Tell Tale

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi
World Chess Championship 2023; match game 8; Astana, April 20, 2023
Nimzo-Indian Defence E28

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 d6 7. Ne2 c5 8. Ng3 Nc6 9. Ra2!? “Can’t express how happy I am to see this variation played today”, Fabiano Caruana commented.
9. ... b6 10. e4 Ba6 11. Bg5 h6 12. h4!? “The line that occurred in the game is a very topical line in the Nimzo-Indian nowadays. As artificial as it looks, somehow it’s a popular choice. So, I was more or less aware of this piece sacrifice”, Nepomniachtchi then said.
12. ... hxg5 13. hxg5 g6 14. gxf6 Qxf6 15. e5 dxe5 16. d5 Ne7 17. d6 Nf5 18. Ne4 Qd8 19. Qd3 Kg7 20. g4 Bb7 21. Rh3 Nh4 22. g5

22. ... Bxe4? “I don’t know why, but suddenly I felt overambitious and made some awful moves that almost cost me the game, or at least half a point. And then I was lucky and had some nice chances to escape”, said Nepomniachtchi.
23. Qxe4 Nf5 24. Rd2 Rh8 25. Rxh8 Qxh8 26. d7 Rd8 27. Qxe5+ Kh7 28. Qh2+ Kg7 29. Qe5+ Kh7 30. Qh2+ Kg7 31. Qc7 Qh4? Just a bluff, but it worked.

32. Kd1? After 32. Qxd8 Qe4+ 33. Re2 Qb1+ 34. Kd2 Qb2+ 35. Kd3 Qb1+ 36. Rc2 Qd1+ 37. Ke4! there’s no perpetual.
32. ... Qxg5 33. Kc2 Qe7 34. Bg2 e5 35. Be4 Nh6 36. Qxa7 Ng4 37. Bf3? 37. Bc6 was almost so obvious as to be missed.

37. ... Nxf2! 38. Rxf2 e4 39. Re2 f5 40. Qxb6 Rxd7 41. Qb8 Qd6 42. Qxd6 Rxd6 43. Bxe4 fxe4 44. Rxe4 Kf6 45. Re8 ½ : ½.

Even today, the life of a gladiator is no enviable one. Photo: David Llada/FIDE.