Pravin Thipsay writes: Strange yet spectacular Game 7 shows this is a ‘classic’ World Championship

Five results in the first seven games! Are we really witnessing the most spirited World Chess Championship since the Second World War? I think so. Remarkably, the world’s best player isn’t even playing!Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi are trying to win each and every game, which, in the spirit of the sport, has long been forgotten due to the high stakes in such a match.  (You can also read Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay’s insightful analysis for Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5  & Game 6 )So much so that Ding lost Game 7 on Tuesday due to time trouble, giving Nepo a 4-3 lead in the match. It was such a strange result because Ding, despite playing with Black pieces, had the upper hand for most part of the match.
I say strange, but all means it’s spectacular too. When did we last witness a Championship game where both players are trying to turn the tables on each other from a very early stage? We have always known that mind games are a huge part of these Championships, but this psychological battle is taking it to another level.
In all the games, both players have tried to outthink each other. In Game 7, Nepo opened with his favorite King Pawn. Trust Ding to pull out a surprise. He played The French Defence, an opening he played regularly in his childhood but had stopped playing way back in 2013.
Maybe, it also had a lot to do with his second. Ding’s second, Richard Rapport is a French Defence expert, so it became clear that the Chinese had something up his sleeve, particularly because Nepo always meets French Defence with Tarrasch Variations, named after former World No.2 Sigbert Tarrasch of Germany.
Nepo chose to move his Bishop to c4 instead of the usual square d3 when Ding deviated from the regular opening playing a new move on his eighth turn.
So, from Move 8, it was clear that the game was in a new position. At this stage, Ding had a psychological edge as he was playing a position better known to him than his opponent. Nepo rightly played the next part of the game very cautiously but also committed slight inaccuracies between moves 17-20, passing on the initiative to Ding.
On move 21, Ding decided to sacrifice ‘an exchange’ i.e. to give a Rook for a Bishop. This resulted in an extremely sharp position with Ding trying to initiate an attack against Nepo’s King.
However, Nepo kept on defending stubbornly. When the game is in a new position, players have to work out new strategies and more importantly, think about the repercussions their next move could have. Since Ding was largely playing attacking moves, this resulted in him getting into severe time trouble.
Unlike other tournaments, players don’t get any time increment till move 40, which seemed to make things really difficult for Ding.
Despite time shortage, on move 31, Ding chose to complicate the battle with an inaccuracy which was followed another on the next move. This enabled Nepo to fortify his position. Ding followed up those two errors with a decisive blunder on move 33, there allowing Nepo to suddenly get a completely winning position.
Ding kept on making wrong moves and was forced to resign the game, running out of time.
One could tell that this was a heavy loss for Ding as he was almost in tears. He couldn’t even talk properly after the game. He went for the all-out kill and lost.
But he has only himself to blame. He’s not showing the wisdom professional players of his stature should do. He was in command of the game and didn’t have to force the issue. He should’ve played simple moves to get out of time trouble. He tried to use complicated moves when there was hardly any time. This is clearly a lack of maturity on some level.
He should take a leaf out of the book of our young Indian Grandmasters. Just look at the likes of D Gukesh, R Pragganandhaa, or even Vidit Gujrathi. They have such a professional approach and know when exactly to take a risk and when not to. Ding should learn that finding the best move all the time may not be the best solution.
The only good thing for him is that he has four more games with white pieces and Nepo has three. It’s going to be a battle for the ages.
(Pravin Thipsay is a Grandmaster and recipient of the Arjuna Award. He spoke to Anil Dias.)
Moves (Game 7): 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.N2f3 Be7 8.Bc4 Nc6!? 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.0–0 0–0 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Bd3 Qc7 13.Qe4 Nf6 14.Qh4 c5 15.Bf4 Qb6 16.Ne5 Rad8 17.Rae1?! g6 18.Bg5 Rd4! 19.Qh3 Qc7 20.b3?! Nh5! 21.f4 Bd6!? 22.c3 Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Rxf4 24.Rxf4 Bxe5 25.Rh4 Rd8 26.Be4 Bxe4 27.Rhxe4 Rd5 28.Rh4 Qd6 29.Qe3 h5 30.g3 Bf6 31.Rc4 h4 32.gxh4 Rd2? 33.Re2 Rd3?? 34.Qxc5 Rd1+ 35.Kg2 Qd3 36.Rf2 Kg7 37.Rcf4 Qxc3