Master Study: Nepomniachtchi v. Liren
Master Study
Although a rematch between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi would have been a great world championship, Ding Liren will still be able to create an interesting match for Ian. Both players are incredibly talented and have faced off against each other multiple times. Often their games are solid and are neck and neck. However, I found one game that I think is the most interesting and sharpest game they have ever played against each other.
The Game
The game is set in 2017 in Russia. Both players are representing their countries in the World Team tournament, and the two players are facing off. Ian has the white pieces, while Ding has the black pieces.
The game starts off with e4 and e5. Additionally, Ian decides that he wants to play a scotch game. Players will usually play a 4 knights scotch, but Ian goes for d4 right away, which is also completely fine. The thing with the scotch, however, is that it is a really solid opening that usually ends in a draw.
The game continues in standard fashion with a pawn trade in the center, as well as a knight trade. Ding decides to develop his second knight and allow Ian to capture his knight on c6. He also recaptures with the b pawn, rather than the d pawn. Either capture is actually fine, but Ding probably wanted to keep the queens on the board and be able to castle in order to see if it might be possible to snatch a win.
The game continues with Ian pushing the pawn to hit the knight. Ding defends by pinning the pawn to the king, which results in Ian having to break the pin and allowing Ding to move his knight. But Ian doesn't let up and lashes out with c4. But once again, Ding goes for pinning the pawn, but this time to the queen. From this position, it looks like white has more space and easy development, but the position is still completely equal.
Ding continues by preparing to fianchetto his dark square bishop and castle. Ian decides to follow suit and fianchettos both of his bishops. But all the while, Ding's knight looks like it is defying death. I would feel uncomfortable leaving my knight in that position, even if I knew my bishop was pinning the pawn. But this is when things get really complicated. In this position, Ding pulls off two brilliant moves in a row. Can you find them?
Did you find them? Apparently, Re8 is brilliant because it continues to focus black's attack in the center, while risking its knight. At least, that's why I think both of these moves are considered brilliant by stockfish, especially since white's queen will probably be used to recapture and leave the knight hanging. But Ding has able to calculate the correct moves and order to keep the position equal. Credit also to Ian for finding the only move after Re8, which was castling rather than defending the pawn.
After this, the board explodes and a majority of the pieces are traded. The queen's are traded first, and notice that Ding's knight is no longer protected, but after Ian takes Ding's knight, he has to capture the rook in order to maintain a material advantage. When the dust is settled, Ding is up a point in material. However, Ding does have an isolated pawn and doubled pawns. Additionally, Ian has a bishop and knight to fight one of Ding's rooks, which is generally a better combination. Thus, Ian's game play is to take advantage of Ding's pawn structure to potentially chip away, while Ding will try to advance his pawns and coordinate his two rooks to control open files.
Ian immediately begins counterplay by developing his knight and rerouting it to the c2 square, as well as bringing his rook to d1. Notice that all of Ian's pieces are coordinated to target and blockade the d file because that is the file with the weakest pawn structure.
The game continues with each side trying to activate their kings and bringing their rooks to the best rows and files possible. Ian is able to get his rook to the fourth row, which blocks most of black's pawns. Ding tries to trade the rooks, even willing to damage his structure further because he knows that it will be advantageous for him to get white's rook off the board. Instead, Ian declines the trade. However, in the process, Ding is able to activate his king to be extremely active and cut off Ian's king.
Ding plays Ra8 to defend his pawn, but stockfish doesn't like this move as it thinks doubling on the e file is best, which I don't really understand because of Ne3, which is what Ian plays in the game to close the e file and allow his king to walk into the middle of the board. But apparently, Stockfish doesn't think this is a good idea either and is yelling h4, which isn't something that was played in the game. Anyhow, Stockfish thinks black has a slight advantage after Ian brings his king towards the center.
The game continues with Ding brining his king over to help escort his a pawn to the end. Ian tries to activate his bishop to a more active diagonal, but this is a mistake because Ding has one move. Can you find the best move for Ding?
Ding finds Re4, cutting off Ian's open row and main defense against black's pawn movement. However, Ian finds the only move by keeping his rook on the board with Ra3.
Ra3 looks absurd by itself, but Ian was preparing to kick out the black rook and replace his rook on a4. He temporarily displays his rook to play Bd3, centralizing and forcing Ding to retreat, allowing Ian to recontrol the fourth row.
However, Ding finds the best and only move again with Rf6, hitting white's weak f pawn. Ian defends with his knight, and it looks like Ding is running out of squares for his rook. But he finds the best move with Rf3. The only move for Ian is Be2. Then, they repeat a few times, and it looks like its going to be a draw, but Ian plays f4 at the last moment. Notice that it looks like Ding is going to have a hard time getting his rook out of the f file, but he has cut off the fourth row and has an opportunity with his h pawn.
Ding now goes on the offensive, harassing white's knight and advancing his central pawns. Notice that Ding is able to advance onto the fourth rank and cut off Ian's rook's line of vision from most of the board.
Ian counters by hitting Ding's rook with his bishop. Ding retreats, but continues pushing his h-pawn. However, Ian is able to reroute his rook to join the action that is taking place on the other side of the board. But then, Ding plays d5. It looks like it is some sort of mouse slip, but there is one specific sequence that best holds the position. Can you find the sequence that Ding played?
Did you find the idea? Ding was able to get complete control of the h file and now has the dangerous potential of infiltration and massive ability to maneuver across the board
Ian brings his rook to the e file to stabilize his knight but to also prevent Ding from infiltrating with his rook. Thus, Ding forces a trade of rooks and we have an endgame of rook and 5 pawns vs two minor pieces and 4 pawns.
Ding tries to bring his king over to the center of the board, but Ian is able to advance his pawns and protect his knight in time. However, Ding still has full control of the h file and is far faster than Ian's bishop and knight.
The problem for Ding, however, is that Ian is able to hold the entire position together, regardless of his infiltration. It looks like there might be another threat of repetition, but Ian decides to block Ding's checks with his bishop.
