Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi drew the 13th and penultimate round of their world championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday as the prospect of another draw on Saturday and a speed shootout for the crown on Sunday loomed closer. Nepomniachtchi, 32, again opened with the Ruy Lopez but stood worse in the middle game until Ding, 30, spoiled his advantage and opted to halve by threefold repetition of position, saying later: “It was still some kind of dark ocean position, so I didn’t go further into it.”
The final outcome now depends on Saturday’s 14th and final classical game. If the score is then 7-7, they go to rapid and blitz tie-break games, the chess equivalent of a penalty shootout, on Sunday. Play begins at 10am BST, and the official website with grandmaster commentary is worldchampionship.fide.com. The games can also be watched on chess.com, chess24.com and chessgames.com.
