AFTER drawing Sunday’s first game in the World Chess Championship, China’s Ding Liren went out on a limb in the second today with a little-explored line — but his plan was thwarted by Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Nepomniachtchi, playing black, comfortably coped with Ding’s off-piste excursion and steadily gained ground on his adversary until the Chinese player, deep in time trouble, conceded after 29 moves with a black pawn promotion looming.
The match, being played in Astana, Kazakhstan, has garnered little mainstream media attention because the dominant figure in world chess for the past decade, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, has chosen not to defend his title, leaving the contest a little devalued in his absence, but a prize fund of €2 million — 60 per cent going to the winner — is not to be sneezed at.
Nonetheless, the two contenders for the title are excellent players in their own right and their approach to the match so far has been refreshing and far from the grim grind of Nepomniachtchi’s last bid to wrest the crown from Carlsen in Dubai in 2021.
Some of the spark has been added by the presence of Hungarian-born GM Richard Rapport, an aggressive player who often uses unusual openings, as an aide for Ding. In the press conference after game two, Ding admitted: “Today’s game was a disaster. The h3 move was the idea of my seconds: I just didn’t play it very well.”
Whether Rapport’s ideas stand up to serious scrutiny in a world championship is up for debate. After going a point down in the match, perhaps Ding will retreat into his shell and play less ambitiously. Let’s hope not.
The match, which resumes on Wednesday after Tuesday’s rest day, will be decided by the best 14 games, with a rapid decider in case of a tie.
Game two: Liren (white) v Nepomniachtchi. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. h3 dxc4 5. e3 c5 6. Bxc4 a6 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. Nc3 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Ne4 Na5 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. e4 c4 14. Bc2 Qc7 15. Bd2 Rg8 16. Rc1 0-0-0 17. Bd3 Kb8 18. Re1 f5 19. Bc2 Nc6 20. Bg5 Rxg5 21. Nxg5 Nxd4 22. Qh5 f6 23. Nf3 Nxc2 24. Rxc2 Bxe4 25. Rd2 Bd6 26. Kh1 c3 27. bxc3 bxc3 28. Rd4 c2 29. Qh6 e5 30. White concedes.
