1681054957 Ding makes a mistake in the first World Cup game

Ding makes a mistake in the first World Cup game, but Niepómniashi doesn’t take advantage of it

Only extreme nervousness explains the strange mistake of the Chinese Liren Ding, third in the world, in the opening round of the duel for the title, which he contests in Astana (Kazakhstan) with Ian Niepómniashi, the 2nd in the ranking. But the stumble happened in a calm position, and the Russian moves better in big complications, preventing him from taking advantage with precision. The tie was signed after almost five hours. Ding plays the second of the 14 planned games with a prize pool of two million euros this Monday with the white stones.

From the luxury hotel Saint Regis in Astana, the scene of the duel, the waters of the Ishim River looked icy. But the heads of the two mental gladiators were already burning when they took the stage. Niepomniashi, ten minutes to the hour, gray suit and dark pink shirt; Ding, three minutes later, navy suit and white shirt; both without a tie. Although he had a poker face, a gesture against etiquette betrayed the nervous tension of the Chinese: he took off his jacket in front of Minister of Sport Asjat Orálov and the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Russian Arkady Dvorkóvich, they started the game. Niepómniashi seemed calmer with the experience from the lost duel against the still reigning Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (Dubai, 2021).

The first shock came with the Russian’s sixth shot while the photojournalists were still shooting (they were sent off after seven minutes): a choice Ding didn’t expect as he spent nearly ten minutes answering. While he was thinking, he was being watched very closely by another Russian, Nikita Vitiugov, Niepómniashi’s main analyst, who has been living in Calpe (Alicante) since Vladimir Putin started the war, who was sitting in the front row of the audience (separated by an opaque screen) . from the stage ) diagonally over Ding perfect to spot any signs of body language.

The Asian took a risk on his eleventh move; It wasn’t the best, but it surprised his rival and got him out of his lab prep. The scientific part of chess (home training with the help of very powerful computers) gave way to pure sport, the rhythm of an inexorably ticking clock. Since the nature of the position was much more strategic than tactical (the Russian’s favourite), Niepómniashi didn’t grasp a very profound idea that five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, a commentator on the official FIDE website, suggested to him would have given him a lasting advantage. All indications were that the fight was headed towards a draw without much history.

But suddenly Thing screamed. As Anand explained, “It is very rare that such an obvious mistake has escaped him”. The result was that he lost a pawn and would be under very uncomfortable pressure for hours. If the Chinese rival at this position had been Carlsen, his chance of getting out alive would have been very slim, because the Scandinavian sadistically squeezes such situations to the last drop.

Ding returns to the game room from his dressing room during Game 1 of the World ChampionshipDing returns to the game room from his dressing room during Game 1 of David Llada’s World Championship

But Niepo is not Carlsen. What he should be doing is not attacking and risking what he likes best, but changing queens, winning a pawn and slowly tightening the screws. That’s why he hesitated and didn’t do it in the right order: he didn’t win the pawn immediately and exchanged queens when his opponent already had good defenses. Although they were slowly hesitant to sign due to inertia, a draw was inevitable.

“I was depressed at various times during the game. I had something weird on my mind, maybe because of the extreme tension of the moment,” Ding later admitted. Judging by the not very deep hole he has suffered since the first months of 2020 – mainly due to a crisis with his partner, as he explained to EL PAÍS on Saturday – it is imperative that he does not lose any of the first three games ( will be on Tuesday also lead Black in 3rd place) to regain their confidence. For now, he has parried the first blow in an attack that has seen his mistakes flashed more than the Russian’s successes, who for his part admitted he hadn’t seen clearly what the best plan was to exploit his advantage.

Ding explained at the press conference why he chose Romanian (ex-Hungarian) Richard Rapport, ranked 13th in the world, as his analyst coach: “In addition to his creative style, he helps me improve my English and we have similar tastes. For example the music of the eighties. A few minutes later he went to the hotel with rapport, and everything indicates that the Chinese need more than music to believe in themselves again.

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