Despite grinding out a significant advantage in the middlegame, with his opponent, Ding Liren, on the brink of catastrophe on multiple occasions in time trouble, Ian Nepomniachtchi wasn’t able to convert his advantage, steering the first game of the 2023 World Chess Championship to a draw. The battle continues tomorrow, with Liren wielding the White pieces.
What is the 2023 World Chess Championship?
Taking place in Astana, Kazakhstan, the 14-match battle between Nepomniachtchi and Ding serves to determine the successor of Magnus Carlsen, the world #1 who decided to give up his title after being the undisputed world champion since 2013. His two closest challengers are now battling it out to become the seventeenth classical world chess champion, earning a title that can be traced back all the way to the late 19th century.
Read more: World Chess Championship 2023—schedule, players and storylines
2023 World Chess Championship game 1 recap: Nepo finds an edge but fails to capitalize
The Russian challenger started the first game with the White pieces after an oddball drawing ceremony featuring an incompetent robot picking out a white pawn for him from a large bowl of chess pieces. (Yes, it’s real, you can check it out here.)
He opted for 1. e4, then steered the game towards an even slower and more strategic line of the Ruy Lopez than usual, and it quickly became clear that he had a deeper level of preparation in this opening than his Chinese opponent did, with the game entering uncharted territory on move 12.
The opening salvo granted a miniscule edge to the Russian on the board, but more importantly, Nepomniachtchi also enjoyed a significant lead on the clock as Ding, who later admitted that he “felt like there was something wrong with [his] mind,” was struggling to find the correct continuation as White began to hone in on his small structural weakness. By move 25, he was down to just 18 minutes to Nepo’s 49, and he erred by playing c6 after the already dubious 24. c5, allowing his opponent’s queen deep into the position after a set of trades.
It was around this point that we also got a meme out of the game:
“It’s quite surprising,” said former world champion Viswanathan Anand on the official broadcast, adding that “Ding is one of the most resilient players normally. But here, it seems like he fell apart very fast.”
However, 31. f4 proved to be the incorrect pawn advance by Nepo, and as the players burned through their time reserves approaching move 40’s bonus allotment, a queen trade extinguished all potential for dynamism in the position. Despite the extra pawn, the Russian grandmaster had no way to generate an advantage, and the players agreed to a draw on move 49.
It was a strong start from Nepomniachtchi, but he will be disappointed for failing finding a way to convert his advantage. The event continues tomorrow, with Ding Liren playing as White.
