Nepomniachtchi takes the lead for the third time as Ding misplays in time trouble
The seventh game of the match for the title of FIDE World Chess Champion ended in drama with Ding losing a stable position after misplaying in severe time trouble. In an attempt to surprise his opponent, Ding Liren played the French Defence. This is the first time the French Defence was played in a world championship match since 1978. “I told Richard [Rapport, Ding’s second] that I was going to play the French Defence. But it was a half-joke, half-serious. He took me seriously and told me that I can try this French Defence to surprise my opponent.” Nepomniachtchi went for a sideline in the opening and Black managed to obtain a solid position with the only weakness on c6. However, in the process of the game, Nepomniachtchi managed to engineer some initiative and press on the kingside. At some point Ian pushed too hard and with a timely exchange sacrifice Ding simplified the position and emerged slightly better. By this moment, however, Ding was short on time which was his ultimate pitfall. With just 44 seconds on the clock, in a critical position, Ding misplayed with 33…Rd3 he found himself in a hopeless position and soon had to resign. The game lasted 37 moves and just under four hours. It echoed the drama in the 24th game of the Karpov-Kasparov match in Seville, where Kasparov sacrificed a pawn for an attack while Karpov was in desperate time trouble. In the seven games of the match played so far, five ended with a decisive result. Nepomniachtchi now leads with 4:3. Here follows a closer look at the seventh game of the match. Ian was White and he played his standard 1.e4. It’s worked well for him so far and it’s his preferred move. Ding responded with 1…e6 – the French defence, played for the first time in the match. This was Ding’s favourite opening in his early days. In the post-game press conference, Ding revealed that his second, Richard Rapport, suggested that he should play this opening to surprise Nepomniachtchi. 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 3.Nc3 is more common. “This is not the main line but I felt it gave a small but safe edge for White”, said Nepomniachtchi after the game. Ding responded with the most popular 3…c5, the Tarrasch defence and by move nine the opponents were out of the book. The opponents deployed their forces in the most natural way and by move thirteen reached the first important position of the game. 13…Nf6 a more preferable move here was g6, closing off the white bishop’s attack h7-pawn and keeping the knight on d5. After 14.Qh4 Ding for the second time spent a lot of time thinking (21 min) on a natural move 14…c5. In the subsequent play, Ian tried to create some activity on the kingside but it turned out that Black had sufficient defensive resources. Nevertheless, Nepo kept pushing although objectively speaking, his position did not offer much. With 22.c3 Ian gave Ding a chance to go for an exchange which would turn the initiative over to Black. After 22…Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Rxf4 24.Rxf4 Bxe5 25.Rh4 a very sharp position emerged on the board. In the heat of the battle, Nepo went too far with 28.Rh4?! This risky move was met with cool-blooded 28…Qd6! taking control over the d-file and threatening to come to the second rank, increasing pressure on White. Indeed 29.Rxh7 fails to 29…Rd1! winning. After 29.Qe3 h5 30.g3 Black is slightly better. He has secured his kingside, centralised and coordinated his pieces and is taking the initiative. However, Ding was falling into ever deeper time trouble. Still, with a timely h5-h4 push the Chinese GM weakened White’s position even more. 32…Rd2 was the first step into the abyss. After correct 32…Be5! Black has long-lasting initiative and continuous pressure over White’s weaknesses. Nepo played natural 33.Re2 and with just 44 seconds on the clock Ding made his fatal error and immediately got into a lost position. Instead of playing his rook to d5 and maintaining the pressure, Ding opted for 33…Rd3?? He made the move instantly and – lost. 34.Qxc5 Rd1+ 35.Kg2 Qd1 Qd3 36. Rf2 Kg7 37.Rcf4 Qc3 Here with just three seconds on the clock Ding realized that after 38.Qxc3 Bxc3 39. Rxf7 the endgame is absolutely hopeless and conceded defeat. The match has reached its halfway point. With seven more games to be played and a day of rest ahead, both sides will need to recoup and reorganise themselves for the second part of the event to determine who will become the 17th FIDE World Chess Champion. Game eighth will take place on Thursday, 20th April, at 3 PM Astana time. Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Stev Bonhage, David Llada and Anna Shtourman Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/ About the match The 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Grandmasters Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi takes place from 7th April to 1st May 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The match will consist of 14 games, followed by a rapid/blitz tiebreak in case of a tie. The time control for the standard games is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The first player to reach 7,5 points in the 14 games will win the match. If it’s a tie, the two go to tiebreaks. The prize fund for the match is two million euros, with the reward being split 60:40 between the winner and the runner-up. The main Partner of the match is Freedom Holding.
FFE and Île-de-France Region sign an agreement on chess for people with ASD
On Monday, April 17, the French Chess Federation (FFE), in partnership with the Île-de-France Region and with the support of FIDE and the European Chess Union organized an event dedicated to the signing an agreement between the Regional Council and the French Chess Federation. The document is related to the launch of social chess programmes, including the Infinite Chess Project for children with ASD and other projects of the Health Social Disability Commission of FFE dedicated to health, well-being and social inclusion issues through the game of chess. The Commission is chaired by Franck Droin, who is also a chairman of the ECU Social Commission and a councillor of the FIDE Social Commission. The panel of speakers included Eloi Relange, President of the French Chess Federation, Franck Droin, ECU Social Commission Chairman, President of the Health Social Disability Commission of the FFE, Anastasia Sorokina, Infinite Chess Project Leader, and Andre Voegtlin, Chair of the FIDE Social Commission. The speakers exchanged their experiences and showcased how chess helps people worldwide and makes changes for the better. According to them, many recent studies have already highlighted the benefits of playing chess to support the development of children with autism spectrum disorders, the DYS (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia) or attention and hyperactivity disorders. Eloi Relange, the President of FFE: “Among its many assets, the game of chess brings many benefits for mental health. The French Chess Federation is proud to have set up Health Social Disability Commission to pilot a set of programmes dedicated social aspects of chess. The Infinite Chess Programme is the first of a set of measures focused on mental health and using chess as a new tool at the service of health professionals.” Anastasia Sorokina, Infinite Chess Project Leader: “FIDE pays a lot of attention to Social projects, and I am extremely happy and proud that under the supervision of FIDE Deputy Chair Dana Reizniece-Ozola, our ambitious initiative became a major international project that helps so many children around the world. The vast interest in the programme in many countries resulted in our cooperation with IOC and project expansion to Asia. Next step of our prosperous partnership is Africa and America regions.” In 2023, the Infinite Chess Project runs in 25 health and leisure centres in France, with around 200 children with autism spectrum disorder learning chess. The future development of the programme in France includes creating a large chess center and introducing more children with ASD to chess.
FIDE Circuit race: Gukesh D leapfrogs So to grab the lead
Dommaraju Gukesh is the new leader of the FIDE Circuit leaderboard. The 16-year old from Chennai leapfrogged Wesley So and took the top position in the standings following his excellent performance in Menorca Open. The 9-round Swiss tournament on the second-largest Balearic Island brought together many strong grandmasters and turned into a very close race. As many as ten (!) players finished on 7/9 and tied for first place with Gukesh D and Pranav V having the best and absolutely identical tiebreaks. To determine a winner a two-game blitz tiebreaker was played. Gukesh beat Pranav by the score of 1.5-0.5, won his second straight Menorca Open title and picked 11.64 FIDE Circuit points. FIDE Circuit Race Top 10 as of April 18, 2023 Another important change in the FIDE Circuit race top 10 is Mustafa Yilmaz’s moving up to 8th position after his strong showing in the Reykjavik Open (second place). The winner of this event Nils Grandelius mounted to the 14th position as, unlike Yilmaz, he played just one FIDE Circuit tournament. You can find full current standings on worldchampionshipcycle.fide.com/ Photo: Open Chess Menorca