Stalemate continued in the World Chess Championship as the ninth game between Indian challenger D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China ended in yet another draw to still level on points here on Thursday.

The sixth consecutive draw — and seventh of the match — left both players on an identical tally of 4.5 points each, still shy of 3 points in order to win the championship.

The two players signed peace after 54 moves. Friday is a rest day and they will resume the battle on Saturday.

Just five more games are left to be played in the USD 2.5 million championship and if a tied result happens after 14 rounds, there will be games under faster time control to determine the winner. The 32-year-old Liren had won the opening game while the 18-year-old Gukesh had emerged victorious in the third game.

The second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth games had ended in draws.