.

At his age, Gukesh is the youngest player in history to compete in the World Championship and he is looking to surpass Garry Kasparov as the youngest undisputed world chess champion.

R.Halabi--SF-PST