Missed opportunities
Ding Liren is struggling to return to a fifty-percent score after his loss in the inaugural round at the Candidates Tournament in Madrid. The Chinese had favourable positions for three rounds in a row, but was left with nothing better than three draws. In a long tournament — which saw him qualify only at the last minute — this might bode well for his chances to keep getting good positions in the long run, but dealing with the frustration of failing to win a game when he had the opportunity might also turn out to be a decisive psychological blow for him.
On Wednesday, Ding had the black pieces against Teimour Radjabov. Out of a Queen’s Indian Defence, the Azerbaijani was outplayed in the early middlegame. The material remained balanced and the pawn structures symmetrical, but Ding had better dynamic chances with his more active pieces and safer king.
Converting such an abstract advantage is never easy, especially while facing a strong defender like Radjabov. On the last move before reaching the time control, Ding lost his edge by playing 40...g6, when 40...Bxd4 was by far the strongest alternative in the position.
Trading pieces might seem counterintuitive at first, but getting rid of one white knight is crucial in this case. After the text, Radjabov continued with 41.Ng5, attacking e6. Ding thought for 17 minutes before capturing — a move too late — the knight with 41...Bxd4.
Had he grabbed the piece on move 40, Ding would have been the one placing his knight on a strong outpost first — e.g. 40...Bxd4 41.Bxd4 Nf5 42.Bc5 Qc6
While Black’s pieces have found active squares and have plenty of potential to create threats against the king and the weakness on e5, it will be hard for White to find moves that do not destabilize his position, which looks to be hanging by a tread — the black queen on c6 threatens to infiltrate along the a8-h1 diagonal, while the white bishop is unable to attack the black pawns on light squares.
The key move missed by Ding would not have granted him a tactical blow, but would have allowed him to slowly up the pressure positionally. Once he noticed what he had missed, he looked visibly frustrated on camera.
A draw was signed after move 50.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 0-0 5.Bg2 d5 6.Ngf3 b6 7.0-0 Bb7 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Rc8 10.Rc1 Qe7 11.e3 11...c5N 11...Rfd8 12.Qe2 c5 13.a3 Bxd2 14.Nxd2 cxd4 15.exd4 Nf8 16.Rfd1 dxc4 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.bxc4 12.cxd5 Bxd5 13.Qe2 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Ne5 16.e4 Rfd8 17.Rxc8 Rxc8 18.f4 Ng6 19.Nc4 Qb7 20.a3 Bc5 21.Re1 b5 22.Nd2 a6 23.N2f3 Ne7 24.Qd3 h6 25.Re2 Bb6 26.h3 Rd8 27.Qc2 Rc8 27...h5!? 28.h4 Rc8= 28.Qd3 Rd8 29.Qc2! h5! 30.h4 Ng4 30...Rc8 31.Qd3 Nc6 31.Qc3= 31...Nf6 31...Bxd4= 32.Nxd4 e5 33.fxe5 Rc8 32.Qc2 Rc8 33.Qd3 Ng4 34.b4 Qd7 35.Rd2 Rc4 36.Qe2 36.Nf5= Qxd3 37.Nxe7+ Kf8 38.Rxd3 36...Qb7 37.Qd3 37...f6 37...Ng6! 38.Re2 Qd7 38.Kh3 Qc8 39.e5 39.Kg2! 39...fxe5 40.fxe5 g6 40...Bxd4 41.Nxd4 Nxe5 41.Ng5!= Bxd4 42.Bxd4 Qa8 43.Qf3 Qxf3 44.Nxf3 Nc6 45.Bc5 Ncxe5 46.Nxe5 Nxe5 47.Re2 Nd3 48.Rxe6 Nxc5 49.bxc5 Kf7 50.Rxa6 Rxc5 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Radjabov,T | 2753 | Ding,L | 2806 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 | 5.2 |
Please, wait...

Teimour Radjabov | Photo: FIDE / Steve Bonhage
Another player who will perhaps look back at this round with some regret is Hikaru Nakamura. The 5-time US champion could not make the most of a better position in his game with white against sole leader Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Out of a Petroff Defence which seemed to be going well for Black, Nepo made a questionable decision on move 16.
Nakamura vs. Nepomniachtchi
Instead of keeping the balance with a retreating move like 16...Qd6 or 17...Qd7, Nepo invited his opponent to harass his queen by playing 16...Qe4. After 17.Bf1, with a discovered attack, Black’s best move according to the engines is 17...Qb1, and the queen will soon be pushed to find shelter on a1 via Rb2.
Why to allow this with Black from the diagrammed position?
Of course, all but trapping one’s queen on the corner is not as enticing for a human as it is for a cold-blooded calculating machine. Thus, Nepo played 17...Qg4, the only other manoeuvre that saves his queen.
In the next nine moves, Black had to move his queen away from attacks no fewer than seven times, while White transferred his rook to e3 and activated his dark-squared bishop.
Much like Ding, Nakamura got a positional advantage, which he let go of by playing a single inaccurate move. Here, placing the dark-squared bishop on the long diagonal with 28.Bc3 would have further improved White’s position, forcing Black to once again move his queen.
However, Naka went for the concrete 28.Na5 instead, when after 28...b6 29.Nc6 Bd7, Black has managed to consolidate, and it is difficult for White to make progress.
There followed 30.Bc3 Qd6 31.Bb4 Qf6, and the contenders repeated the position three times to finally split the point.
World champion Magnus Carlsen joined the live commentary team on chess24, and thus described Nepo’s position before the players began to repeat moves:
This position is a dream compared to what he had, and he does have half an hour more. I would not bet on him losing this game. Clearly White is better but he kind of escaped!
Moreover, he later criticized the Russian’s decision to accept the draw, as he could have tried to take over, making the most of Naka’s frustration after losing his opening advantage. The Norwegian asserted:
Smell the blood in the water, dude. Be a shark!
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.Ra2 Bf8 15.cxd5N 15.a4 Ne7 16.Qb3 c6 17.Qxb7 Rb8 18.Qxa7 Rb1 19.Rb2 Nc8 20.Qa6 Rxb2 21.Bxb2 Qb6 22.Qxb6 Nxb6 15...Qxd5 16.c4 Qe4 16...Qd6= 17.Bf1 Qg4 17...Qb1 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 18.h3!± Rxe1 19.Qxe1 Qe4 20.Re2 Qd3 21.Rb2 21.Nh4!± 21...Qe4= 22.Re2 22.Qxe4= Bxe4 23.Ng5 23.Rxb7 Nxd4 24.Rxc7 Ne6= 22...Qd3± 23.Re3 Qb1 24.d5 Ne7 25.Nd2 Qa1 26.Nb3! Qf6 27.Bd2 Ng6 28.Na5 28.Bc3± Qd8 29.Bb4 29.Nd4 Bd7 28...b6= 29.Nc6 Bd7 30.Bc3 Qd6 31.Bb4 Qf6 32.Bc3 Qd6 33.Bb4 Qf6 34.Bc3 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Nakamura,H | 2760 | Nepomniachtchi,I | 2773 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 | 5.4 |
Please, wait...

Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: FIDE / Steve Bonhage
Round 5 results
Standings after round 5
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Links