Nepomniachtchi remains one point ahead of Ding after Game 11 draw
Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren split a point following a relatively quiet game. With only three games left to determine the ultimate winner, the pressure is mounting The eleventh game in the match for the title of World Chess Champion ended in a draw after 39 moves and just after an hour and 40 minutes of play. In the Anti-Marshall line of the Ruy Lopez, Ian Nepomniachtchi, playing as White, deviated from the c3-line he played before in the match and went for 8.a3, the move he tested against Ding at the 2020 Candidates and Carlsen in the 2021 title match. As the game developed, White managed to gain slightly more initiative and a more comfortable position on the board. After the somewhat premature move 15…c4 by Ding, opening some weaknesses, White had a chance to maintain tension and put more pressure on Black. Nepomniachtchi instead opted to simplify the position. After a series of exchanges on the board, the two entered a drawn rook endgame. Again, as in round nine, a position transpired on the board where White had an extra pawn in the endgame but it was a draw. Unlike in round nine where the debate in a drawn position lasted for two hours, here the two played much quicker and agreed to split a point. The score is now 6:5 for Nepomniachtchi. With just three more games left, the pressure is increasing for both players: Nepomniachtchi needs to maintain course and keep his guard up while Ding is under increasing pressure to secure a win. The players will rest on Tuesday, with game 12 taking place on Wednesday, 26th April at 3 PM Astana time. Here follows a closer look at the eleventh game of the match. After standard moves in the Anti-Marshall in Ruy Lopez Ian deviated from game 5 (in which he played c3 and h3) with more popular 8.a3. This variation was also noticed in the leaked prep games which have been linked to Ding’s preparation. If that preparation is Ding’s, this means that this line was also part of his prep as White. This line was also played between the two in the 2020 Candidates in Yekaterinburg which Nepomniachtchi won. After 8…Na5 9.Ba2 c5 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Bg5 0-0 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 g6 14.Qd2 Bg7 the position is even, but White has slightly more flexibility due to the more active knight in the centre compared to Black’s f6-bishop who has limited range as he is facing his own pawn. White also has more options for a pawn push on the queenside, but Black is overall very solid as he has no weaknesses. At this point Ian introduced a logical novelty 15.Ng5, going for the e6-bishop and opening the f-file for a pawn push. “It probably reflects my bias, but I really like White’s position. It seems to me to be easy to play,” former World Champion Vishy Anand commented on Twitter. 15…c4 this bold and somewhat risky move with the idea of blocking the a2-g8 diagonal was played after 12 and a half minutes of thinking by Ding. 15…Nc6 or Ra7 were considered to be better options for Black. Daniil Dubov was not impressed by Ding’s move suggesting that positionally it doesn’t work. 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Ne3 Bh6 pinning the knight, that is pressuring the c4-pawn. 18.Rad1 Rb8! After Ding made this arguably the strongest move the opponents reached the critical position of the entire game. 19.dxc4 an imprecision by White who defused the tension too early. Ian could have played 19.Qe2, away from the black bishop’s pin and to maintain pressure on c4. As played, it quickly turned out that Black had sufficient counterplay. After 19…Nxc4 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Qxd6 Qxd6 22.Rxd6 Bxe3 23.fxe3 Rxf1 24.Kxf1 Rxb2 25.Rxe6 Rxc2 26.Rxa6 Ra2 27.Rc6 Rxa3 28.Rxc4 Rxe3 a hurricane of exchanges swept most pieces off the board and the two have reached an even rook endgame. White is a pawn up but it’s a dead draw. After 39 moves a draw was agreed upon a threefold repetition. “Ian didn’t push very hard to win in this line but I had to be careful” in light of the similarities of the game with the one in the 2020 Candidates which “is in bad memory for me”, said Ding Liren in the post-game interview. “I guess my play was much better than last time,” he said. “I will try my best in the last three games. Tomorrow is a rest day so I will have more time to prepare some extra ideas,” said Ding when asked about his plan for the last three remaining games in the match. Nepomniachtchi noted that Ding played well and he questioned his decision to take the pawn on c4. “I’m not quite sure I was right to take on c4. I thought that I will get this three vs two endgame, but that never happens… I should have played it slowly, Qe2 instead of taking on c4”. “I can’t say that I am fully satisfied with the result of the game, but a draw is a draw,” he added. Nepomniachtchi. Nepomniachtchi was also asked if he feels that he has secured victory in the match and that it’s all over. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he responded, ”of course, it’s not over yet.” Ding Liren was asked about what changes are necessary to the world championship format: “Now I think the tournament could be even longer,” he responded to Ian Nepomniachtchi laughed. Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Steve Bonhage and David Llada 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 consists 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
1st FIDE Council Meeting 2023: List of decisions
1st FIDE Council Meeting 2023 Mexico City, Mexico April 4, 2023 LIST OF DECISIONS CM1-2023/01 To note President’s report. CM1-2023/02 To note Treasurer’s report. CM1-2023/03 To approve the proposal of the FIDE Council Working Group on National Chess Federations’ Arrears on course of actions regarding national chess federations in arrears. CM1-2023/04 To note information on FIDE major events calendar and approve the regulations for the Women’s World Championship match 2023. CM1-2023/05 To note the General Strategy Commission’s report. CM1-2023/06 To approve changes for the FIDE Circuit Regulations. CM1-2023/07 To note the Arbiters’ Commission’s report. CM1-2023/08 To approve recommendations of the Arbiters’ Commission on Seminars, Classification upgrades, Amendments to the lecturer list, FA norms and titles. CM1-2023/09 To approve the FIDE Arbiter Disciplinary Regulations which will come into force from 1st May 2023. CM1-2023/10 To approve the Arbiters’ Disciplinary Subcommittee membership as follows: C. Munoz (CRC), Norman Ronald King (RSA), Pablyto Robert Baioco Ribeiro (BRA), Jaroslav Benak (CZE), Gendel Oyunchimeg (MGL). CM1-2023/11 To note the Qualification Commission’s report. CM1-2023/12 To request the FIDE Legal Director according Qualification Commission’s proposal to draft the amendment to the FIDE Rating Regulations regarding the FIDE Council’ right to rate events in exceptional cases. CM1-2023/13 To approve a Direct Titles Report Form. CM1-2023/14 To approve the recommendations of the Qualification Commission on titles. CM1-2023/15 To instruct the Transfer Regulations Task Force to review and revert to the comments received from ECU, Council members and other parties updating their proposal accordingly. CM1-2023/16 To continue analysing the request of the ASEAN regarding the reinstatement of direct titles in ASEAN competitions in the context of questions raised by Qualification Commission. To continue consultations with Asian Chess Federation regarding this request before any changes to the Direct Titles rules, in particular regarding the three regional youth competitions, be made. CM1-2023/17 To note the Trainers’ Commission’s report. CM1-2023/18 To approve the recommendations of the Trainers’ Commission on titles and Academies. CM1-2023/19 To approve the Trainers’ Commission’s proposal related to the FIDE Endorsed Academies’ fees CM1-2023/20 To approve the Trainers’ Commission’s proposal regarding the award of the FIDE Senior Trainer (FST) Title. CM1-2023/21 To request the Trainers’ Commission to redraft their proposal related to the Captains/Trainers at official FIDE events To elaborate on the idea of having specific requirements for the team captains, especially where financial support of FIDE is provided To submit the updated proposal for the FIDE Council’s voting. CM1-2023/22 To note the Technical Commission’s report. CM1-2023/23 To accept the Technical Commissions’ recommendation that Millenium eBoard can be used in hybrid events under the following conditions: ● At the classic tournaments with at least 30 seconds increment per move ( 40 seconds increment per move is recommended). ● At the rapid tournaments with at least 15 seconds increment per move. ● At the tournaments with players rated under 2200. ● Well prepared arbiters with special technical training are present at the tournament. ● The online platform used needs to offer the possibility to the arbiter to take back one or more moves and reconfigure the clock. Simultaneously, the FIDE Rules Commission together with Arbiters’ Commission should propose changes to the existing FIDE Online Chess Regulations and the Technical Commission should continue the further cooperation with Millenium in order to improve its regulations to the Technical Commission’s recommendations. CM1-2023/24 To note the proposed FIDE eBoard Chess Regulations and to request the Rules Commission to discuss the proposal with the Arbiters’ and Athletes’ Commissions. CM1-2023/25 To conditionally approve use of the DGT 2500 clock, pending confirmation of the Technical Commission that the lever system has been improved and the noise has been reduced. CM1-2023/26 To accept the FIDE Technical Commission’s conclusion that the idChess in order to be used in FIDE-rated under 2200 only tournament games, must meet the requirement that according to the FIDE Laws of Chess, the notation belongs to the organiser of the competition, and update its regulations accordingly. Simultaneously, the inter committee work group (Arbiters’, Technical and Rules Commissions) to come with the proposal regarding the update of the relevant FIDE rules and regulations that will allow the use of the IdChess software under specific conditions and the Technical Commission should continue the further cooperation with idChess in order to solve the issue of illegal moves, promotion and importing of games, shortcomings with regards to the recording of the moves and broadcasting. CM1-2023/27 To approve the recommendations of the Events Commission on titles. CM1-2023/28 To approve that in exceptional cases, the organisers of the FIDE individual official youth events 2023 may accept individual registrations pending FIDE approval. In such cases, the players may be obligated to participate in the aforementioned competitions under the FIDE flag pending their request. CM1-2023/29 To award World Junior Chess Championships 2023 to Mexico City, Mexico. CM1-2023/30 To award World Senior Team Chess Championships 2023 to Ohrid, North Macedonia. CM1-2023/31 To award World Amateur Chess Championships 2023 to Muscat, Oman CM1-2023/32 To award the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad 2023 to Eindhoven, Netherlands. CM1-2023/33 To award World Seniors Championships 2023 to Buenos Aires, Argentina subject to the inspection. CM1-2023/34 To note that World Championship for Players with Disabilities will be organised in Lublin, Poland from August 18 to August 28 2023. CM1-2023/35 To note the Women’s Chess Commission’s report. CM1-2023/36 To note the Planning and Development Commission’s report. CM1-2023/37 To note the Commission on Chess Education report. CM1-2023/38 To note the Fair Play Commission’s report. CM1-2023/39 To approve the proposals of the Fair Play Commission on Seminars, Amendments to the lecturer list, norms and titles. CM1-2023/40 To approve the FPL Title Regulations and forms. CM1-2023/41 To note the Rules Commission’s report. CM1-2023/42 To note Continental reports. CM1-2023/43 To update the FIDE directory in respect of Asian zones. CM1-2023/44 To recommend the application of the Tonga Chess Federation for the ratification by the General Assembly pending the receipt of the documentation in respect of the national recognition. CM1-2023/45 To note the report of FIDE and ECU representatives regarding the situation with the Bulgarian Chess Federation and support their suggested way forward. To ask for the progress report and Constitutional Commission’s advisory opinion regarding the Bulgarian chess before the next meeting of the Council. CM1-2023/46 FIDE recognizes that Dr.
2023 1st FIDE Council Meeting: List of Decisions
FIDE publishes the list of decisions of the 1st FIDE Council meeting 2023, held on April 4 in Mexico City, Mexico. Download List of Decisions (PDF)