World chess championship: Ding Liren goes down in flames against Ian Nepomniachtchi

Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren had a disastrous start to the world chess championships, losing with the white pieces.

Russian chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Chinese chess grandmaster Ding Liren. Picture: Supplied

Chinese chess grandmaster Ding Liren went down in flames against Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after unleashing a surprise novelty that backfired.

Liren is facing off against Nepomniachtchi in the World Chess Championship 2023, a match in Astana, Kazakhstan.

After a tense draw yesterday, the number one Chinese player had the white pieces and opened with the Indian Game: Anti-Nimzo-Indian variation.

Liren then uncorked the unexpected move 4.h3 instead of the expected Catalan or Queen’s Gambit Declined variations. The quiet pawn move left commentators astonished.

“What, he mouse slipped?” Dutch chess grandmaster Anish Giri said. “The g pawn is... the other one. It’s not that one,” he laughed.

“He played h3... have you seen this move before? I have so many questions right now,” American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky said.

Nepomniachtchi himself let out a wry smile and sipped his water before pondering his response.

"No he mouseslipped...this is crazy!" 🤯 #NepoDingpic.twitter.com/CwTMtnRxgc

— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 10, 2023

The move 4.h3 was a novelty. Picture: Supplied

Russian chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi smiled after the move was made. Picture: Supplied

Nepomniachtchi recovered his composure and steered the game towards an unusual variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted.

Liren stayed in his preparation for a while but was perplexed by Nepomniachtchi’s pawn gambit of 11. Na5.

After a very long think Liren exchanged knights but the position soon transformed into a tactical skirmish that favoured the Russian.

Nepomniachtchi’s bishop controlled the centre of the board. Picture: Supplied

Chinese chess grandmaster Ding Liren resigned after black’s move 29.e5. Picture: Supplied

By move 18. Re1 Liren was completely lost. Nepomniachtchi, with his quick play and killer instinct, kept finding the best moves and putting Liren under huge time pressure.

Liren won the exchange but Nepomniachtchi’s bishop controlled the centre of the board and helped shepherd his passed pawn towards promotion.

This year’s match is the first world chess championship since 2013 not featuring Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen who declined to defend the title citing a lack of motivation.

Originally published as World chess championship: Ding Liren goes down in flames against Ian Nepomniachtchi