Chess: Ding misses wins and his prep leaks as Nepomniachtchi keeps the lead
China’s world No 3 had a dominant position in game eight but missed several good chances before he drew in 45 moves with the Russian, who leads 4.5-3.5 with six games leftRussia’s Ian Nepomniaachtchi, 32, has a fortunate 4.5-3.5 lead over China’s Ding Liren, 30, as their €2mn world championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan, moves into the second half of its scheduled 14 games. Ding stood better in game seven before he collapsed under time pressure, with eight moves to make in 45 seconds, and had a dominating advantage in game eight, where Nepomniachtchi escaped defeat by a mixture of bluff and brilliant defence, aided by his opponent’s miscalculations. Game nine starts on Friday at 10am BST and the official website is worldchampionship.fide.com.White’s three best opportunities were 26 Rd3! transferring the rook to the h file, 32 Qxd8! when White’s king can escape perpetual check, and 37 Bc6! followed by Qxb6 and advancing the a pawn. Continue reading…
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