It was a fitting finale for the unlikely coronation of the 17th world chess champion: The only time Chinese GM Ding Liren led in his epic monthlong title match with Russian rival Ian Nepomniachtchi was when the clocks were stopped on the fourth and final game of the rapid playoff that decided the contest.
The 30-year-old Ding played catch-up throughout the compelling match in the Kazakh capital of Astana, coming back from one-game deficits repeatedly to tie the classical portion of the match at 7-7. He forced the playoff with a Game 12 win that he nearly lost, and took a major gamble in the decisive rapid game by pushing for a win with precious little time on his clock.
It’s another heartbreak for Nepomniachtchi, who earned a second shot at the title after his loss to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen two years ago. The Russian had the initiative for much of the match, but his baffling tendency to play fast and loose in critical positions cost him against Ding as it did against Carlsen. With just a couple of accurate moves, Nepo would likely be wearing the crown today.
The victory by the soft-spoken, self-effacing Ding will likely prove popular both at home and around the world. It came about through an unlikely series of events: COVID-19 kept him off the international circuit for much of the past two years, he barely qualified for the championship cycle, finished second to Nepomniachtchi at the Candidates tournament, and only got a slot in the title match because Carlsen declined to defend his title after a decade of dominance.
Ding appeared very shaky at the opening of the title match, but steadied himself after that. It was a pleasingly combative world title match, with six decisive game in the classical portion of the match, capped by the memorable Game 12 tilt that tested both players skill and nerves.
Ding has some adventurous opening choices prepared, and trailing by a point with just three games to go, trots out the rare Colle System. White gets the open position he craves, but his overambitious kingside attack with 17. g4?! leads nowhere, and by 21. Rg1 f4! the board has tilted Black’s way. Nepo was on the verge of a knockout after 23. Rae1 Qg5 24. c4?! dxc4 25. Qc3 b5!, securing the extra pawn and forcing Ding to take even more chances.
The pressure of a title match show on both players in the ensuing play: 26. a4 b4!? (not bad, but simply 26…a6! preserves all of Black’s positional trumps while keeping the pressure on White to defend) 27. Qxc4 Rag8?! (both players seemed to outsmart themselves repeatedly in the match; here just playing the obvious fork leads to 27… Nf3! 28. Qc6 Nxe1! 29. Qxa8+ Rg8 30. Qe4 Nxc2 31. Qxc2 Qh4 32. Qd3 f5 puts White in a world of trouble; Ding admitted to feeling vastly relieved Black did not play this) 28. Qc6 Bb8?! (and here the harder-to-find 28…Nf5! was strong: 29. Bxf5 exf5 30. Re8 fxg4 31. Rxg8+ Kxg8 32. Qe8+ Bf8 33. Qe5 Qh4 34. Nxf4 Bd6 and wins) 29. Qb7? (again, 29. Bxg6! Qxg6 30. Rd1 was obvious and better) Rh6? (Nf5 30. Rd1 Qh4 31. Qf3 Ne7 32. Rg2 f5 still gives Black an edge), throwing away Black’s advantage for good.
But just when a draw would have brought Nepo a crucial half-point closer to glory, he uncorked the incomprehensible 34. Re2 f5?? (Qg5 35. Qc5 Qh4 36. f3 Qd8 is still a game) 35. Rxe6 (it’s not clear when Black missed, but now his game collapses) Rxh5 36. gxh5 Qxh5 37. d5+ Kg8 38. d6!, blocking the bishop and setting up nasty mating threats. Black resigned facing such unappealing options as 38…f3 39. Bf1 (and not 39. Bxf3?? Qxh3 mate!) Qh6 40. Re8! Rxe8 41. Bc4+ Kf8 42. Qf6 mate.
After three tense but balanced drawn rapid playoff games, Nepo on the White side of an Anti-Marshall Ruy Lopez in Game 4 gets a slight pull out of the opening before Ding strikes back with the timely central strike 18. Nc4 d5!?. Black straightens out his forces and the game appears heading for yet another draw and the dreaded blitz finale, especially with both players running short on time.
But after White misses a good chance to reorganize (35. Rd2! Rxf5 36. Qc6!), Black courageously goes for the kill: 39. Be3 Be5 (Qxc3 40. Qe4+ Kg8 41. Qa8+ Rf8 42. Qd5+ draws) 40. Qe8 Bxc3! 41. Rc1 Rf6 42. Qd7 (threatening 43. Qd1! and the pinned Black bishop is lost) Qe2!, a sharp idea White did not see. After 43. Qd5 Bb4 44. Qe4+ (Bxc5 Be1 45. Qg2 Bd2, and suddenly the Black outside passer looms large) Kg8 45. Qd5+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ Rg6! — an extraordinarily gutsy move pinning the rook with just the king to defend it.
White simply can’t match Black’s daring and energy in the match-deciding final phase: 47. Qf5?! (h4! h5 48. Rc2 Qg4 49. Qd3 keeps the position manageable) c4! (now the engines give Black a big edge; the weak and immobile pawns are suddenly on the move) 48. h4 Qd3! — killing the pin by claiming the critical diagonal on the board; White must give ground as a queen trade just loses) 49. Qf3 Rf6!? (Bd2! was even more potent) 50. Qg4 c3 51. Rd1 Qg6 52. Qc8 Rc6 53. Qa8, when Ding misses another putaway volley with 53…c2! 54. Rd8 c1=Q+! 51. Bxc1 Rxc1+ 56. Kh2 Qc6! 57. Rh8+ Kg6 and wins.
White’s last chance comes on 57. Kh2 a4?! (Qf5 was stronger) 58. Bd4! (see diagram) a3?, when Nepo had the amazing saving resource 59. h5!! Bf8 (a2?? 60. Qf7 and the mate threat wins as the Black queen can no longer get back to g6) 60. Qf7 Qe4 61. Bxc3 Qe7 62. Qd5 Qc5 63. Qf7 Qxc3 64. Qxf8 Qd3 65. Qa8 and Black can’t make progress.
Instead, it’s over on 59. Qc7? Qg6 60. Qc4 c2! 61. Be3 Bd6 and both Black passers are protected and Ding need only prepare the ground for their advance. A desperate White only hastens his demise with 63. Kf1 Be5 (threatening 64. c1=Q+ 65. Bxc1 Qb1 66. Kg2 a2 67. Qe2 g6 68. Qxe5 a1=Q 69. Qe7+ Qg7 and wins) 64. g4 hxg4 65. h5 Qf5 66. Qd5 g3 67. f4 a2! 68. Qxa2 Bxf4, and White can’t take the bishop and can’t leave it alone; e.g. 69. Bxf4 c1=Q+ 70. Kg2 Qe4+ 71. Kxg3 Qcxf4+ 72. Kh3 Qxf3 mate. Nepomniachtchi resigned and Ding was the champ.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Ding-Nepomniachtchi, FIDE World Championship Match, Game 12, Astana, Kazakhstan, April 2023
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Nbd2 cxd4 5. exd4 Qc7 6. c3 Bd7 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. O-O Bg4 9. Re1 e6 10. Nf1 Bd6 11. Bg5 O-O 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Ng3 f5 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Ne7 16. Nh5 Kh8 17. g4 Rg8 18. Kh1 Ng6 19. Bc2 Nh4 20. Qe3 Rg6 21. Rg1 f4 22. Qd3 Qe7 23. Rae1 Qg5 24. c4 dxc4 25. Qc3 b5 26. a4 b4 27. Qxc4 Rag8 28. Qc6 Bb8 29. Qb7 Rh6 30. Be4 Rf8 31. Qxb4 Qd8 32. Qc3 Ng6 33. Bg2 Qh4 34. Re2 f5 35. Rxe6 Rxh5 36. gxh5 Qxh5 37. d5+ Kg8 38. d6 Black resigns.
Nepomniachtchi-Ding, FIDE World Championship Rapid Playoff, Game 4, Astana, Kazakhstan, May 2023
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. h3 O-O 10. Be3 Na5 11. Ba2 bxa4 12. Nc3 Rb8 13. Bb1 Qe8 14. b3 c5 15. Nxa4 Nc6 16. Nc3 a5 17. Nd2 Be6 18. Nc4 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Bd2 Nxc3 21. Bxc3 Bxc4 22. bxc4 Bd8 23. Bd2 Bc7 24. c3 f5 25. Re1 Rd8 26. Ra2 Qg6 27. Qe2 Qd6 28. g3 Rde8 29. Qf3 e4 30. dxe4 Ne5 31. Qg2 Nd3 32. Bxd3 Qxd3 33. exf5 Rxe1+ 34. Bxe1 Qxc4 35. Ra1 Rxf5 36. Bd2 h6 37. Qc6 Rf7 38. Re1 Kh7 39. Be3 Be5 40. Qe8 Bxc3 41. Rc1 Rf6 42. Qd7 Qe2 43. Qd5 Bb4 44. Qe4+ Kg8 45. Qd5+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ Rg6 47. Qf5 c4 48. h4 Qd3 49. Qf3 Rf6 50. Qg4 c3 51. Rd1 Qg6 52. Qc8 Rc6 53. Qa8 Rd6 54. Rxd6 Qxd6 55. Qe4+ Qg6 56. Qc4 Qb1+ 57. Kh2 a4 58. Bd4 a3 59. Qc7 Qg6 60. Qc4 c2 61. Be3 Bd6 62. Kg2 h5 63. Kf1 Be5 64. g4 hxg4 65. h5 Qf5 66. Qd5 g3 67. f4 a2 68. Qxa2 Bxf4 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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