SINGAPORE: Defending champion Ding Liren bounced back strongly Monday (Dec 9) to beat his teenage challenger in the 12th game and level the score in the homestretch of their World Chess Championship match.

India's Gukesh Dommaraju was forced to resign after finding his king cornered by the Chinese title holder's white pieces which had advanced deeply into enemy territory.

Ding's victory put both players at six points apiece, with only two more games to go in the classical format chess at Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa.

"It's a very important 12th game. It's maybe the best game I played in recent times," Ding told reporters after the match.

After Sunday's loss, the champion said he regained his energy with more sleep and some caffeine.

"Today, I took a cup of coffee before the game which helped me feel much more energetic ... a small cup of espresso," said Ding, a native of Wenzhou city.

Ding, 32, took control of the board early on after making the first move and dominated his opponent throughout.

With the champion building a strong centre, Gukesh's pieces were powerless to make any breakthrough.

The 18-year-old challenger seemed to gain momentum for the title when he forced Ding to resign in the eleventh game Sunday to take a 6-5 lead.

But it was not to be, and he will have to wait, with two more games to be played on Wednesday and Thursday after a rest day on Tuesday.

"Obviously, it's not pleasant to lose this game," said a dejected Gukesh.

"At least the score is still tied and there are two more games remaining. So let's see."

Ding's comeback on Monday was reminiscent of the 2023 World Championship, in which he overcame a 5-6 deficit by winning Game 12 against Ian Nepomniachtchi in Kazakhstan.

He eventually forced a tie-breaker against the Russian and won, becoming the first Chinese player to be crowned world champion

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

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.