Nepo Pushes Against Ding's Berlin in Peaceful Ninth Round

courtesy Stev Bonhage

Please download our printable bulletin, with annotations from FM Carsten Hansen, here, or read on to see the embedded study below.

In any other recent World Championship match, round nine would be business as usual. The game featured a Berlin Defense which led to an endgame where Black held the draw despite being down a pawn. What could be more ordinary?

courtesy Stev Bonhage

But in the 2023 FIDE World Championship, even a “Berlin Draw” would be more interesting than the above description would suggest. GM Ding Liren switched back to 1. …e5, this time playing a Berlin defense against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi’s Ruy Lopez. Once again, Ding was unable to equalize out of the opening, allowing Nepomniachtchi to press a small advantage.

courtesy Stev Bonhage

Compared to some of the earlier Ruy Lopez games in this match, Ding seemed better prepared to meet Nepomniachtchi’s more aggressive tendencies. But Nepomniachtchi can be praised for pressing without over-pressing, and he was never in danger. That said, perhaps he was a little too cautious, declining Ding’s necessary Exchange sacrifice rather than making him prove he had enough.

courtesy Stev Bonhage

The resulting endgame — the first lengthy one of the match — gave Ding a chance to show his resiliency as well. He voluntarily made trades that suggested he was absolutely certain about which simplifications would hold the draw, and never appeared to be in danger. Nepomniachtchi can also be praised for not making things easy on his adversary.

courtesy Anna Shtourman

Ding only has five more games to even the score, but three of this games are with the white pieces. Nepomniachtchi missed a few chances to add to his lead here, but nothing as concrete as we’ve seen in the other games.

courtesy Anna Shtourman

Today's annotations come from FM Carsten Hansen. Hansen is a Danish-born author and FIDE Trainer based in the New York City area. Hansen is the author of over 40 chess books, with several more due to come out this year. He also contributes a monthly tactics column to Chess Life. In addition to a number of books on specific openings, some of his works include Back to Basics: Chess Openings and Improve Your Positional Chess.

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