Breaking Bad

John B. Henderson • Apr 28, 2023

The “Kingda Ka” rollercoaster ride that’s become a battle of nerves and attrition to decide who takes Magnus Carlsen’s vacated world crown took yet another big twist - this one even defying the most basic of principles of Newtonian mechanics, as Ian Nepomniachtchi suffered a dramatic and inexplicable meltdown to gift Ding Liren his way back into the €2m FIDE World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. 


An error-strewn Game 12 is best summed up as being a series of record-breaking bad moves (21 in all, for those counting these sorts of things) that culminated in total farce with Nepo playing arguably one of the worst blunders ever seen in the long and storied history of the world championship - so incredulously that it saw the evaluation bar shooting from one extreme to the other within the space of a few moves.

After a slightly bizarre opening, Nepo looked set for another win that would have all but sealed his victory. But instead, to the utter disbelief of the online talking heads, he blew it all away with a monumental final error; the magnitude of which he only fully comprehended after a visibly relieved Ding played 35.Rxe6, that left the Russian slumped in his seat as he realised he’d just blown a won position.


For some inexplicable reason, at the critical moment of the game, Nepo was haphazardly blitzing out moves to such an extent that it left Fabiano Caruana, the 2018 title challenger, totally flabbergasted: “I don’t understand this decision to rush every move. It’s a world championship,” he said on his chess.com commentary. “You have one or two chances in your lifetime – how can you play every move like it’s a Titled Tuesday game? These are responsible decisions to make.”


The penultimate game 13 also saw a rejuvenated Ding, after drawing level in the best-of-14-game contest, taking the initiative with Black in a Ruy Lopez, as he forced Nepo onto the backfoot only to then let the Russian (playing under the neutral FIDE flag due to the Ukraine war) off the hook, as he misplayed his hand and had to seek a bailout with a threefold repetition; cryptically commenting in his postgame presser: “It was still some kind of dark ocean position, so I didn’t go further into it.”


The match now goes to the wire of Saturday’s 14th and final classical game. If the score is still tied at 7-7, they go to rapid and blitz tie-break games to decide who becomes world champion in a heritage line that stretches back to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886. Will it be Nepo or will it be Ding? The final match of the contest can be followed live on the official FIDE World Chess Championship site and also on all the usual top platforms.


Ian Nepomniachtchi | 6½

½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½

½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½

Ding Liren | 6½

GM Ding Liren - GM Ian Nepomniachtchi

FIDE World Chess Championship, (12)
D04: Queen's Pawn game (Caro-Kann by transposition)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Anything goes when you get to the latter stages of a world championship match and you are looking for something to surprise your opponent. This Colle-type QP was also used by Magnus Carlsen to surprise Sergey Karjakin in their 2016 title match. 3...c5 4.Nbd2 Ding is still keeping all his options open here - he could be going for a Colle-Zukertort with b3, Bb2 and Bd3, or play c4 and something more mainstream - or even, as happens in the game, a transposition into the Caro-Kann Exchange Variation! 4...cxd4 5.exd4 Qc7 6.c3 Bd7?! I am really struggling to understand this move - in one sense it is preventing Bb5+, but the natural square for this bishop is either f5 or even g4. Or, as Fabi Caruana puts it better: "I think I can only come up with one explanation for this move, which is that he picked up the bishop & as he was moving it suddenly he felt the urge to sneeze & before it could go to f5 or g4, some useful square, his hand released it on d7, where it does absolutely nothing"! 7.Bd3 This is basically now a Caro-Kann Exchange variation, a line that became all the rage to play as White after being used by Bobby Fischer to beat Tigran Petrosian in the epic USSR v The Rest of the World Match in Belgrade. The only difference is that White usually plays a later Nbd2 to allow the dark-squared bishop to come out first. 7...Nc6 8.O-O Bg4 9.Re1 e6 10.Nf1 Bd6 11.Bg5 O-O 12.Bxf6 More usual you will see 12.Bh4 with the plan of dropping back to g3 to trade off the bishops, as White attempts to secure control of the vital e5-square. 12...gxf6 13.Ng3 f5 Also possible was 13...Kh8 to quickly double rooks on the open g-file - and also note that dangerous is 14.h3?! as Black has the tempting shot 14...Bxh3! 15.gxh3 Bxg3 16.fxg3 Qxg3+ 17.Kh1 Rg8 18.Qe2 Qxh3+ 19.Nh2 Rg3 20.Bc2 f5 where the engine will tell that this is just digital queenside castling with "0.00", but in reality it doesn't take much for White to find himself wandering into trouble here.14.h3 Bxf3 Also, an interesting try was 14...f4!? where after 15.hxg4 fxg3 16.fxg3 Bxg3 White is forced into 17.Qd2 Bf4 (Definitely not 17...Bxe1?? 18.Qg5+ Kh8 19.Qf6+ Kg8 20.Ng5 Rfd8 21.Rxe1 and the Black king can't avoid being mated.) 18.Qf2 Bg3 19.Qd2 Bf4 and a repetition. But with Nepo in the lead and looking to be edging his way to victory, then surely this would have been the ideal scenario for him? 15.Qxf3 Ne7 16.Nh5! Kh8 17.g4!?

Given that Ding needs to win, this wildly lashing out approach is exactly what he needs to play - it's do-or-die stuff and hang any of the consequences for his own king's safety with the g-file opening up.17...Rg8 18.Kh1 Ng6 19.Bc2 Nh4 The immediate 19...Qe7! heading to h4 was more problematic for White. 20.Qe3 Rg6 With Rag8 looming large, this position is starting to turn into a potentially dangerous minefield for Ding. Nepo is unquestionably in control and shouldn't loses this - but funny things can happen under pressure. In golf it is called the "yips", as witness poor Doug Sanders blowing the British Open at St. Andrews in 1970 by missing an easily two-foot putt on the final green. 21.Rg1 f4! Nepo must have felt that the title was surely heading his way at this stage. 22.Qd3 Qe7 Of course, the engine shows no nerves or sign of the yips, as it quickly finds the brave here of 22...f5! that all but forces White to play a move he really doesn't want to, namely 23.f3 Qe7 24.Raf1 Rag8 25.Qd2 Qg5! 26.Bd1 (Urgently needed, as 26.gxf5?? sees White getting quickly mated with 26...Qxg1+ 27.Rxg1 Rxg1+ 28.Kh2 Nxf3#) 26...fxg4 27.fxg4 Nf5! and it is difficult to see how White can ever survive the tsunami about to hit his king. 23.Rae1 Qg5 24.c4? This just compounds Ding's mounting problems. 24...dxc4 25.Qc3 Ding is reduced to some spurious swindle or other down the long a1-h8 diagonal, as 25.Qxc4? Nf3 26.Bxg6 hxg6! 27.Qb3 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 gxh5 is just losing. 25...b5 26.a4 b4 Not a blunder per se, but the solid 26...a6! would have left Ding clutching at straws with 27.d5+ e5 28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra1 Rag8 and left sitting in Death's Waiting Room. 27.Qxc4 Rag8 28.Qc6 Bb8?? Just when Nepo has Ding at his mercy, the chess yips kick-in to turn a win into a stone-cold loss! The clinical kill was 28...Nf5! hitting d4 and forcing 29.Rd1 Qh4 30.Qf3 Ng3+!! 31.Rxg3 fxg3 32.Bxg6 Qxh3+ 33.Kg1 gxf2+! 34.Kxf2 (Unfortunately 34.Qxf2?? goes down in flames to 34...Qxg4+ and White can resign). 34...Qxf3+ 35.Kxf3 fxg6 36.Ng3 Rf8+ 37.Kg2 Rf4 and Black picks off more pawns for an easy win.

29.Qb7? The tension builds big-time, as Ding doesn't see that 29.Bxg6! Nxg6 30.f3! is winning, as 30...Qh4 is easily answered by 31.Re2! and Black can't play ...Qxh3+ because of Rh2. 29...Rh6 Once again, the brave and - likely - winning move to find was 29...Nf5! 30.Be4 Rf8? The right move was 30...f3 - but Nepo wants to play ...f3 without allowing Qxf7. Unfortunately, there's a little snafu. 31.Qxb4 Unbelievably, Nepo overlooked this move hitting his rook.

31...Qd8 It goes without saying that it's 's never a good sign when your best attacking pieces retreats all the way back to its starting square! 32.Qc3 Now, as the pendulum swings wildly once again, Ding does have hopes of something - anything - happening down the long a1-h8 diagonal! 32...Ng6 33.Bg2 Qh4 You just think that there has to be something there for Nepo - but Ding has all the bases covered now. 34.Re2 f5??? (see diagram)The ultimate brain fart, as Nepo could visibly be seen cursing himself for overlooking that Ding can play 35.Rxe6 winning. And in the annals of bad moves ever played in all the world championship matches, this has to rate right up there as being one of the worst - and made all the more by the fact that only a few moves ago, Nepo was winning! Instead, after 34...Rg8, White was only marginally better. 35.Rxe6! Probably pinching himself here, Ding can't believe his luck as he makes no mistake by moving in for the kill - and you only had to look at Nepo's face to see it was almost as if all the blood was being drained from him from the head down. 35...Rxh5 This is the only way to stop the mate on g7 after d5+ - but it only delays the inevitable by a couple of moves. 36.gxh5 Qxh5 37.d5+ Kg8 38.d6 1-0 Nepo resigns faced with 38...f3 39.Bf1 Qh6 40.Re8!! Rxe8 41.Bc4+ mating.

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • 02 Oct, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • 29 Sep, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • 27 Sep, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • 25 Sep, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • 22 Sep, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • 19 Sep, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • 14 Sep, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • 11 Sep, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • 08 Sep, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • 04 Sep, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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