In the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, the match for the world chess champion began between the Russian Jan Nepomnyashi and the Chinese Ding Liren.
After yesterday's victory, Nepomnjašij leads by 1,5:0,5, in a match where 12 more games of classic (slow-moving) chess will be played.
This is the first match since 2010 in which the undisputed chess number one and five-time world champion, Magnus Carlsen, is not playing in the last decade. As the defending champion, the Norwegian had a guaranteed participation in the match, but due to the intensity of the preparations necessary for success in the match and the lack of motivation to defend the title for the 6th time, he decided to give up the competition.
This certainly reduced the attractiveness of the duel in Astana, dissuading some international sponsors and taking away from the glamor that followed the matches in which Karlsen competed.
Nepo
The general public got to know the Russian Nepomnjaši in November, when he played for the first time in a match for the world champion, in which he was convincingly defeated by Carlsen. After a heavy defeat after almost eight hours of play in an epic battle in the 6th game, the Russian suffered a complete psychological breakdown and was ultimately defeated 7.5-3.5. However, the popular Nepo showed already in July at the candidate tournament in Madrid that he did not reach the first match by chance and convincingly won the second match.
Known for his aggressive and fast (sometimes rash at the top level) game, Nepo has become one of the favorites of the general public and someone who, when he is in his element, knows how to strike fear into the bones of even the world's strongest players.
Thing
On the other hand, the Chinese Ding Liren is still relatively unknown to the general public. He entered the Candidates tournament due to the disqualification of Russian Karjakin, who is an open supporter of Putin's policies and the war that has been raging in Ukraine for over a year. He got the opportunity to fight for the title of world champion in the match after winning second place in Madrid and Carlsen's resignation. He is one of only 14 players in history who managed to break through the "magical" limit of 2.800 rating points (Nepo, for example, has not yet).
Ding in top form is a player who can beat anyone, including Karlsen, but also a player who is incredibly difficult to beat. He went down in history as the person with, at that moment, the longest streak of games (100) without defeat in slow-moving chess at the top level. This record was broken a year later by Karlsen.
The course of the match so far
The match started excitingly and already in the first game Nepo had a serious chance to gain a significant advantage, but Ding still managed to get a draw. At the post-match press conference, Ding admitted to being seriously emotionally shaken by the weight of the match.
It seems that Nepo "smelled blood" and despite the surprise he experienced in the early opening (4. h3), he managed to fight for a dynamic position in a variant of the received queen's gambit and "blow away" the Chinese from the board with a precise attacking game. The mistake in the 12th move, when Ding took the knight on f6, largely determined the further course of the game. The Chinese said in the press that he completely missed that Nepo does not have to take that knight with a queen (which is a more natural, but also significantly weaker move), but also has the option of taking a pawn, which opens a position to the detriment of the Chinese.
Ding wandered off with a further agenda, which Nepo punished mercilessly. Later, by sacrificing the quality and dominance of the hunting pair, Nepo "knocked out" the helpless Ding for the first victory in the match. The last position (picture) says more than a thousand words.
Continuation of the match
Today is a free day in Astana, a chance for the players to rest and prepare for the further course of the match. Ding badly needs rest, primarily for psychological stabilization, which must happen if he wants to seriously challenge Nep in the rest of the match.
The experience of Nepomnjaši, who in the last match against Karlsen failed to return after a psychological shock, tells him that the best chance to win is if he continues to aggressively press the opponent and manages to win a few more victories before the end of the match.
On the other hand, even though he lost the second game, Ding surprisingly gave the opponent's secondary team homework in the early opening (extremely unusual at that level), which can be useful for him in the rest of the match.
Bonus video:
