World Championship Game 14: On to the rapid playoff as Ding escapes

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/29/2023 – Ding Liren boldly tried to create winning chances with white in game 14 of the World Championship match, the last classical encounter of the confrontation. The strategy backfired, as the Chinese GM misplayed the position and needed accurate defence to hold a draw in a game that ended up lasting over six and a half hours. Rapid playoffs on Sunday will decide the winner. | Photo: FIDE / David Llada

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Ding goes for it, then defends tough position


Find expert commentary — video and game annotations — by well-known coach and author IM Robert Ris at the end of the article.


Much like Robert Ris in his video preview to game 14, many pundits have compared the final classical encounter between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi with two previous instances of similar confrontations — i.e. the 2010 game facing Veselin Topalov against Vishy Anand, and the 2016 game facing Magnus Carlsen against Sergey Karjakin. These two games illustrated the most extreme approaches one can take in a final game with the score tied.

Topalov and Carlsen had the white pieces in these games. While Topalov regarded himself as the big underdog in a potential rapid playoff, Carlsen considered himself to be the clear favourite. Topalov went all-in and lost against Anand, while Carlsen implicitly offered Karjakin to take the match to a tiebreaker by entering a completely drawn variation — Karjakin agreed, and Carlsen went on to win the playoff in style.

But what would be Ding’s approach in Astana?

As it turned out, the Chinese grandmaster was closer to Topalov than to Carlsen. At some point during the game, it seemed like he would end up regretting his decision, much like Topalov, but imprecise play by Ian Nepomniachtchi in the endgame allowed him to escape with a draw...

...only after showing great defensive skills and strong nerves, though. In a game that lasted more than six hours and a half!

Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren

Game 14 is a draw | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

The match score is thus 7-7, which means a rapid playoff (followed by blitz games if necessary) will take place on Sunday. Since a rapid tiebreaker was implemented in World Championship contests, this is the fifth time that we will see a match (for the classical title) being decided in faster-paced time controls, as noted by chess.com’s Peter Doggers.

Now that the classical match is over, if we take a look at the results, we will note that 8 out of the 14 games finished drawn. Considering the amount of back-and-forth action, it is shocking that less than half of them were decisive. Jonathan Tisdall shared on Twitter:

Hard to believe over half the games were drawn. All I remember is a blur of violence.

As has been mentioned frequently, fatigue is playing a major role in the match, especially given how fighting the games have been. Additionally, the draws in games 13 and 14 were incredibly tense and there is no rest day before a 4-game rapid match in which players will need to adjust their strategies on the go.

It is no wonder that Anand stated right after game 14 had finished:

I feel exhausted just watching them!

We can only be grateful to the players for having offered such an entertaining performance. Now it all comes down to Sunday’s games, when Ding will get the white pieces in the first rapid encounter of the playoff*!


* Four rapid games with a time control of 25' + 10" will be played. In case of a tie, two sets of 5' + 3" games will follow. If the tie remains, single 3' + 2" games will follow (a single win will grant overall victory in this phase; play will continue until finding a winner).


Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi

Both players look exhausted in the post-game press conference — during the game, Ding Liren was uncharacteristically expressive | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

Bad strategy, good defence

Out of a seemingly quiet Nimzo-Indian Defence, Ding showed his real intentions on move 12, when he played 12.Ng5 h6 13.h4.

Nepo later confessed that he “didn’t buy it” (meaning White’s attacking chances), since he had correctly developed his pieces in the opening.

Ding vs. Nepomniachtchi

Ding was already down on the clock by this point, and he went on to spend over 20 minutes on move 14. Perhaps noticing that he needed to apply drastic measures to avoid entering a passive, inferior position, he sacrificed a pawn in the ensuing middlegame.

21.Nc5 (instead of 21.Bf3) allowed 21...Bxg2, but it also gave White a couple of tempi to further activate his position with 22.Rg1 Bd5 23.e4 Bc6 24.b5

It was a case of White going for active defence at the cost of a pawn, or as stated by the legendary Boris Gulko and Mark Dvoretsky (the tweet was shared by long-time Carlsen’s second Peter Heine Nielsen):

Black had a superior position, with his extra pawn and better structure, in addition to Nepo’s advantage on the clock. Commentators considered that White seemed to have enough defensive resources, though — until Ding stuck to his guns with the active 30.Rcg3 instead of the more cautious (and correct) 30.Kd2.

Here Black needs to choose between 30...g6, dealing with the threat of Rxg7 and an immediate 30...Nxc5, which was played by Nepo.

It is true that it is not necessary to defend along the g-file, but the fact that Nepo only spent two minutes and a half before making this decision was questioned both by the commentators and by Keti Tsatsalashvili in the press conference. In hindsight, playing 30...g6 (which is also the engine’s top suggestion) might have given him Nepo the victory.

Ding was still in trouble, but yet another hasty decision by Nepo allowed him to survive.

Fabiano Caruana noted here that White is all but paralysed, while Black can safely attack the weakness on the b-file and create all kinds of threats against the vulnerable white monarch. Therefore, the simple 36...Rb3 was the best alternative. Nepo, however, spent less than two minutes before playing 36...e5, his biggest mistake in the game.

Ding, who was in mild time trouble, used a bit over ten minutes in the following 2-move sequence — and he found the correct continuation in 37.Rh8 Rd6 38.b6

A remarkable tactical idea justifies this pawn sacrifice: 38...Rxb6 39.Rxe8+ Kxe8 40.Bb5+, with a discovered attack along the third file. This was the idea behind b5-b6: to vacate b5 for the bishop to give the much-needed check!

White was still a pawn down, but defending the single-rook ending was certainly a simpler task. As it turned out, this specific setup was drawn for White.

Nepo did show great resourcefulness from this point on, as Ding needed to find precise plans to keep the balance. The draw was only agreed after 90 moves.

But ...e6-e5 had been the decisive mistake. Olimpiu Di Luppi clipped the momentous decision and shared it on Twitter, along with a brilliant remark by Caruana.


Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris - Video and annotated game

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd2 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.Ne2 c5 8.Ng3 Nc6 9.Ra2!? Game 8 5...d5 5...c5 6.a3 6.Nf3 c5 6...b6 6...Nbd7 7.a3 Bxc3 7...Ba5 8.dxc5 8.Bxc3 6...Be7 6...Bxc3 7.Nf3 c5 7...Nbd7 7...b6 8.cxd5 exd5 1-0 (49) Ding,L (2806) -Praggnanandhaa,R (2642) chess24.com INT 2022 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qc2 9.cxd5 exd5! 9...Nxd5?! 10.Bd3 9.b4 Bd6 9...d4? 10.exd4 10.bxc5 dxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 10...Bxd4 11.Nxd4 Qxd4 12.Nb5 Qe5+ 13.Be2± 9...dxc4! 9...Nc6 10.Rd1 Qe7 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 11.Bd3!? 11.b4 Bd6 12.cxd5 exd5 1/2-1/2 (72) Donchenko,A (2645)-Wojtaszek,R (2700) Terme Catez 2021 11...dxc4 12.Bxc4 10.Bxc4 Nbd7 10...Nc6?! 10...b6? 11.Ne4! Be7 11...Nxe4 12.Qxe4± 11...Bb7 12.Nxf6+ Qxf6 13.Bc3 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bd3± h6 14.Be4+- 11.Rd1 11.0-0 b6 12.Ne4 Bb7 12...Be7 12...Nxe4? 13.Qxe4 Rb8 14.Bc3± 13.Nxc5 Nxc5 11.Ne4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Nf6= 11...Be7?! 11...b6!? 12.Ne4 12.e4 Qc7 12...Bb7 12...Nxe4? 13.Qxe4 Rb8 14.Bc3+- 13.Nxc5 Nxc5 14.Bc3 Qe7 0-1 (35) Witwicki,P (1914)-Rozycki,B (2169) Polanica Zdroj 2015 12.Ng5?! 12.e4! Qc7 12...b6 13.e5+- Nh5 12...e5? 13.Be3± 13.Nb5 Qb8 13...Qc6 14.e5 Qe4+ 15.Qxe4 Nxe4 16.Be3± 14.Be2 14.Ba2 b6 14...a6? 15.Nc7 Ra7 16.Bf4 Nh5 17.Bg3 Nxg3 18.hxg3+- 15.Nc7 Bb7 16.Nxa8 Bxe4 12...h6 12...g6 13.h4 13.0-0 13.h4 13.Nge4 b6 13.Nxf7 Rxf7 13...Kxf7 14.Bxe6+ Kxe6 15.Qb3+ Kf5 16.Qc2+ Ke6= 14.Bxe6 Nc5 15.Bxf7+ Kxf7 13...Qc7! 13...hxg5 14.hxg5+- 13...b6? 14.Nce4! Nxe4 14...Bb7 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Bc3+- 15.Qxe4+- 14.Be2 14.Nce4?! Nxe4 15.Qxe4 Nf6 14.Ba2 14.Bb3 b6? 14...Nc5 15.Nce4 Nfxe4 16.Nxe4 b6 14...Qc6 15.Nd5! Qxc2 15...Nxd5 16.Qh7# 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Bxc2+- 14.Nb5 Qc6! 14...Qb8? 15.Bc3+- 15.Kf1 15.Nd4 Qxg2 16.Ke2 Qg4+ 17.Ngf3 Qh5-+ 15.f3 Ne5-+ 15...Ne5-+ 14...Rd8 14...b6! 15.Bf3 15.Rc1 Qb8 16.Nb5 Bb7 17.Nc7 Rc8-+ 15...Ba6! 15...Bb7 16.Bxa8 Nc5 17.Bc1 Rxa8 18.Nf3 Rd8-+ 15.Rc1 Nf8 15...b6?! 16.Nd5 Qxc2 16...Nxd5? 17.Qh7+ Kf8 18.Qh8# 17.Nxe7+ Kf8 18.Rxc2 Kxe7 19.Nf3 15...Qb8!? 16.g4 b6 17.Nxf7 Kxf7 18.g5 Bb7! 19.gxf6 Bxf6 19...Bxh1 20.fxe7 Kxe7 21.Qg6 20.Rh3 20.Rg1? Qh2-+ 20...Kg8 16.Nge4 16.Nd5? Nxd5! 17.Qxc7 Nxc7 18.Rxc7 Bd6-+ 16.Nf3 16...Nxe4 16...Ne8 17.Nxe4 17.Qxe4 17...Qxc2 18.Rxc2 Bd7 19.Bb4?! 19.Rc7 Rab8= 19...Bxb4+ 20.axb4 Bc6 21.Nc5 21.Bf3 21...Bxg2 22.Rg1 Bd5 22...Bc6! 23.b5 Bd5 24.e4 b6 25.exd5 bxc5 26.Rxc5 26.dxe6 Nxe6 26...Rxd5 27.Rxd5 exd5 23.e4 Bc6 23...b6 24.exd5 bxc5 25.dxe6 Nxe6 26.bxc5 24.b5 Be8 25.Nxb7 Rd4 26.Rc4 26.f3 Rb8 26...Rd7! 26...Rxc4 27.Bxc4 27.Nc5 27.Na5 27...Rc7 27...Rd6!? 28.e5 Rd5 28.Rc3 Rac8 29.b4 29.Nb7! Rxc3 30.bxc3 Rxc3 31.Kd2 Rc7 32.Nd6 Bd7 32...Rd7 33.e5 Ng6 34.Ke3 Kf8 35.h5 Ne7 35...Nxe5? 36.Nxe8 Kxe8 37.f4+- 33.Bh5 f6 34.f4∞ 29...Nd7 30.Rcg3?! 30.Kd2 Nxc5 31.bxc5 Rxc5 32.Rxc5 Rxc5 33.Ke3 30...Nxc5 30...g6 31.bxc5 Rxc5 32.Rxg7+ Kf8 33.Bd3 Rd8 33...Ke7 34.Rg8 Bxb5 35.Bxb5 Rxg8 36.Rxg8 Rxb5 37.Ra8 33...Bxb5 34.Bxb5 Rxb5 35.Rg8+ Ke7 36.Rxc8 Rb1+ 37.Ke2 Rxg1 38.Rc7+ Kf6 39.Rxa7 Rg4 40.f3 Rxh4 34.Ke2? 34.Kd2! Bxb5 35.Rg8+ Ke7 36.Rxd8 Kxd8 37.Bxb5 Rxb5 38.Rg8+ Ke7 39.Ra8 34...Rc3! 35.Rg8+ Ke7 36.R1g3 36.R8g3 Rcxd3 37.Rxd3 Bxb5 36...e5? 36...Rdxd3? 37.Rxe8+! 37.Rxd3? Bxb5-+ 37...Kxe8 38.Rxd3= 36...Rb3‼ 37.Rh8 37.Kd2 Rd4! 38.Kc2 Rdb4-+ 37...Rd4 38.Rgg8 Bd7-+ 37.Rh8! Rd6 37...Rb3 38.Rgg8= 38.Bc4?? Bxb5! 39.Bxb5 Rb2+-+ 38.b6! 38.Rgg8? Bd7-+ 38...Rxb6 39.Rxe8+ Kxe8 40.Bb5+ Rxb5 41.Rxc3 Kd7 41...a5 42.Rc8+ Ke7 43.Ra8 42.Rf3 Ke7 43.Rc3 a5 44.Rc7+ Kf6 45.Rc6+ Kg7 46.Ra6 Rb2+ 47.Kf3 Ra2 48.Kg3 h5 49.Ra8 Ra1 50.Kg2 a4 51.Ra5 f6 52.Kf3 52.Ra7+ Kf8 53.Ra8+ Ke7 54.Ra7+? Kd6 55.Ra6+ Kc5 56.Rxf6 Re1-+ 52...a3 53.Ra6 Kf7 53...a2 54.Ra7+ 54.Kg2 Re1 55.Rxa2 Rxe4 54...Kf8 55.Ra8+ Ke7 56.Ra7+ Kd6 57.Ra6+ Kc5 58.Ra5+ Kb4 59.Ra8 Kb3 60.Rb8+ Kc3 61.Ra8 54.Ke3 54.Kg2 54...Ke8 54...Rh1 55.Rxa3 Rh3+ 56.f3 Rxh4= 54...a2 55.Kf3 54...Ke7 55.Ke2 55.Rxf6?? a2 55...Ke7 55...Kd7 56.Rxf6! a2 57.Ra6= 56.Kf3 Ra2 57.Ke3 Ra1 58.Ke2 Kf7 59.Kf3 Ra2 60.Ke3 Ke7 61.Kf3! 61.Ra7+? Kd6 62.Ra6+ Kc5 63.Rxf6 Rc2 64.Ra6 a2-+ 61...Kd7 62.Rxf6 Rb2 63.Ra6 Rb3+ 63...a2 64.Kg3 Kc7 65.f4 Kb7 65...Rb3+ 66.Kf2 exf4 67.Rxa2= 64.Kg2 Kc7 65.f4! 65.Ra5? Kb6 66.Rxe5 a2 65...exf4 66.e5 Kb7 67.Ra4 Kc6 68.Ra6+ 68.Rxf4? Kd5-+ 68.e6 Kd6 69.Ra6+ Ke7 70.Kf2 Kf6 71.Kg2 Re3 72.Kf2 Kf5 73.e7 Rxe7 74.Rxa3 Kg4 75.Ra8 Kxh4 76.Rg8 68...Kb5 68...Kd5 69.e6 Re3 70.Kf2 Rxe6 71.Rxa3= 69.Ra7 69.Ra8 Kc5 69...Kb6 70.Ra8 Kc5 70...Re3 71.e6 Kc5 72.e7 Rxe7 73.Rxa3= 71.Ra6 Kb5 71...Kd5 72.e6 Re3 73.Kf2 Rxe6 74.Rxa3= 72.Ra7 Kb6 73.Ra8 Kc6 74.Ra6+ Kd7 75.Kf2 Ke7 76.Kg2 Re3 77.Kf2 Rg3 77...Rxe5 78.Rxa3 78.Kf1 Rc3 79.Kf2 Re3 80.Kg2 Kd7 81.Kf2 Kc7 82.e6 Kd8 82...Kb7 83.Ra4 83.Ra7 Ke8 84.Kg2 Rxe6 85.Rxa3 Rg6+ 86.Kf2 86.Kf3?? Rg3+ 86...Rg4 87.Ra5 Rxh4 88.Kf3 Ke7 89.Rf5 Ke6 90.Rxf4 Rxf4+ 91.Kxf4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding Liren2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023E40WCh 202314

Schedule

FIDE World Chess Championship 2023


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1.e4 7 e5 49 2.Nf3 7 Nc6 20 3.Bb5 6 a6 34 4.Ba4 6 Nf6 25 5.0-0 27 Be7 13 6.Bxc6 25 dxc6 20 7.Re1 4 Nd7 9:17 8.d4 35 C85: Closed Ruy Lopez: Deferred Exchange Variation. exd4 1:28 9.Qxd4 7 0-0 42 10.Bf4 8 Nc5 4:00 11.Qe3 36
11...Bg4N 7:55 Predecessor: 11...Ne6 12.Bg3 Bc5 13.Qc3 Qe7 14.Nbd2 Re8 15.Rad1 ½-½ Groszpeter,A (2446)-Pinter,J (2540) HUN-chT 1516 2015 (8.7) 12.Nd4 3:40 Qd7 8:46 13.Nc3 24:03 Rad8 2:07
14.Nf5 3:07 Ne6 5:33 14...Bxf5 15.exf5 15.Nxe7+ 5:18 Qxe7 24 16.Bg3 42 Bh5 1:12 17.f3 4:04 f6 1:02 18.h3 3:34 h6 56 19.Kh2 2:17 Bf7 14:45 20.Rad1 5:17 b6 7:02 21.a3 7:53 a5 4:06 22.Ne2 5:04 Rxd1 10:08 23.Rxd1 11 Rd8 4 24.Rd3 30 c5 8:25 25.Qd2 2:14 c6 10:44 26.Rxd8+ 2:44 Nxd8 8 27.Qf4 18 Hoping for Qb8. b5 5:02 28.Qb8 3:24 Kh7 38 Black is weak on the dark squares 29.Bd6 14:25 White is more active. Qd7 28 30.Ng3 6:57       Ne6 1:27 31.f4 1:49 h5 3:38 32.c3 2:21 c4 59 32...h4= 33.Nf5 Bg6 33.h4 2:41 Qd8 10 34.Qb7 4:32 34.Qxd8 simplifies Nxd8 35.a4 Nb7 36.Ba3 34...Be8 42 34...Qxd6? 35.Qxf7 Qxf4 36.Qxe6+- 35.Nf5 22 Qd7 49 36.Qb8 1:04 Qd8 1:28 37.Qxd8 3:38 Nxd8= 2       Endgame KBN-KBN 38.Nd4 46 Nb7 33 The position is equal. 39.e5 19 Kg8 1:46 40.Kg3 0 Bd7 0 41.Bc7 9:56 Nc5 4:54 42.Bxa5 41 Kf7 2:18 43.Bb4 5:14 Nd3 13:34 ...c5 is the strong threat. 44.e6+ 15      
Deflection 44...Bxe6 6 aiming for ...c5. 45.Nxc6 4 Black must now prevent Nd8+. Bd7 1:15 46.Nd4 16 Nxb2 14 47.Kf3 2:10 Nd3 7:43 48.g3 1:54 Nc1 3:26 49.Ke3 1:05 Weighted Error Value: White=0.06 (flawless) /Black=0.07 (flawless)
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023C85FIDE World Championship 20231.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I27950–12023D30FIDE World Championship 20232.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023D36FIDE World Championship 20233.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I27951–02023A28FIDE World Championship 20234.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L27881–02023C84FIDE World Championship 20235.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I27951–02023D02FIDE World Championship 20236.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L27881–02023C07FIDE World Championship 20237.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023E28FIDE World Championship 20238.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023C65FIDE World Championship 20239.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023A28FIDE World Championship 202310.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023C84FIDE World Championship 202311.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I27951–02023D04FIDE World Championship 202312.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023C84FIDE World Championship 202313.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023E46FIDE World Championship 202314.1
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023D02FIDE World Championship 202315.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023C84FIDE World Championship 202315.2
Ding,L2788Nepomniachtchi,I2795½–½2023A14FIDE World Championship 202315.3
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L27880–12023C84FIDE World Championship 202315.4

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!


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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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