Chess discussions

It's a fairly even match. I don''t really see what makes Ding look less prepared especially when both players gained advantages with white. The one thing that people need to keep in mind is that neither is playing for draws, so they both avoid lines with theoretical draws which are the majority of main line plays and what we are used to see in big tournaments.
Game 2 gave away that his prep is shoddy for this level of match. Plays h3 to opt against the Catalan, worse within 14 moves, probably lost within 20. That's pretty poor for a line he has come up with which his opponent couldn't possibly have expected. That would rarely happen to the best prepared players in a line they go for.

I think he needs to be more prepared than Nepo. I'm not saying he can't come back in this match, he easily could, but he's always had a fairly narrow repertoire he plays extremely well. Which also suits his style. He seems to gain a lot of confidence in that. When they're just free styling from early on I think that's a pretty good situation for Nepo more than Ding as he's been comfortable playing many openings in classical, he's going to pressure on the clock, I think that situation works for him. Then he has prep with white, especially.
 
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Ding looks super sloppy in this match. His prep has been pretty poor at this level, all things considered. It's a World Championship match and he looks out of book very easily which is kind of surprising to me.

I also thought Rapport was kind of strange as a second. Completely polar opposite players. Surely at some point it would be more logical to have a player who has more similar tastes, so when the suggestions are made it is more natural, both for the player and the second.
I don’t know enough about their respective styles but presumably Ding wants someone advising him who sees the game differently, ideally someone who plays similar to Nepo rather than similar to himself.
 
What's up with these players giving away solid advantages pretty much out of the opening.
 
Nonsense, match is actually very good and shows that classical can also be entertaining.
We are just very lucky that both of them think themselves better than the other, and aren't defaulting to drawish lines. Wouldn't be like this with Carlsen.
 
Nonsense, match is actually very good and shows that classical can also be entertaining.

Especially since they made most of their work in the middle game. Neither is relying on openings and neither is rushing to the endgame, it's all about who is better at calculating sharp lines.
 
Quite tragic to show such terrible time management in such an important game.
 
We are just very lucky that both of them think themselves better than the other, and aren't defaulting to drawish lines. Wouldn't be like this with Carlsen.

It's still completely random to try and make this point in the middle of a match that has seen 5 wins in seven games?
 
It's still completely random to try and make this point in the middle of a match that has seen 5 wins in seven games?
Maybe these games will stop the trend?
 
In football terms last year's Championship was like watching peak Barca/Spain dismantle a team clearly levels below them. Whereas this is like some random PL Monday night 3-3 where both teams could implode at any point.
 
These games are just wild :lol:

On a side note: god I hate Hess' comentating. Americans have to ruin everything..
 
These games are just wild :lol:

On a side note: god I hate Hess' comentating. Americans have to ruin everything..
Agree he's annoying. Super sharp game today. Loved that perpetual bluff, even if he didn't realise, by Nepo.
 
These games are just wild :lol:

On a side note: god I hate Hess' comentating. Americans have to ruin everything..

On an other note: I love Anish, he has my type of silly sense of humour.

And yes the games are wild, I wonder if they realize that they are probably of equal strength but with very different styles.
 
Anish is brilliant, I quite like Daniel too.
 
The other day I was thinking about something. I don't know if in 14 games, you would have a clear winner between any combination of Abdusattorov, Wesley So, Ding, Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura, Vishi, Giri and Caruana.

Carlsen is clearly above them but that group is pretty even.
 
Hess is still miles better than Danny Rensch, who is truly horrific cliché American.
Caruana and Anish are my favorites I'd say.
 
Hess is still miles better than Danny Rensch, who is truly horrific cliché American.
Caruana and Anish are my favorites I'd say.
Totally agree. Find Rensch awful, and he's such a smug prick.

In other news... supposedly Ding/Rapport lichess prep accounts have been leaked. Mainly because they played a game together last month that followed today's game exactly. Mad if true.
 
Those accounts were only found, because they played rated against each other, weren't they? :lol:
 
Nepo collapsed against Carlsen 2 years back.. Ding clearly holds his nerve better .
 
Wtf was that... It's like leading 3-0 at halftime and losing 8-3 at the end
 
A handful of GMs are likely fuming, including Caruana. :lol:
 
Rewatching the end of the game, Ian's distress is a rare sight.
 
FuqaPDvWACMAehp
 
Is Robert Hess the James Corden of chess commentary?

Nepo under pressure out of the opening, with white... Considering this is Ding and not Magnus it seems like he unfortunately didn't to work through the issues he had in his previous match.
 
Some of the journalists at the post game conference ask some good questions then you got some others who go "I got a question for Ian, can you tell us about the game today, how did it go?", like what the hell are you covering that for
 
On that topic youtube suggested me that short this morning.

 
Well, well, well.. Ding is actually under a bit of pressure right now. It's still nothing definite, but I guess either player losing the match with white in the final game would only be fitting to his roller coaster of a duel.



... and Nepo comes back to the board and instantly drops a "?" on the board... :lol:
 
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An amazing final game and great panache from Ding going hard for the win with one minute on the clock. What a story for the guy who shouldn't even have been at the Candidates tourney without Karjakin being removed and shouldnt have played the championship without Magnus withdrawing.
 
Still catching my breath after that final game. Think Nepo could easily have drawn at one point but also pushed for a win, guessing he might question that decision now. Well played Ding.