World Chess Championship: Race for title wide open as Nepomniachtchi suffers shocking defeat

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World Chess Championship: In a shocking game filled with dramatic turns of fortune, Ding Liren emerged victorious after Ian Nepomniachtchi played hastily and completely destroyed a commanding position. With Ding Liren equalising and just two more games to go, the race is now wide open for the next FIDE World Chess Champion

Playing as White in game 12 of the match, Ding opted to go for the Colle System of Queen's Pawn, aiming to avoid theoretical debates in the opening, but ended up in a well-known position emerging from Caro Kann but with an extra tempi.

Courtesy: FIDE

In an attempt to organise an attack on the black king, Ding played a premature pawn advance with 17.g4. Ian Nepomniachtchi played all the right moves, neutralising White’s attempts and at the same time orchestrating a strong counter-attack on the kingside.

After miscalculating his attack plan, White found himself in dire straits ending in a situation where Nepomniachtchi was dictating the game while Ding had no realistic chance of creating any play. It seemed that the game – and, potentially, the match – was in the bag for Nepomniachtchi, as Ding was also falling short on time.

The Chinese made a desperate attempt for a break in the centre which surprisingly worked very well for him. Black emerged with an extra pawn and initiative but after a seemingly unsuspicious move 27…Bb8, played after just one minute and 22 seconds. The tables have turned on Nepomniachtchi.

The evaluation bar changed completely: from giving a decisive advantage to Black to assessing White’s position as much better. Luckily for Nepomniachtchi, Ding again did not play the most precise moves and returned the advantage to Black at least once.

By this point, however, the two started playing very fast – despite still having enough time on the clock for the critical moment that transpired on the board.

In a series of moves that followed – all played fast by both sides - White dropped the advantage, and the position was even. However, on move 34, Nepomniachtchi again played in haste and made a fatal blunder with 34…f5.

The move was met with disbelief by grandmasters commenting on the game in live broadcasts and online. After that move Black’s position completely collapses. It was notable that Ding Liren was also surprised by the move as he gave Nepomniachtchi a puzzled look.

It was clear that Nepo’s nerves had fallen apart. Nepomniachtchi could not hide his upset as he angrily and disappointedly looked away from the board.

Now, there was no escape for Black, and Ding had a clear and straightforward path forward. A few moves down the line, on move 38, Nepomniachtchi resigned and left the board.

With just two more games to go, the match is now wide open and with this shocking game it seems that Ding is the one in the driving seat.

Round 13 will take place on Thursday, 27th April, 3 PM Astana time.

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 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.

(FIDE Press Realease)