Four to Score

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi
World Chess Championship 2023; match game 10; Astana, April 21, 2023
English Opening A28

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. d4 Bb4 7. dxe5 Nxe4 8. Qf3 Nxc3 9. bxc3

9. ... Bc5. “The ... Bf8-c5 idea is quite a rare move. I think that, on a high level, no one has played it yet. But I believe it is an interesting move that can solve a lot of problems there and force the game”, Nepomniachtchi then said.
10. Qg3 Kf8 11. Be2 d6 12. Bf4 Qe7 13. Rd1 h5 14. 0-0. Varying from 14. h4!? dxe5! 15. Bxe5 Bg4!⇄ Nepomniachtchi – Cardoso Cardoso, Titled Tuesday intern op 5th May, chess.com, May 5, 2020 (time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move).
14. ... h4 15. Qd3

15. ... g5! A correct Pawn sacrifice to force a general liquidation into a drawish ending. Therefore, it is highly likely that Nepomniachtchi has simply been following a “cooked” line.
16. exd6 cxd6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Qxd6+ Bxd6 19. Rxd6 Be6 20. f4 Ke7 21. Rd4 gxf4 22. Rfxf4 h3 23. g4 Rac8 24. Kf2 Rc5 25. a4 Ra5 26. Bd1 b6 27. Kg3 Rh6 28. Rfe4 Kf8 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. Ra8 Rc5 31. Rxa7 Bxc4 32. Rae7 Rhc6 33. R7e5 Rxe5 34. Rxe5

34. ... Bb3! 35. Bxb3 Rxc3+ 36. Kh4 Rxb3 37. Rb5 Ra3 38. Rxb6 Rxa4 39. Kxh3 f5 40. gxf5 Rf4 41. Rb5 Kf6 42. Kg3 Rxf5 43. Rxf5+ Kxf5 44. h4 Kg6 45. h5+ Kxh5 ½ : ½. “He defended quite well”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said. “So, I didn’t have many chances in this game”.

A relatively easy draw today by Nepomniachtchi, but there are four games left and 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) still has a chance to write history. Photo: Stev Bonhage/FIDE.