Half of the title saves – Kommersant

Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi came very close to winning the world chess title. Dispersing the world in two games in a row – white and black pieces – with Ding Liren, Nepomniachtchi is one point ahead of his opponent three rounds before the end of the match taking place in Astana. At the same time, his game hints that it will be terribly difficult for the Chinese to break through an opponent who has stopped playing tricks and put on density.

These two parties – the tenth and eleventh – might otherwise seem unworthy of any attention. Well, it’s a great thing – two super-grandmasters fighting for the title of world champion played each other in a draw with no special prospects for achieving a brighter result. But the Astana context turned them into a curious event. The fact is that for more than half of its distance, the duel between Yang Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren did not at all meet the standards, or something, of championship matches – events that get stuck in memory primarily thanks to, what can I say, not only someone brilliant solutions, but also mistakes. After all, there are, as a rule, very few of these decisions and errors that exclude the usual division of the score. Yes, each for someone is worth its weight in gold.

In Astana, there were many extraordinary solutions, and there were even more mistakes, either forcing them to look for solutions for the sake of salvation, or nullifying all the chic finds, leading the author to disaster, even more. So much that it would have accumulated not for two or three, but for half a dozen “traditional” championship matches. As well as effective games: there were already five of them. And at the same time, some of the draw points to the division of points taxied by a miracle. And then suddenly – a return to the classical channel, when it was no longer expected from two grunts. But they seemed to remember how masters play chess, contesting the most valuable prize.

However, some famous players, it seems, this circumstance only pleased. In any case, the Dutch and American grandmasters Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana, commenting on the games played on Sunday and Monday, made no secret of the fact that they were quite pleased with the plot twist. So, apparently, they understand better.

The play of the opponents in these games was also clear, like a primer. Especially in the eleventh, in which Ian Nepomniachtchi, who on the eve held a position in the English Opening that was not insanely difficult, but still requiring attention and extreme concentration, had white pieces.

For a person who is fond of chess and psychology at the same time, it was certainly a pleasure to watch her.

On the board is the Spanish game, the most popular of the openings. You can spin it in any direction, depending on the style of the fight and what outcome the chess player dreams of.

Ding Liren’s intentions become clear when he aggressively pushes the pawn to c4 on his 15th move. The move, strictly speaking, is not outstanding, but it shows that even with black the Chinese intends to cling to the chances. The situation now on the board is such that one can already dream of another storm. But Nepomniachtchi has completely different goals.

They become completely clear when, on the 19th move, he misses the opportunity to move the queen from d2 to e2, instead taking someone else’s pawn with his pawn – the one on c4. And this move initiates a whole avalanche of exchanges, sweeping bishops, knights, rooks, queens off the board. The computer still fixes the minimum advantage for Ian Nepomniachtchi, but exactly what is the minimum, about which they say that it is, in fact, equivalent to equality.

And the Russian grandmaster is absolutely satisfied that the game, which at some point looked quite promising, is heading straight for a quick draw. It was fixed on the 39th move.

And everything is explainable. After all, the world allowed Nepomniachtchi to approach the title very, very close, although not very close: there are three games with classical time control before the finish of the match, and in two of them, including the closest one on Wednesday, Ding Liren will have white pieces. But it will be incredibly difficult for the Chinese to break through such a solid, precise, putting on simplification, not complication, a Russian grandmaster without the risk of getting an already one hundred percent fatal hole. Anish Giri wrote about Nepomniachtchi’s game in such a way as about “championship”, as if, having seen his “upgrade”, he decided that nothing could be opposed to him.

Alexey Dospekhov