Nepo Misses Last Chance, Ding Holds Draw In Final Classical Game

courtesy Stev Bonhage/FIDE

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The last classical game of the 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship was a wildcard. Would GM Ding Liren, playing with the white pieces, push for a win? His opponent, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, is renowned for his quick, intuitive (if not impulsive) decision-making, and might be a favorite in rapid. Then again, maybe Nepomniachtchi would try to resist the shift in momentum after his game 12 collapse.

When play began, Ding returned to 1. d4, allowing Nepomniachtchi to play another Nimzo-Indian Defense. While Ding earned real winning chances from this opening during the eighth round, that variation was more of a one-off surprise (akin to Nepomniachtchi’s Delayed Exchange Spanish in the first game) than a reliable weapon.

A week later, he did not appear to have anything new in this opening, playing the aptly named Normal Variation and allowing Nepomniachtchi to steer the game towards equality after 11 moves. Then, Ding made an uncharacteristic misevaluation of the position, incorrectly assessing a rather crude and straightforward attacking plan as highly favorable.

courtesy David Llada/FIDE

Ding described himself as “excited” when he chose to play 12. Ng5 and 13. h4, and perhaps a desire to close out the match (or a belief that his opponent might have been in an error-prone state, allowing such simple moves) was partially to blame. Nepo’s more sober assessment of the position was that he had not done anything wrong in this game, and so should not be susceptible to such a rudimentary attack.

Indeed, Ding quickly found himself on the defensive. He once again made some rather committal decisions, particularly with 21. Nc5?!, sacrificing a pawn. On one hand, his confidence in his ability to hold positions down a pawn or Exchange is commendable. That said, this was not the only — let alone the simplest —way to offer resistance.

A few more committal decisions gave Nepomniachtchi real chances close to the first time control, but after playing 36. … e5?! rather quickly, the game was headed for a draw. Of course, with no losing chances, Nepomniachtchi was happy to make his opponent work for it, and the game ultimately lasted 90 moves and just over six-and-a-half hours.

Ding finding out what color he will play first in the tiebreak (courtesy Anna Shtourman/FIDE)

The endgame is also an instructive illustration in defending against an outside rook’s pawn, and the need to balance patient solidity with the ability to generate counterplay.

Despite the increased number of rest days in this match, there will be no break to discuss match strategy before the four-game playoff.

Today’s annotations come once again from GM Elshan Moradiabadi. Moradiabadi is the second Iranian player to reach a 2600 FIDE rating. He moved to the United States to attend Texas Tech University in 2012, and has represented the United States since 2017. Moradiabadi is also a distinguished coach, having coached the U.S. national team in the 2019 World Team Championships and the Pan Am team that same year. He currently resides in Durham, NC.

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