Ian Nepomniachtchi seized an early advantage in the race to be crowned the 17th World Chess Champion after beating Ding Liren withblack pieces in the second game of the match in Astana
In the second game of the match to determine the 17th WorldChampion in chess, Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Ding Liren with black pieces in a game that lasted just 29 moves and three and a half hours.
Ding Liren surprised his opponent early in the opening, throwing Nepomniachtchi off his theoretical preparation. Despite the element of surprise, a slight edge in the position and a more significant one on the clock, Ding Liren did not find the best way forward in the middlegame and allowed Black to take the initiative and dominate on the board. Ding had to sacrifice a bishop and two pawns for a rook to ease off some pressure, but that wasn’t enough to save the game. Nepomniachtchi was confidently building up the pressure.
Ding also ended in desperate time trouble – with just three minutes to make 15 moves to reach the first time control. White struggled but ultimately had to resign.
A serious blow to Ding in his first game as White and a very important victory for Nepomniachtchi with black pieces, giving him an early advantage in the match.
Tomorrow is the first rest day, with the third game of the match set to take place on Wednesday, 12th April at 3 PM local time in Astana.
Here follows a closer look at the second game of the match.
In this game, Ding Liren was White while Ian Nepomniachtchi was playing as Black. The honour of the first ceremonial move in the second game of the match went to Timur Turlov, the Founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corporation, the General Partner of the FIDE World Championship.
Ding started with 1.d4 and after standard moves 1..Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 the Chinese GM played 4.h3!? stood up and walked away from the board.
A surprising choice, going immediately for the sideline in the Queen’s Gambit. This was played in a blitz game between Ding and Levon Aronian in the 2021 Speed Chess Championships.
The goal was to get Nepomniachtchi out of his preparation. Grandmaster Irina Krush immediately noted that this move was a sign of Richard Rapport’s influence on Ding. Vishy Anand noticed that when Nepomniachtchi saw this move, he smiled.
In the post-game interview, Nepomniachtchi was also asked to comment on the move 4.h3, which was a surprise.
“I thought it was a move influenced by Richard [Rapport, who is Ding’s second in the match]... I’m not sure if this move is good or bad. The move clearly has its own idea, and it worked.”
Ding Liren also commented on this move: “This is a rare move, and it was a good idea of my seconds. I know a lot of ideas after 4.h3, but today’s game was a disaster.”
Anish Giri noted that 4.h3 means that Ding is happy to accept a slightly inferior move in the opening, but none of them are openings that Ian feels at home in.
After about eight minutes of thinking, Nepo decided to play the principle move and take on c4, going into the Queen’s gambit accepted where h2-h3 might not be a useful move for White.
After a series of natural moves, the opponents reached the position that became the first big crossroad for Ding.
The Chinese GM had to decide between taking on c5 and f6. He spent a lot of time thinking about the move in his lounge. After a 33-minute-long reflection, Ding walked back to the board and made his move.
12.Nxf6+ This choice will ultimately prove to be the start of Ding’s downfall, whereas after 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.dxc5 Nd7 White is slightly better. Also, by this point, the advantage he had on the clock over Black evaporated.
Instead of taking with the queen, Nepo opted for a much more aggressive 12…gxf6, manifesting his intention to castle long and use the open g-file for an attack on White’s king.
Apparently, this turn of events came as an unpleasant surprise for Ding as just five moves down the road, he made a mistake.
17.Bd3? this move turned out to be wasting a tempo as after 17… Kb8 Black emerged clearly better. Black’s queenside is advanced and protected enough, he has aligned his rooks for an attack, and his structure is overall stable. White, on the other hand, is struggling, with his pieces hitting the pawn wall on the fourth rank.
The best option for White was to stick to his initial plan and play Qe1, to x-ray the Black’s b4-pawn and support the white pawn on e4, and then play Kh1. Instead…
18.Re1? f5! Played quickly by Ian. Black has a strong advantage now: White’s centre is collapsing, his king is pinned, and Black’s advantage on the queenside is dominant.
The point is that that 19.exf5 fails to 19...Rxd4! 20.Nxd4 Rxg2+ 21.Kf1 Rxf2+! and checkmate in two. 19.Bc2 was played after 20 minutes of thinking, but White already had no way out. To make things even worse for Ding, he had just 20 minutes against Ian’s 50.
In the subsequent play, Black increased his domination in the centre by sacrificing an exchange and getting an overwhelming position.
Black has two pawns for the exchange and a pair of powerful bishops. White is doomed, as Black’s c-passer will cost him a rook. The rest was a smooth sail for Nepo.
25.Rd2 Bd6 26.Kh1 c3 27.bxc3 bxc3 28.Rd4 c2 29.Qh6 e5 and with only a few seconds left on the clock, White resigned.
Ding Liren had this comment about the game: “To lose like this… I cannot understand what’s happening. After 18…f5 the position is very difficult for me. I missed nearly everything in the game.”
In the post-interview, Ian Nepomniachtchi confirmed that after 18…f5 he felt that he was winning.
Asked about why he was spending so much time in the rest room, Ding said that it reminds him more of playing online and it makes him more comfortable.
Tomorrow is the first rest day of the match. Nepomniachtchi said he intends to “grab some more sleep” but will continue with his preparations. Ding said that the rest day would be “a good way to recover from this tough loss.”
Text: Milan Dinic
Photo: Stev Bonhage 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.
