Ding Liren won the 4th game of the World Chess Championship 2023! With that, he also equalized the overall score 2-2.
The Chinese no.1 knew he had to take his chances with the White pieces in this game since he was lagging behind in the match after his defeat in game
2.It was a peaceful start until Nepo (playing with Black) made a slightly bad choice:
14…Na5 – Knight on the rim is dim
You don’t want to move your Knight to the edge of the board unless there’s a good enough reason.
Ding saw a small chance to cause trouble for his opponent. And he sacrificed his pawn!
So what’s the advantage of giving up a free pawn? Well –
- It doubles Black c-pawn
- More importantly, it gives White complete central control! Just look at those pawns on d5 and e5!
But Nepo is known to be a big fighter. He regrouped his pieces to counter White’s central pawns.
He was defending well until this happened…
28…Nd4?? – Careless choice
Nepo made a huge blunder! In the press conference, he confessed that he had lost focus and had underestimated White’s next move.
Ding was alert to this opportunity.
White sacrifices the exchange! But why?
Because here in this specific position, their Knight will prove stronger than the Black Rook! You’ll soon see how.
Later in the press conference, Ding Liren shared:
“Suddenly, I felt like winning… And it was a little bit hard to believe it.”
Boom! 28.Rxd4!</strongAfter 28…cxd4 29.Nb3 the game reached this position:
Look carefully – Black’s Rooks don’t have open lines. They’re stuck behind White’s rock-solid advanced pawns.
Whereas for White, their Knight can jump to d4, then c6 or f5, making it more valuable than Black’s passive Rooks!
Still, Nepo is not the one to give up easily. You can’t defeat a champion with one move. You need a lot of them!
The game went on and reached this position:
And here Ding found a way to crash through with 37.d6! Nepo fought till the very end. But the Chinese no.1 kept his cool and converted his massive advantage.
It’s Ding Liren’s 1st win ever in a World Chess Championship Match, tying the score 2-2 with 10 more rounds to go!
There’s a lot one can learn from merely observing these 2 greats of the game.
Champion qualities on display🙂
Just 3 days ago, Ding Liren lost the 2nd game. Some doubted his ability. Could he actually get back into form?
This victory gives many answers – A champion knows how to fight back after defeats! And Ding has shown it today.
Now coming to Nepo. Look at the picture below:
What do you see? Can you spot it?
Okay, so after resigning, Nepo (on the left) shook hands with his opponent and even gave a warm smile. Yes – Nepo smiled despite after losing the game. You can even check it in this video (at 4:19:15).
This is what good sportsmanship looks like – Being able to accept defeat graciously without losing your cool.
