I hope you lot appreciate the work I do for these intro screens.
We have a winner. Nepo. I watched most of the game at chessgames.com
no engine, no commentary and I can post there. I did however flick onto
Chess.24 to grab a couple of pics. The empty board is significant because
both players, especially Ding Liren spend a lot of time in their rest rooms.
The Empty Board.
Ding Liren
Ian. Nepomniachtchi
Everyone is saying Chess24 is the best live site. It was good whilst I there
but with two GM’s , Giri and some other bod jabbering away and clouding
my own thoughts and ideas (and dismissing them) I only stayed a wee while.
Tomorrow is a rest day and after that due to a hospital thing I may not be
able to cover games 4 and 5. I’ll see what happens. Great match so far.
D. Liren - I. Nepomniachtchi (game 2)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 {Nepo is perhaps thinking of a Nimzo (Nepo-Nimzo!) 4.Nc3 Bb4,} 3. Nf3 d5 {Queens Gambit and now...} 4. h3 {....All of Nepo's prep (whatever it was) has gone..} 4... dxc4 5. e3 c5 {The game takes a turn towards the Tarrasch.} 6. Bxc4 a6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nc3 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 {I'd be happy with Black - the TN 4.h3 seems a waste of time.} 10. a4 b4 11. Ne4 {Now during the game I was thinking White has chances,} 11... Na5 {I do not think this was prep'd Ding had a long think here and played...} 12. Nxf6+ {I'd was thinking 12,Nxc5. 12.Nxf6 gives Nepo the type of game he loves.} 12... gxf6 {Game on....This is going to be juicy.} 13. e4 {If White can blast open the centre Black is on trouble} 13... c4 14. Bc2 {14...b3 looks tempting...very tempting but then the c5 pawn would require constant attention.} 14... Qc7 {Played before White played Bf4} 15. Bd2 Rg8 {Putting all kinds of tricks on the board especially with f5 coming.} 16. Rc1 {To put Black off castling Queenside.} 16... O-O-O {Black castles anyway. Brave play, typical Nepo.} 17. Bd3 {With Bxc4 and b3 ideas. Black's King looks in more danger than White's.} 17... Kb8 {Practically forced.} 18. Re1 {I wanted to see 18.Bxc4 because it's gets hairy. Bit too hairy for Ding.} 18... f5 {There it is....Black has all the tactical chances.} 19. Bc2 {This change of plan by Ding who was taking ages to move is a bad sign.} 19... Nc6 {Gets the Knight back into the game. I was wanting 19...fxe5.} 20. Bg5 {Right away I spotted what happens next and then realised why Nc6 was played.} 20... Rxg5 {Yes! Nepo was moving fast Ding was already down to something like 10 minutes left.} 21. Nxg5 Nxd4 {The exchange for a central pawn and the two Bishops. Black is winning.} 22. Qh5 {Hitting loose pawns trying to distract Nepo.} 22... f6 {Encouraging 23. Nxh2 Qg7 24.Nxf8 Rxf8 and an attack down the g-file.} 23. Nf3 {The second time Ding has chickened out. This is not a good sign.} 23... Nxc2 24. Rxc2 Bxe4 {Another pawn in the pot.} 25. Rd2 Bd6 {Keeping the Rook on the board. In a few lines it stops Qe8+} 26. Kh1 {Before Rg8 appears. or Bh2+ tricks I'll show a cute variation if 26.Nd4 (see next game)} 26... c3 27. bxc3 bxc3 28. Rd4 c2 29. Qh6 {Desperate defending, but nothing works and Ding had one minute left before move 40.} 29... e5 {Ding resigned. The end, if Ding did not lose on tome goes something like...} 30. Rdxe4 fxe4 31. Ng1 Bb4 32. Rc1 Bd2
That nice line I mentioned during the game. A flavour of just some of the tricks that
were popping up all the time. Tactically there were shots like this from move 18 onwards.
FEN
1k1r4/2q4p/p2bpp2/5p1Q/Ppp1b3/5N1P/1P1R1PP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 26
[FEN "1k1r4/2q4p/p2bpp2/5p1Q/Ppp1b3/5N1P/1P1R1PP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 26"] 26. Nd4 {This instead of Kh1. Maybe Ding was intending this when he played Nf3} 26... c3 27. bxc3 bxc3 {But saw around about here it was no good.} 28. Nxe6 cxd2 29. Rb1+ Bxb1 30. Nxc7 d1=Q+ 31. Qxd1 Bh2+ {Followed by Rxd1}
