Ding Liren now seems like proper contender to be world champion, Game 3 indicates he won’t go down easily

The rest day seems to have worked wonders. Game 2 of the World Chess Championship between Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and China’s Ding Liren was the worst game played in the hory of the tournament, with the Russian winning with black pieces in just 29 moves. But if Game 3 has shown us anything, it’s that we have a game on!
We thought Ding was on the verge of a mental breakdown but the rest day seems to have changed all that. The Chinese GM now looks like a proper contender for the World Championship, the complete opposite of what he seemed to be in the first two games.
In the third game, Ding (Black) chose to play the Queen’s Gambit Declined, an opening that has been popular at the top level for over a century. The opening leads to a slow strategic battle that could suddenly take a sharp turn. Russian (even erstwhile Soviet) players are extremely strong at this opening. There have been great strategic additions and contributions to the theory of the Queen’s Gambit Declined World Champions Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.
Ding’s decision to play this opening against Nepo shows that the former has come out of the phase of underconfidence that had haunted him during the first two games. Though the third game ended in a draw, it is an indication that Ding isn’t here to go down easily.
You can also read GM Pravin Thipsay’s analysis of Game 1 and Game 2 (which he called the worst game in the hory of the World Championship)
It’s not an opening that we haven’t seen before Ding. He played the same opening in the preliminary round of the 2022 Chessable Masters against Anish Giri. That game ended in a draw. Till the 17th move, it was the same game. Nepo, who probably would’ve studied the game, played the same moves that Giri played till about the 17th move.
Even though Nepo tried a variation, Ding stuck to his play. From move 17 to 22, Ding played precise moves and that was something heartening to see. He was down after the second game and the pressure was on him to compete. Surely, everyone close to him must’ve told him that he needed to fight back to have a chance at beating Nepo after the disastrous second game. But Ding stuck to his method. He didn’t try something he hadn’t tried before.
He admitted after the game that people from his team had helped him lift his mood. A big part of that will be his parents who are there with him in Astana. Having the family close provides one with a blanket of comfort that nothing can match.
Opportunity gone
That being said, Ding did have a chance to seize the initiative in the match, which he didn’t take. On the 26th move, he had a chance of being more aggressive and putting Nepo on the ropes, but chose to play it safe. With black, he had a chance of taking a game from Nepo, just like the latter did in the previous game. It would’ve completely changed the dynamics of this World Championships. In my opinion, that’s the only make Ding made in an otherwise perfect game.
Credit needs to be given to Nepo too. He didn’t make any makes. He tried to deviate from the game Giri played, but at this level, it was expected he would do that. When he had an opportunity to play for a draw, he seized it playing a three-fold repetition that saw the game being declared a draw.
Both players will be satisfied with their performance and that’s very important as there is still a long way to go in the tie. The fact that both of them played with over 95 per cent accuracy is heartening.
The biggest takeaway from this game is that Ding has realised that what he did in the first two games wasn’t actually the way he normally plays.
Him saying “It’s not like me, I don’t play like this”, gives hope to chess players all over the world that the championship match will not be a one-sided affair. Ding was a very different player from the person who played the first two games. His body language indicated that.
It takes just one good game to turn the tide in a World Championship match. It also takes conviction. After Kasparov lost the 9th game against Viswanathan Anand in the 1995 match, he showed conviction in the press conference. They had played eight draws before that and with the victory, Anand clearly had the edge. But Kasparov remained defiant. He said he didn’t like to lose and would come back stronger. And that’s exactly what he did, going on to win the match after 18 games with four wins, one loss, and 13 draws.
Ding can take courage from Kasparov. And if he plays in that spirit, we surely have a game on our hands. Mind you, in Game 4, Ding will play with white.
(As told to Anil Dias)
Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2795) – Ding,Liren (2788) [D36] Nepomniachtchi-Ding World Chess Championship (3.1), 12.04.2023.
[Annotations Pravin Thipsay] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6! 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.Qc2 Re8!
[Black has found the correct, precise way to neutralise white’s plan. This move order was found Ding last year against Anish Giri.] 10.Nge2 Nbd7 11.0–0 a5 12.a3 Nh5 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Rae1 Nf8 15.Nc1 Nf6 16.f3 Ne6 17.N1e2!?
[A new move Anish Giri tried 17.Qf2 against Ding in Chessable Masters Preliminary event last year and the game went 17…c5 18.Bb5 Rd8 19.dxc5 Qxc5 20.Nb3 Qb6 with an even game. The game was drawn after 40 moves.] 17…c5 18.Bb5 Rd8! 19.dxc5 Qxc5 20.Qd2 Bd7! 21.Bxd7
[Keeping the Bishops with 21.Bd3 doesn’t offer any prospects after 21…d4! 22.exd4 Nxd4 with a probable draw.] 21…Nxd7 22.Nd4 Nb6!
[Black intends to post his Knight at ‘c4’ which would give him initiative. White has to play accurately to guard the ‘b2’ and ‘e3’ weaknesses.] 23.Rd1 Nc4 24.Qf2 Rac8! 25.Na4! Qe7 26.Rfe1 Qf6?!
[Here Black misses a chance to seize initiative.26…Nxd4! was more accurate and could have led to a sharper position possibly leading to a gain of a Pawn after 27.Rxd4 , for example, 27…b5 28.Nc3 Qc5 29.Red1 Nxb2! 30.Qxb2 Qxc3 31.Qxc3 Rxc3 32.Rxd5 Rxd5 33.Rxd5 Rxe3 34.Rxb5 Rxa3 when Black has an extra Pawn but White can draw force with accurate play.)27.exd4, 27…Qc7! intending 28….Qc6 is dangerous for White who has a poorly placed knight and several Pawn weaknesses.] 27.Nb5! Nc7 28.Nd4! Ne6[28…b5 was a sharper option but after 29.Nc3 Re8 30.Ndxb5 Nxb5 31.Nxb5 Qb6 32.Nd4 Qxb2 was a possible option but the position would have been equal anyway.] 29.Nb5 Nc7 30.Nd4 Ne6 Game drawn the rule of ‘Threefold Repetition’. ½–½