2024 World Chess Championship - Boy, that de-escalated quickly

 The 5th game of the 2024 World Chess Championship has just ended in a draw, but for many spectators, it was somewhat of an anti-climax. Chances of a decisive result started off close to zero after Gukesh played the Exchange Variation against Ding's French Defence, but things got spicy when Gukesh recaptured the wrong way on move 23. Given the speed of Ding's reply it looked as though he realised Gukesh had made a slight mistake, and he could start to push for a win. But instead of doing so, Ding seemed convinced the position was still equal and steered the game towards a drawn opposite coloured bishop eneding.

So after 5 games it is 2.5-2.5. Ding's strategy of nullifying Gukesh's opening prep with some offbeat opening choices seems to be paying off, but apart from game 1, he doesn't seem to be pushing for more than equality. He at least enjoys having White tomorrow, which may encourage him to be a little more aggressive.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [C01]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (5), 30.11.2024

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 c4 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. Qe2+ Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7 10. O-O Re8 11. Re1+ Kf8 12. Rxe8+ Kxe8 13. Bg5 Nbd7 14. Nbd2 h6 15. Bh4 Nh5 16. Re1+ Kf8 17. g4 Nf4 18. Bg3 Nb6 19. g5 hxg5 20. Nxg5 Bd7 21. Ngf3 Re8 22. Ne5 Bxe5 23. dxe5 Nd3 24. Bxd3 cxd3 25. f3 Nc4 26. Nxc4 dxc4 27. Re4 Bc6 28. Rd4 Bxf3 29. Kf2 Bc6 30. Rxc4 Rd8 31. Rd4 Rxd4 32. cxd4 Bd5 33. b3 Ke7 34. Ke3 Ke6 35. Kxd3 g6 36. Kc3 a6 37. Kd3 Kf5 38. Ke3 Ke6 39. Kd3 Kf5 40. Ke3 Ke6 1/2-1/2