In the fourth and final rapid game of the tie-break phase in Astana, Kazakhstan, black, wins the title with a 68-move victory over Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Holding his head, Ding Liren sat there. Ian Nepomniachtchi, his overwhelmed opponent, struggled to get out of his chair after accidentally knocking the chess pieces off the table. Both of them were overwhelmed at once by emotions.
Exhaustion, and the enormity of what they had won and lost. At that point, neither seemed to have anything left to give.
The current chess world champion is Ding. the first Chinese male champion. After attempting to win the world title for the second time in succession.
Russia’s Nepomniachtchi returns home broken. Magnus Carlsen’s decade-long reign was also
ended as a result.
The Norwegian had last year declared his choice to not guard his reality title. The beauty and agony of chess were on full display during a match that lasted three weeks and included 14 classical games
as well as a tie-break made up of four rapid games.
Both players threw punches, bared their guts, and shed blood in the most dramatic title fight in recent history.
The world of China No. Throughout the classical phase, 3, never led. He also had not won any of his previous games with
Black against a player who was one rank higher than him. After the first three games ended in draws, he did both in the final rapid game.
Ding began with white on Sunday and the initial two quick games were wealthy in quality and thoughts. In the second, Ian missed a few chances.
But Ding’s defense didn’t give up on him. The third wandered into a peaceful draw. Ding showed a lot of courage in the fourth as a blitz decider loomed. He rejected a reiteration and self-stuck with 46… Rg6.
In an all-or-nothing move, the bravery to seek such brilliance while running out of time was rewarded.
Ding said in a poetic way, “This match reflects the deepness (sic) of my soul.”
Ding appeared to be the more shaky challenger when he arrived in Astana about 25 days ago. He talked about feeling down, asking himself out loud if he should see a doctor, and falling behind early in the second game with a loss.
Ding was a different player in Game 3 after taking a rest day and getting rid of his emotions.
He had only participated in five classical tournaments in three years prior to the match because Covid-19 made it difficult for him to leave China.
Here and there I assumed I was dependent on chess in light of the fact that without competitions I
was really disturbed. I sometimes had trouble finding other things to do,” he stated.
There’s very nearly a fatalistic aspect to Ding’s pathway to arriving at the Big Showdowns. After Russia’s Sergey Karjakin was banned for his outspoken support of the war against Ukraine, he was invited to play in the Candidate’s tournament at the last minute.
That tournament was won by Nepomniachtchi, Ding came in second, and Carlsen got in because he
withdrew. Six of the 14 traditional games were conclusive and the 7-7 tied scores achieved the tiebreaks.
The match entered tiebreaks for the fifth time in World Championship history. Carlsen was involved in two of the previous four matches: against Karjakin(2016) and Fabiano Caruana (2018).
Nepomniachtchi said, “The crucial moment was in the second game.” I didn’t know I had a chance to win. The fourth game required me to play with greater precision. But now [48. h4??], the circumstance changed. The time was very little and it was undeniably challenging to change myself, to change the game. White was near winning. I couldn’t fathom how I could lose.
However, things occur.
Date 2023-05-01
Words 905
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Fifty years prior, chess and China weren’t even spoken at the same moment. During the country’s Cultural Revolution.
Which lasted from 1965 to 1976, chess was outlawed because it was viewed as a debauched sign of capitalism.
Chess books were set on fire, and thousands of people were killed during the sociopolitical movement. In the years that followed, the state’s chess policy changed, and since 1991, China has produced six female world champions.
The following ladies’ big showdown also will be an all-Chinese undertaking. Dato Tan Chin Nam, a Malaysian entrepreneur.
Began pitching the “Big Dragon Project”‘s efforts to expand chess in Asia in the middle of the 1970s. Ding’s crowning liturgy as title holder is the result of these combined endeavors.
Nepomniachtchi was the one with past match insight against Carlsen, holding a slight edge. Vladimir Kramnik, the previous Russian world champion, was one of those who assisted him with this match.
The 32-year-old seemed to be under a lot of pressure to win the title back for his chess-mad country for the first time since 2007. It didn’t happen.
He was disheartened by the loss and wondered what else he could contribute. “(Growing up) I hadn’t actually longed for becoming title holder,” said Ding, “It was not all that significant.”
Something Ding did however toward the beginning of the match spout at the possibility of his image finding a put on the walls of chess clubs wherever close by other title holders. He may not have imagined it, but he has certainly made it happen.