Following his defeat in the fourth round, Ian Nepomniachtchi staged a comeback as he scored an important victory as White against Ding Liren to take the lead 3:2
One day of rest was all Ian Nepomniachtchi needed to regain his composure after blundering his round four game of the match and allowing Ding to equalize.
In the Anti-Marshal line of the Ruy Lopez, both sides quickly played the opening but the position that transpired in the middlegame seemed to be more suited to Nepomniachtchi’s style of play. Nepomniachtchi made an h2-h4-h5 advance on the kingside, securing the position for the knight on f5, which was a foundation for the future attack while Ding was on the defensive. In the positional maneuvering that followed Ding could not find the best plan and White gradually inched his way towards a better position.
Nepomniachtchi was close to losing that advantage at one point, but Ding could not see all the best moves and gradually handed an even bigger edge to White.
With better-positioned pieces and more initiative, White started knitting a mating net around Black, preventing him from any counter-play. Ding struggled but had no real option but to wait and let Nepomniachtchi dictate his fate.
Just as the two reached the first time control after 40 moves, Black was completely lost. Ding decided to continue defending and go for an endgame, but it was futile.
After 48 moves and three hours and 15 minutes of play, Ding resigned.
An important victory for Nepomniachtchi who has again taken the initiative in the match. Ding is also back and more focused than at the start of their duel, but he will need to show more if he wants to take the chess crown.
Game six will take place on Sunday, 16th April, at 3 PM Astana time. Here follows a closer look at the fifth game of the match.
The significance of this game was huge. Every match for the World Chess Champion title is intense, but this one held more significance.
In the previous round, Nepomniachtchi's serious mistake put him in a lost position, giving Ding a chance to even the score and regain his footing following a poor start to the match. Now, the tables had turned, and Nepomniachtchi was the one feeling the pressure. A day of rest was important for both to reset, rethink and – re-start their push to the top.
The honour of making the first move was awarded to SerikSapiyev, London 2012 Olympic boxing Champion and the recipient of the Val Barker Trophy presented every four years to the most outstanding boxer at the Olympic Games. He also won the world title in the light welterweight division in 2005 and 2007. On top of that, Sapuyev is a very solid amateur chess player.
Nepomniachtchi was White and here he opted for his standard opening move 1.e4. No psychological plays, no surprises – now it’s time to be firm and show your best.
1…e5 – Ding had the same idea, sticking to his main response and the opponents went for the main line in Anti-Marshal. They followed the game Firouzja – Giri played in 2022, up to move twelve when Ian introduced a novelty 12.Bg5 with the idea of trading Black’s f6-knight and taking control over the d5-square.
Ian blitzed out his next ten moves which suggested that he was in his preparation. Ding reacted sensibly and basically equalized but White still had some edge. Commenting on the game, Daniil Dubov and Anish Giri concluded that the position is more favourable for White and more suited to Ian’s style of play.
23.h4 The first move Ian spent some time on - six minutes.
By this point, Ding was down to an hour, while Ian had an hour and 45 minutes on his clock. White is going to advance his pawn to h5, securing the knight position on f5. A few moves down the road Ian made a strike in the centre and emerged slightly better as his knights were strong and well-coordinated with the queen and h5-pawn. Finally, Black’s d6-pawn was weak.
Now, he played 27.Qg4 aiming directly at the black king and preparing to move his knight to f5. The computer, however, didn’t like this move and preferred Qf3 or f4.
After 27…Qe5 28.Nf3 Qe6 29.Nf5 and the position was even again. Ding managed to reposition his queen to a better place – protecting his king, offering an exchange and opening the diagonal for his b7-bishop. However, in the consecutive play, he based his defence on sitting in a passive position and his attempt to activate his pieces came too late.
29…Nxf5 Played fast by Ding. This was probably the moment Ding was closest to stabilizing the position and blunting White’s initiative. He should have played his queen to f6 to be just in time to defend and hold. Ding confirmed this in the post-game interview.
30.exf5 Qf6 30…Qd7 was slightly better. After 31.Qd5 Rb8 White got the positional advantage. Ian pushed his g5-pawn and this march quickly paid off.
Anish Giri noted that Ding might have missed this move as, usually, this would be “a weakening move”, but not in this particular case.
Again, Ding was in a position where had to be very precise to avoid defeat. 33…Qd8 34.Qd5 Dubov described Black’s position as “wearing a suit in a gym”. Not much fits/works. 34…Kf8 35.Kf1 Rc8. The computer prefers 36…Qc8 in this position. 36.Re4 Rb8 37.g5 Pushing forward.
Now Ding made his fatal error. 37…Qd7 or Qc8 was the only moves offering some hope. Ding was in time trouble and, in just a minute, he played 37…hxg5?
After 38.Rg4! White’s mating geometry makes Black’s position indefensible. The point is that 38…f6 is met with 39.Nh4! gxh4 40.h6! After 38…Ra8 39.Nxg5 White has an overwhelming position as the knight is joining the attack.
Ding reached the time control but was fully aware that it was over. He sat down and spent the next 15 minutes coming to terms with the reality on the board. Nepo was pacing up and down the hall, keeping an eye on his opponent.
The Chinese GM decided to play on and even managed to exchange the queens, but the final portion was a pure technique by Ian.
Ding realized that further resistance made no sense and capitulated.
“I was on the defensive side through the game”, Ding said, confirming that 29…Nxf5 was the key mistake leading to a weaker position. He also confirmed that he didn’t expect this line to be played by Nepo so he had to spend more time on the clock.
Ding also confirmed that this loss was harder for him than the loss in the second game of the match.
Nepomniachtchi confirmed that the opening was part ofhis preparation and that he obtained a more comfortable position.
Text: Milan Dinic
Photo: Stev Bonhage, David Llada and Anna Shtourman
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.
