FIDE World Chess Championship Game 4: Ding Liren bounces back with white after Nepo blunders

New Delhi: Ding Liren made a comeback in the World Championship match as he beat Ian Nepomnichtchi in game 4 after the Russian grandmaster made a positional blunder. The Chinese grandmaster chose the English opening and Nepo blundered on move 28 when Ding gave up the exchange in return for a better position. The game lasted 47 moves before Nepo resigned and now the match stands at 2-2.

Playing with the white pieces, Ding had a better position out of the opening as he played quickly and was confident of his preparation, on the other hand, Nepo took his time. They followed Ding’s second Richard Rapport’s game till move 10 before Ding decided to short castle on move 11.

✅ A strong opening
✅ Sacrificed the rook
✅ Took his opportunity

Watch how Ding tied the match 2-2. #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/Wiwha3nZNt

— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 13, 2023

A crucial moment in the game came when Nepo went 14…Na5 with a plan to push c5 but Liren played c5 instead, followed by pawn sacrifice with 15…dxc5. In return for his pawn, he pushed pawns to e5 and d5 to gain space in the centre.

Nepo held his position well and a slight inaccuracy by Ding gave him a chance to further solidify, which he missed as he allowed the bishops to be exchanged. 28…Nd4 was the blunder he made in the game, where he could have continued with g5. Ding exchanged his rook with the black knight and placed his knight on b3, with a tempo on the d4 pawn and with a motive to maneuver it to f5.

Once he succeeded to place his knight on f5, it helped him to create a passed e-pawn and get back the exchange. After that, it was a matter of time before he converted his advantage into victory. He played precisely and with 47.Qf8, Nepo decided to give up going into a slow death and resigned from the game.

And Ian resigned. #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/0pzdHTY8VR

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 13, 2023

After the game, Ian said that it was an intense game and he misjudged it to be better for black. He added that it was ‘more or less playable’ until he lost his focus. The rest day might have helped Ding as he earlier spoke about having emotional trouble, but both his games after the rest day have been of high quality.