7-7, draw! Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren don’t want to leave each other. After three weeks of 14 classic games, during which it initially looked as if Nepo would win easily before Ding woke up and hung on to finally equalize in the 12th round, the Russian and the Chinese refused to give in.
The 2023 World Championship will therefore be decided on Sunday by tie-break in a match of four fast games of 25+10 cadence. Nepo’s exceptional skills in the fast-paced game are well known, and the Russian could therefore be considered the favorite to win the world crown.
But after such a scenario, should we still rely on the players’ natural qualities? For his part, Ding showed his ability to overcome a disastrous start and pick up where he left off. The Chinese, who will start with the whites, is perhaps in a better psychological frame of mind than his opponent. Or maybe not.
