Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, 32, has a fortunate 5-4 lead over China’s Ding Liren, 30, as their €2mn world championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan, moves into the second half of its scheduled 14 games. Ding stood better in game seven before he collapsed under time pressure, with eight moves to make in 45 seconds, and had a dominating advantage in game eight, where Nepomniachtchi escaped defeat by a mixture of bluff and brilliant defence, aided by his opponent’s miscalculations. Game 10 starts on Sunday at 10am BST and the official website is worldchampionship.fide.com.
Friday’s drawn game nine was calmer, as Nepomniachtchi maintained his lead while Ding looked ahead to his next White in game 10. In line with their mutual strategies, Ding countered the Russian’s Ruy Lopez 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 with the Berlin 3…Nf6, which for 20 years since Vladimir Kramnik successfully used it against Garry Kasparov, has been a sign that Black sets his stall out for a draw.
