The show goes on in Astana (Kazakhstan), where Ian Nepomniachtchi once again took control of this crazy World Championship by winning with White. This is his third game and he now leads 4-3 over Ding Liren, who has two wins to his name.
The day after a very convincing win, the Chinese player, who had started well, collapsed on Tuesday under the pressure of the clock. With 40 seconds left and 8 shots to play, the cornered Ding gave in to panic and logically gave up on the 37th shot. ” The feverishness displayed by Ding today in this time crisis is truly worrying for the future.comments Laurent Vérat, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s manager. He shouldn’t have found himself in this situation. The ability to make decisions in the time available is part of the game. “
A world championship that won’t set the standard
The absence of time increments is undoubtedly an advantage for Nepo, who likes to play at a high tempo and never has a problem with the clock. But the scenario of the match so far calls for the utmost caution as to what happens next. ” An ultra-spectacular matchsays Laurent Vérat. But in terms of defense, we’re clearly not up to the level of the last World Championships. “.
What strikes observers is that, unlike previous World Championship matches, this edition has not set out to be a benchmark. ” Both players seem to have made the same strategic choice not to engage in theoretical debate.explains Laurent Vérat. They consciously stray from mainstream theory and regularly opt for secondary variations. You don’t see, on either side, a desire to stick to a well-defined repertoire of openings. But on the other hand, here we have two players who are monstrous in their calculations, and that makes for some very open games”..
