GM Ding Liren - GM Ian Nepomniachtchi

FIDE World Chess Championship, (4)
English, Four Knights, Romanishin variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 An innocuous little system that was popularised in the late 1970s and through the early 1980s by Ukraine's Oleg Romanishin, who in his youth was one of the most original Soviet junior players of his era. 4...Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.bxc3 d6 7.e4 O-O 8.Be2 Nh5 9.d4 Nf4?! A flawed plan that soon backfires on Nepo - and a move he may well live to regret if he goes on to lose this match. The talking heads on the live commentary much preferred 9...Qf6, and soon backed this up with an engine-likely scenario with 10.g3 exd4 11.cxd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Bb2 Qc5 14.e5! Only the engines show no fear in such positions, as they calmly find tactical solutions for both sides that sees the game peter out to a draw with 14...g6 15.Qd2 dxe5 16.Bxh5 Qc6! 17.O-O-O Qxc4+ 18.Bc3 gxh5 19.Qg5+ Kh8 20.Qf6+ and a repetition is on the cards. 10.Bxf4 exf4 11.O-O And herein lies a tale of the differences between Ding and Richard Rapport, his creative sidekick second. This game was following for 10 moves a previous game where Rapport let loose with Harry the H-pawn with 11.h4!? Wild play ensued, but by nature Ding is a more conservative player who prefers to keep the game more orthodox with his positional move. 11...Qf6 12.Rfe1 Re8 13.Bd3 The commentators thought Ding's shuffling around of his bishop was a little bizarre, but there is method in his madness! 13...Bg4 14.Nd2 Na5 A little baffling, as the knight is misplaced for now on the rim. For this move to make any sense, Black has to play b6 and c5 - but this takes too much time and allows Ding to go on the offensive.

15.c5 dxc5 16.e5 Qh6 17.d5 Rad8 18.c4 b6 19.h3 Bh5 20.Be4! A classy move from Ding, just maybe making Nepo hesitate over ...c6, with the intention being to play Qc3, Bf3 and Rad1 with control of the position due to the powerful pawn centre. 20...Re7 I said in the previous note to make Nepo hesitate over ...c6, and perhaps while not a bad move per se in a difficult position, more resilient was 20...c6 aiming for an almost Grünfeld-like position, although after 21.Qc3 Bg6 22.Rad1 Qh5 23.Nf3 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 Qf5 25.Ree1 cxd5 26.cxd5 h6 White still has that powerful pawn centre, but now it is not so mobile and menacing, and Black has a solid position to hold the tension. 21.Qc3 Rde8 22.Bf3 Nb7 23.Re2 f6 24.e6 Nd6 25.Rae1 Nf5 26.Bxh5 Qxh5 27.Re4 Qh6 28.Qf3 Nd4? A strategic blunder that ultimately decides the outcome of the game. The tension is building in the position, and Nepo has to live or die with 28...g5 29.g4 Nd6 30.R4e2 and fight the battle from here. White looks to have the easier game thanks to the powerful c4-e6 pawn chain, but Black is very solid here and it is not so easy to find a way to make a concrete breakthrough - and this may well have provided us with a very intriguing struggle. 29.Rxd4! This positional exchange sacrifice was just screaming to be played, and Ding doesn't disappoint! The end result is that Ding's knight, combined with the strong c4-e6 pawn chain, dominates the rook. 29...cxd4 30.Nb3! The most impressive and aesthetically pleasing thing about this game is how Ding jumps his knight into b3 before very creatively traversing his knight across the board towards Nepo's king. 30...g5 31.Nxd4 Qg6 (see diagram) 32.g4! Another very pleasing and silky move from Ding, as he seizes control of the all-important f5 outpost for his peripatetic knight. 32...fxg3 33.fxg3 h5 34.Nf5

It's complete domination now from Ding - and what a transformation in his play after his disastrous start in those first two games! 34...Rh7 35.Qe4 Kh8 36.e7 And with it, Nepo is in dire straits - and not in any good way with Mark Knopfler licking the riffs on lead guitar! 36...Qf7 37.d6! All the tactics soon crash through for Ding, which must have been a relief and a confidence booster for him. 37...cxd6 38.Nxd6 Qg8 Unfortunately for Black, it is not so simple to grab the e7-pawn. After 38...Qxe7 39.Nxe8 Qxe4 40.Rxe4 f5 41.Re5 and White is a piece to the better and those black pawns across the fifth rank will surely fall. 39.Nxe8 Qxe8 40.Qe6! Pure power-play now from Ding, as he swiftly moves in for the kill. 40...Kg7 There's simply no defence now. If 40...Rf7? 41.Qxf7! wins on the spot. 41.Rf1! It's all awkward now for Nepo, as Ding stretches his defences to breaking point. 41...Rh6 42.Rd1 f5 If not this, then Rd8 wins quickly - but it is all downhill now anyway. 43.Qe5+ Kf7 44.Qxf5+ Rf6 45.Qh7+ Ke6 46.Qg7 With the e7-pawn taboo due to Re1+, Ding will just go about his business of picking off all of Black's loose pawns. 46...Rg6 47.Qf8 1-0

And Nepo resigns, faced with the hopeless defence of 47...Rg8 48.Qf3! and with the e7-pawn still not able to be captured, Black's king wandering around in no man's land is going to get mated.