New world chess champion is crowned in Astana

Two prominent chess grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia and Ding Liren from China have shown unprecedented will to win the title of World Chess Champion 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan. They fought for three weeks in a set of games that ended in a tie. In their final tiebreak match, the grandmaster from China won. He is now the 17th world chess champion, the first champion of that kind from China.

There is one move from tragedy to satisfaction

Fourteen matches of classic chess and three matches in rapid games weren’t enough to reveal the winner, even though Nepomniachtchi and Liren showed six resultative matches. In contrast, Magnus Karlsen’s matches often ended in a standoff.

Many chess players and experts were curious about the factors that made this historical match so entertaining.

According to Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th world chess champion, both contenders felt so much pressure that they got nervous. They preferred attacks to defense. Each of them could hang on the opponent at any time.

The 15th World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand was quite philosophic. He said that chess «might be a tragedy and a satisfaction simultaneously and the match in Astana is vivid proof of that.» When the game looks like a roller coaster, it means that the game is no longer just about figures on the desk, this is a psychological opposition.

Magnus Carlsen, the 16th world chess champion, who decided not to defend his title, highlighted that each of the contenders believed in his superiority over the opponent, which is why they were so tolerant of risky moves. At least, Carlsen doesn’t remember that Anand, Karyakin, Caruana or Nepomniachtchi were so reckless when he played against them. All of them chose well-known openings and scenarios of the game.

Artificial difficulties

Some experts suggested that both contenders wanted to show unique moves that couldn’t be predicted by a computer. They intentionally used conundrums to make the opponent struggle as much as possible. As a result, they both made many one-move mistakes that can be easily tracked by a machine but are almost invisible to the human brain.

The 12th match was an apotheosis of the intense opposition beyond the standard logic. During this game, the situation changed with each move. Nepomniachtchi was the last one to make a mistake and Ding Liren managed to turn the game toward a tiebreaker.

Even in the rapid game, the two contenders continued to explore terra incognito in chess. During the first match game, Ding was controlling the white figures and applied a new tactic on the seventh move. Such a pivot is always something extraordinary for the modern world of chess. However, even though the Chinese grandmaster was in a good position he made a mistake and the game ended in a tie. In the second rapid game, Nepomniachtchi was about to win but failed because he was anxious and rash. The third game ended in a tie again. Finally, in the fourth final rapid game, Ding bested Nepomniachtchi in the intense queen-and-pawn endgame.

The dramatic end

The emotional swings of the long-lasting final couldn’t have any other result than drama. Over the past several years, there has been a big debate in the world of chess about whether a world chess champion might be determined in a rapid match or blitz. For instance, in 2016, when Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Koryakin fought for the title of world chess champion, Carlsen won in rapid. Two years later, he beat Fabiano Caruana in rapid as well. In both cases, they failed to win during the classic game.

In Astana, Nepomniachtchi and Ding were very close to not finishing their fight even in the rapid. For many of those who watched the game, this wouldn’t be a big surprise as rapid is well-known for its vagary and even tragic scenarios. However, destiny has made its decision. In a super intense endgame, Nepomniachtchi made a wrong move and Ding Liren successfully used his passed pawn. As a result, the grandmaster from China has become the world chess champion for the first time in the history of his country. It was the second defeat in the final match for the Russian grandmaster.

During the final press conference, Ding Liren expressed his appreciation to the organizers of the event. He also said that he spent a lot of time exploring Astana and took loads of pictures of the city where he reached the peak of his career. Nepomniachtchi admitted that he had many opportunities to win but failed to seize the moment.

The world chess tournament in Astana lasted about a month and concluded with a real triumph for the Chinese grandmaster. At the same time, the tournament became a good showcase for many young Kazakhstani chess players and was a huge sporting event for chess lovers in Kazakhstan.