GM Ian Nepomniachtchi - GM Ding Liren

FIDE World Championship, (5)

C84: Ruy Lopez, Martinez Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 The solid 'Martinez Variation' has been seen numerous times at the highest level of play, having been regularly employed by the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler and many other super-grandmasters who regularly play the Ruy Lopez as White, and perhaps looking to sidestep all the big theory mainlines such as the Marshall Attack, Zaitsev, Chigorin and Breyer - and in Nepo's case here, it's simply to avoid Ding's Marshall Attack.

6...b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Bb7 10.a4 An almost unknown sidestep here that avoids any Ding deep-prep and throws him onto the back-foot. It only came to fruition last year after being played by Alireza Firouzja, and more common seen here is 10.Re1 followed by the standard Lopez knight hop of Nb1-d2-f1-h2(or possibly g3)-g4. 10...Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Bg5 The only other game in this rarity saw 12.Na3, as seen in Firouzja-Giri, FTX Crypto Cup 2022. 12...h6 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.axb5 axb5 15.Nbd2 Nc6 16.Bd5 Rxa1 17.Qxa1 Qd7 18.Re1 Ra8 The worrying thing the commentators and talking heads saw for Ding here was how quickly Nepo was blitzing out his moves, and how much time Ding was eating up on his clock. That's a two-way street: if Nepo is blitzing out his moves and Ding is going into the tank, then - although he's eating time up on his clock - he's finding at the board all the best moves that Nepo and his team have conjured up here in this rare sideline. 19.Qd1 Bd8 20.Nf1 Ne7?! A decision Ding lives to regret, as suddenly everything gets awkward for him that allows Nepo to take masterful control of the board. Better was 20...Bc8 21.Ne3 Ra6 and if 22.Nf5 now good is 22...Ne7! with full equality for Black. 21.Bxb7 Qxb7 22.Ne3 Bb6 23.h4!

The standard protocol here, as pushing on with h5 and g4 secures the f5 outpost for the knight. 23...Qc6 24.h5 c4!

Despite the difficulties, Ding knows he has to fight back by generating his own counterplay on the queenside. 25.d4 exd4 It really all starts to slide for Ding from here. Better was 25...Rd8 because now if 26.Nh4 heading for the f5 outpost, there comes 26...d5 27.Nhf5 (Or even 27.Nxd5 Nxd5 28.exd5 Qf6!=) 27...Nxf5 28.Nxf5 Qf6! and in both cases with full equality. 26.Nxd4 Qc5?! Not a losing move per se from Ding, just a bad plan - but all these little inaccuracies now start to prove critical for Black. The correct call was 26...Qd7 intending 27.Nef5 Bxd4 28.Nxd4 d5 29.e5 b4! and Black has excellent holding prospects. 27.Qg4 Stronger and better was 27.Qf3! 27...Qe5 28.Nf3 Qe6 29.Nf5 Nxf5?! Now Ding's game is being hurt by his going into the tank early doors, as he continues to make a series of inaccurate moves influenced perhaps by his time pressure. This time correct was 29...Qf6! 30.Nxe7+ Qxe7 31.Nh4 Qe5 32.Nf5 Kh7 and with counterplay with ...Ra2 coming down the line, Black has nothing to fear. 30.exf5 Qf6

Again a little misstep from Ding - and now Nepo really takes control of the board and the outcome of the game. His best try to fight for equality was with 30...Qd7 as now if 31.Qe4 d5! 32.Qe7 Qxe7 33.Rxe7 b4! and Black is doing more than OK here. 31.Qe4! Nepo's execution of the remainder of this game is nothing short of a masterclass in domination that wouldn't be out of place in one of E.L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy! 31...Rb8 32.Re2 Bc5 33.g4!

And remarkably with it, even Ding rather sheepishly admitted he'd "totally overlooked" this possibility. 33...Qd8 34.Qd5 Nepo's grip gets ever tighter with each and every move now. 34...Kf8 35.Kf1! A subtle little move, just anticipating the possibility of a ...Qd7 and ...Qxg4+ disrupting the intended White attack with f5-f6. 35...Rc8? The last try to avoid the pain was 35...Qc8! because now if 36.f6 gxf6 37.Qe4 Kg8 38.Nh4 Qb7! the queens coming off could well see Black holding for a draw. 36.Re4!! (see diagram) A wonderful rook lift to victory! And for the next and final stage of the game, you could almost envision poor Ding strapped into a dentist's chair a la Marathon Man, with Nepo repeatedly asking in a menacing fashion "Is it safe?" 36...Rb8 There's nothing much more Ding can do now - it is all self-inflicted, so no sympathy! If 36...Qf6 the onslaught comes with 37.g5 hxg5 38.Rg4 Re8 39.Nxg5 Kg8 40.h6! and the engine only shoots up to something like +60! 37.g5! hxg5 38.Rg4 Ra8 There's simply no defence now. If 38...f6 39.Nh4! Ke8 (The knight is simply taboo. After 39...gxh4 40.h6! g5 41.fxg6 Qd7 42.g7+ Ke7 43.g8=Q Rxg8 44.Rxg8 Qh3+ 45.Kg1 and there's nothing left now other than desperation and the spite checks with 45...Bxf2+ 46.Kxf2 Qh2+ 47.Ke1 and no more left to give.) 40.Ng6 Kd7 41.Re4 is easily winning with the quarry being the running Black king. 39.Nxg5 The rest is now a very polished finish from Nepo. 39...Ra1+ 40.Ke2 Qe7+ 41.Ne4 Qe8 42.Kf3! Qa8 Again desperation, but how do you stop f6 snaring the Black king? 43.Qxa8+ Rxa8 44.f6! Even with the queens off the board, this is still crashing through for Nepo, as the ace in the hole after 44...gxf6 45.Nxf6 Ke7 46.Ng8+ is going to be his unstoppable h-pawn. 44...g6 45.hxg6 fxg6 46.Rxg6 Ra2 Even if 46...Kf7 47.Rg7+ Ke6 48.Kf4 Rf8 49.Re7+ Kd5 50.f7 followed by Kf5-f6-g7 is simple more than enough. 47.Kg4 Rxb2 48.Rh6 1-0 Ding resigns with the mating threat of Ng5 and Rh8 that will see the f-pawn effortlessly queen.