Ding makes a mistake in the 1st game of the World Cup, but Niepómniashi does not take advantage of it

Only extreme nervous tension explains the strange mistake of the Chinese Liren Ding, 3rd in the world, in the opening round of the duel for the title that he disputes in Astana (Kazakhstan) with Ian Niepómniashi, 2nd in the ranking.

But the stumble occurred in a calm position, and the Russian moves better in big complications, which prevented him from being precise to take advantage of him.

The tie was signed after almost five hours.

Ding plays this Monday with the white pieces the 2nd of the 14 scheduled games, with a prize pool of two million euros.

The waters of the Ishim River looked icy from the luxurious Saint Regis hotel in Astana, the site of the duel.

But the heads of the two mental gladiators were already burning since they arrived on stage.

Niepomniashi, ten minutes before 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 the etiquette betrayed the nervous tension of the Chinese: he took off his jacket before the Minister of Sports, Asjat Orálov, and the president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Russian Arkady Dvorkóvich , they made the kick-off.

Niepómniashi, with the experience of the duel that he lost to the still champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (Dubai, 2021), seemed calmer.

The first shock came with the sixth shot by the Russian, when the photojournalists were still shooting (they were sent out after seven minutes): a choice that Ding did not expect, because he spent almost ten minutes in his response.

While he was thinking, he was being watched very closely by another Russian, Nikita Vitiugov, Niepómniashi's main analyst, who has lived in Calpe (Alicante) since Vladimir Putin started the war, sitting in the first row of spectators (separated by an opaque screen from the stage ) diagonally across Ding perfectly to pick up on any signs of body language.

The Asian took a risk with his eleventh move;

It wasn't the best, but he surprised his rival and snapped her out of her lab preparation.

The scientific part of chess (home training with the help of very powerful computers) gave way to pure sport, to the rhythm of an inexorable ticking clock.

As the type of position was much more strategic than tactical (the Russian's favourite), Niepómniashi did not capture a very deep idea, suggested by the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, a commentator on the official FIDE website, which would have given him a lasting impression. advantage.

Everything indicated that the fight was going towards a draw without much history.

But suddenly Ding screeched.

As Anand explained, “it is very rare that such an obvious flaw escaped him”.

The consequence was that he lost a pawn and was going to be under some very unpleasant pressure for hours.

If the Chinese's rival in that position had been Carlsen, his chances of getting out alive would have been very slim because the Scandinavian sadistically squeezes these kinds of situations to the last drop.

Ding returns from his dressing room to the game room during the 1st game of the World CupDavid Llada

But

is not Carlsen.

What he had to do is not what he likes best, attack and risk, but exchange the queens, win a pawn and slowly tighten the screws.

That is why he hesitated and did not do it in the correct order: he did not win the pawn immediately and traded the queens when his opponent already had good defensive resources.

Although, due to inertia, they were slow to sign it, a tie was inevitable.

“I felt depressed at various times during the game.

There was something weird on my mind, maybe because of the extreme tension of the moment," Ding admitted later.

Judging by the not very deep hole that he has suffered since the first months of 2020 -due mainly to a crisis with his partner, as he explained to EL PAÍS on Saturday-, he absolutely needs not to lose any of the first three games (also will lead black in 3rd, on Tuesday) to regain her self-confidence.

For the moment, she has escaped the first blow in an assault where her errors flashed more than the Russian's successes, who, for her part, acknowledged that she had not clearly seen what was the best plan to take advantage of the advantage of him.

Ding explained at the press conference why he has chosen the Romanian (formerly Hungarian) Richard Rapport, 13th in the world, as 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 something more than music to believe in himself again.

Subscribe to the

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I'm already a subscriber