World chess championship match is going to a dramatic tiebreak.

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren are tied up in the world chess championship after 14 classical games. China's Ding Liren held on in a dicey position to salvage a draw against Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi on Saturday, in a marathon Game 14 of the match. With the score tied at 6.5 points apiece, a decisive result would have seen a new world champion crowned for the first time since 2013. However, Nepomniachtchi himself went awry on move 36 and surrendered his advantage. A subsequent exchange of pieces left just a pair of rooks and pawns on the board, with the players having made time control.

Ding eventually secured the draw in a game that saw 90 moves and lasted over six and a half hours. The two grandmasters are tied at seven points apiece, and the action will switch to four 'rapid' games on Sunday. If the tie is still not broken, a mini-series of two 'blitz' games will ensue. If a winner still does not emerge, subsequent blitz games will be in'sudden-death' format. The last time a tiebreak was needed to crown a world champion was in 2018, when Norway's Magnus Carlsen defeated American challenger Fabiano Caruana in the 'rapid' tiebreak.

This year's match has been hailed as perhaps the most exciting in a generation, and former world champion Viswanathan Anand has called the encounter "a match for the ages." The players have exchanged blow after blow, demonstrating aggressive and outstanding play at times, but also committing an uncharacteristic number of mistakes. The match is being held at the St. Regis Hotel in Astana, Kazakhstan.