King Ding!
Congratulations to China’s Ding Liren, who defied the overwhelming odds and his early self-proclaimed psychological meltdown in the €2m FIDE World Championship, as he staged a remarkable comeback for the ages in Astana, Kazakhstan, by going on to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in a dramatic playoff to be crowned the 17th World Champion in a heritage line that dates back to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886!
Nearly written off following his nervous start, Ding incredibly never once had the lead in the match until he won the only game that mattered the most of all in the match: Game 4 of the rapid playoff after three draws - and even then, he did so from what was generally perceived by everyone to be a game that was heading for a fourth straight draw!
And with Ding’s triumph, he now finally fulfils Malaysian business magnate Dato Tan Chin Nam’s “Big Dragon” project from the mid-70s, in partnership with Chinese officials, which brought China in from behind the Bamboo Curtin to become a global chess power, after Beijing banned international chess during the first eight years of the Cultural Revolution.
First China captured the women’s world title from the previously dominant Georgians; then they advanced in the biennial team Olympiad until winning gold in 2014; and finally, after many years, Ding now becomes the first player from China to capture the open/men’s world crown.
“I’m quite relieved,” said an exasperated King Ding moment after being proclaimed the 17th World Champion. “The moment Ian resigned the game it was a very emotional moment. I cannot control my moods, my feelings, and I know myself, I will cry, I will burst into tears, and it’s quite a tough tournament for me. I would like to thank my friends.”
“I guess I had every chance,” said a visibly gutted Nepo, who played under a neutral Fide flag throughout the contest due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I had so many promising positions and probably should have tried to finish everything in the classical portion. (...) Once it went to a tiebreak, of course it’s always some sort of lottery, especially after 14 games [of classical chess]. Probably my opponent made less mistakes, so that’s it.”
And in winning the world crown, given the strange circumstances of how he got there, Ding truly has to be the chosen one. Covid restrictions left him facing an epic mad-dash to play the requisite number of games to gain a rating spot in the Candidates, as Sergey Karjakin “couldn’t” play. And as runner-up behind Nepo in the Candidates, he only got to play in the World Championship Match because Magnus Carlsen “wouldn’t” by abdicating his crown!
It's also instant karma for Russia, with Nepo’s remarkable defeat from virtually being on the cusp of victory, as once again they do not have the world crown to crow about. The only reason Karjakin couldn’t play in the Candidates was down to his FIDE six-month playing ban following his insensitive and incendiary pro-war tweets. So let me take this moment on behalf of Ukraine to thank Sergey Karjakin for doing his own little bit to deny Russia the world crown!
Ian Nepomniachtchi 7 1½
½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0
½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1
Ding Liren 7 2½
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi - GM Ding Liren
Fide World Chess Championship playoff, (4)
C84: Ruy Lopez, Closed, Martinez variation
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 After a jittery start to Game 1, where he was a little flummoxed to face Nepo's surprise weapon of the DERLD (Delayed Exchange Ruy Lopez Deferred), a more confident Ding has faith once again in defending the Lopez. 6.d3 And once again the Martinez variation from Nepo to avoid Ding's favourite Marshall Attack. But this time it was nerves that seemed to hit Nepo, with some very strange opening choices that locked in his Lopez bishop on b1. 6...b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.h3 O-O 10.Be3 Na5 11.Ba2 bxa4 12.Nc3 Rb8 13.Bb1!? Qe8 Nepo's strategy is only good in the context that 13...Rxb2?! 14.Nxa4 Rb8 15.Nc5 Nc6 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.Rxa6 and White has the bishop-pair (and now a2 to bring it to life down the long a2-g8 diagonal) and better long-term prospects. 14.b3 c5 15.Nxa4 Nc6 16.Nc3?! The consensus among the talking heads was that 16.c3 was needed to allow the Lopez bishop to 'breathe', first with Bc2 to defend against ...Be6, and later, d4 as the game opens up. 16...a5 17.Nd2 Be6 18.Nc4 d5 Ding cuts straight to the chase by busting the game open early doors - but also a good and solid option was 18...Qd7 first and later aiming for the ...d5 break.19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Bd2
Nepo obviously has designs on that loose a5-pawn - but I think slightly better was 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.c3 to get his 'ugly' Lopez bishop into the game - but for some unknown reason, Nepo neglects to do this and lives to regret it. 20...Nxc3
A good option was also 20...Nf4, but Ding clearly plays on Nepo's self-entombment of his Lopez bishop. 21.Bxc3 Bxc4 22.bxc4 Bd8 23.Bd2 There was a lot of online chatter from the fans - obviously flying without an 'engine' - doubting the rationale of this move from Nepo, as surely he had the "easy plan' of Bb1-b3-a4? Fantastic plan if only White is allowed three moves without a reply, but the little snafu is that 23.Ba2 a4! that not only denies the b3 square from the bishop but also gives Black a big advantage. 23...Bc7 24.c3 This time there's a solid plan of Bc2-a4. But as we reach a critical stage of the game, the frayed nerves from the players begin to show with some mutually jittery moves. 24...f5 Safer looked 24...Qe7 with the plan of ...Nd8-e6 stopping the d4-break. 25.Re1Missing the better plan of 25.Qf3! and follow-up with Bb1-c2-a4. 25...Rd8 26.Ra2 Qg6 27.Qe2 Qd6 Ding's pawns look vulnerable, but conversely, Nepo's bishop-pair needs to find a way into the game. 28.g3 Rde8 29.Qf3 e4 A risky strategy from Ding, but he's clearly not hanging around to see Nepo bring his bishop-pair into the game. 30.dxe4 Ne5 The only move - and now Nepo needs to find the correct sequence of moves to take a grip of the game. 31.Qg2 The move to ask questions of Ding's position was 31.Qd1! Nd3 32.Re3! fxe4 33.Bxd3 exd3 34.Rxe8 Rxe8 35.Bf4 Qc6 36.Bxc7 Qxc7 37.Qxd3 with an extra pawn (albeit doubled c-pawns) and better long-term prospects of pressing for a win. 31...Nd3 32.Bxd3 Qxd3 Here the queen on g2 rather than d1 makes all the difference for Ding, as he manages to defend a difficult position. 33.exf5 Rxe1+ 34.Bxe1 Qxc4 35.Ra1 It is hard to be critical when the players are in the heat of battle with not much time left on the clocks, but better was 35.Rd2! - but it is not so easy to see as you need to find a series of engine-only moves after 35...Rxf5 36.Qc6! forcing Black into 36...Bxg3!? 37.Rd8+ Kf7 where the cold, unbeating heart of the engine just nonchalantly flicks in 38.f4! Bxf4 (Of course, the bishop is taboo due to the mating net created and 38...Bxe1 39.Qe8+ Kf6 40.Rd6+ Qe6 41.Qxe6#) 39.Qe8+ Kf6 40.Bh4+ Rg5+! The only move now. 41.Bxg5+ Bxg5 42.Rc8 h6 43.Qc6+ Kf5 44.Qxc5+ Qxc5+ 45.Rxc5+ Ke4 46.Rxa5 Kd3 47.Ra4! Kxc3 48.Kf2 with winning chances with the Black king cut-off - but even this isn't easy to win. And as I often say, all easy to see when you have the engine chugging away in the background; but not so easy when you are one of the players and have little or no time left on the clock! 35...Rxf5 36.Bd2 h6 37.Qc6 Rf7Just when all the talking heads thought we were heading for a draw - and more playoff games - Ding, despite being behind on the clock, makes the very brave decision in this equal position to press Nepo...and his gamble pays off big-time. 38.Re1 Kh7 39.Be3 Be5 40.Qe8 Bxc3 41.Rc1 Rf6 42.Qd7 If Nepo wanted a safe bailout, then he had it here with 42.Bd2!? Qd4! 43.Bxc3 Qxf2+ 44.Kh1 Qf3+ 45.Kh2 Qf2+ 46.Kh1 Qf3+ 47.Kh2 and a threefold-repetition. 42...Qe2 43.Qd5 Bb4 This was the real turning point in the game, according to Ding in his post-game victory presser, as he suddenly realised he could play for a win, “because if you take on c5 (44.Bxc5) I can play 44…Be1! and not exchange the bishop.” 44.Qe4+ Kg8 45.Qd5+ Kh7 46.Qe4+ Rg6! (see diagram) A very ballsy call from Ding at a critical juncture in an increasingly tense game, and with just a minute left on his clock, he turns down the repetition with the self-pin just to create the possibility of winning chances - and this is what probably flummoxed Nepo. The talking heads weren't so sure about the risk - but Magnus Carlsen was, as he magnanimously tweeted "Self-pinning for immortality. Congrats Ding!!” as he took over the laurels of his World Championship title. 47.Qf5?? Not only flummoxed but also bamboozled, Nepo blunders big-time. He had to find 47.Rc2! Qa6 48.Bxc5 Qe6 49.Qd3 Qa6 50.Qf5 Qf6 and the game does now fizzle out to a draw. 47...c4!
Now 48.Rc2 is going to be strongly met by 42...Qd3! forcing the queens off and a winning endgame for Black with two advanced passed pawns. 48.h4 Qd3 49.Qf3 Rf6 Hard to see with the flag on your digital clock metaphorically rising rapidly, but the engine clean kill was 49...Bd2! 50.Rd1 c3 51.Kg2 Rf6 52.Qg4 Qd5+ 53.Kg1 c2 54.Bxd2 cxd1=Q+ 55.Qxd1 a4 and White can resign with the a-pawn now running wildly up the board. 50.Qg4 c3 Passed pawns must be pushed! 51.Rd1 Qg6 52.Qc8 Rc6! 53.Qa8 Rd6 Killing was 53...c2! but the text just takes a little longer - and added drama for everyone with Ding's flag now hanging! 54.Rxd6 Qxd6 55.Qe4+ Qg6 56.Qc4 Despite a time advantage, Nepo can't trade queens as Ding will simply push the a-pawn up the board winning the bishop. 56...Qb1+ 57.Kh2 a4 58.Bd4 a3? This time-induced minor error could have proved fatal for Ding, as it allows Nepo some saving chances - the move to find and play was 58...Qb3! 59.Qc7?? It has to be remembered that Nepo was also under the cosh of the clock - and he blows it in this intense struggle by not finding the resourceful move 59.h5! boxing the Black king in, and forcing the finish 59...Bf8 60.Qf7 Qd3 61.Bxc3! Qxc3 62.Qxf8 a2 63.Qf5+ Kh8
(Definitely not 63...Kg8? 64.Qd5+ Kh7 65.Qxa2 Qf3 66.Qc2+ Kg8 67.Qc5 and the pendulum moves to White.) 64.Qf8+ Kh7 65.Qf5+ and a repetition. 59...Qg6 60.Qc4 c2 61.Be3 Bd6 62.Kg2 h5! This time not so much stopping the king from being boxed in with g4 and h5, but to defend the c2-pawn. 63.Kf1 Be5 Well, of course, the engine shows no nerves and easily finds the -46.83 or something winning moves of 63...a2! 64.Qxa2 Qe4! 65.Kg1 Bc5 66.Bd2 Qf5 67.Bf4 Bxf2+!! where I am sure, like the players living on the fumes of seconds by now on their clocks, you spotted all those tactics! 64.g4 Pure desperation now - but there's method to the madness as Nepo wants to play Ke2 to race his king over to d2 without allowing ...Qg4+ trading queens and the a-pawn to run home. 64...hxg4 65.h5 Qf5 66.Qd5 g3!
Amazingly, with his flag metaphorically hanging, Ding finds all the good moves for a remarkable victory. 67.f4 a2! 68.Qxa2 Bxf4 0-1
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