They return blow for blow. ” I hope I can recover from this harsh defeat “said Ding Liren on Saturday. It’s fair to say that the Chinese player has plenty of resources, perhaps even more than he realizes. The world number 3 returned to the chessboard on Sunday with drool on his lips and the intention of not letting Nepo slip away in this sixth game, winning with white and coming back to 3-3 in the match.
Ding totally outwitted Nepo, who multiplied his bad choices. ” I played one of my worst games todayadmitted the Russian, his face closed. Almost all my shots were bad. In a way, it was like a mirror of yesterday’s game – the same material, the same patterns. The tension is high. Sometimes you can’t give your best. “.
On the other hand, the Chinese player was pleased that he hadn’t been disturbed by the previous day’s defeat. It’s hard to make any projections at this stage, even if this severe defeat could be hard for the Russian to take. The world number 2 will have another day off (the third) to get his head back in the game, as he managed to do on the second.
Be that as it may, with only two draws out of the six games played – something that hasn’t happened since the Korchnoi-Karpov match in 1981 – this World Championship is living up to its promise in terms of spectacle and suspense.
