Ian Nepomniachtchi suddenly whipped up a powerful attack midway through Game 9 of the FIDE World Championship match, but Ding Liren took some brave decisions and held on to make a draw after an endgame that stretched to six hours and 82 moves. Ian now leads 5:4 going into the final five games of the match, but Ding still has three games with the white pieces.

Ding Liren takes his seat for Game 9 | photo: Anna Shtourman, FIDE

Replay commentary on Game 9 of the FIDE World Championship match in Astana from Fabiano Caruana, Tania Sachdev and Robert Hess.

Replay all the game of the match with computer analysis

Game 9 of the 2023 World Championship match was a departure from the narrative of earlier games. It was the first game to stretch beyond 50 moves and feature a real endgame struggle, it was the first since Game 1 where a player had found themselves significantly worse but then defended well without allowing clear wins, and it was the first outing for the Berlin Defence in the match.

Ding Liren’s choice of the opening was a display of confidence, since the moves that occurred in the game, 4.d3 (the Anti-Berlin) and 4…Bc5, had featured in ten of the leaked training games of Ding’s team. Magnus Carlsen’s head coach Peter Heine Nielsen noted that was something Fabiano Caruana had also done, going for a line of the Petroff Defence that had been revealed in a leak during the 2018 match.

For most of the opening phase the burning question was why hadn’t Ding done this all along, since he’d come up with a new idea that looked to give him easy equality. 15…Qc7! was computer-approved, but Caruana pointed out it was something you could only play fast if you’d looked at it before the game.

“Ding’s preparation looks very effective indeed,” said Vishy Anand, and the idea, as Ding explained afterwards, was to get the queen out of the bishop’s path so that Black could develop with Bf8 and Nc5. Nevertheless, although Ding would make those moves, he caused himself huge trouble by delaying them.

Ding Liren navigated another incredibly tense game | photo: Stev Bonhage, FIDE

Ian Nepomniachtchi took almost 20 minutes to play 16.Ba2!?, but that waiting move seems to have succeeded in getting Ding out of book. He should have dropped the bishop back to f8, but instead switched to 16…b5!?, then after 17.Qe2 he fell into his first long think of the day.

The b5-pawn is attacked, but defending it with 17…Rb8?!, as Ding did after 16 minutes, was a serious mistake. Nepomniachtchi suggested 17…Bf8!, sacrificing the pawn, and that was a move Ding had also been contemplating, but he said after 18.axb5 cxb5 19.Qxb5 Nc5 20.b4! he hadn’t see how to continue.

In fact 20…Nd3! is strong, with the white queen getting uncomfortable after 21.Rd1 Ba6!. Ding commented, “maybe I have some chance here, I should spend more time on this position”, but he also later pointed out that there’s no easy solution to how to spend your time in a game of chess.

It’s connected, the time management, the quality of the moves, the length of the calculations, it’s all connected. So I spent less time to calculate today, but the quality, you can see, dropped a lot.

The immediate problem of 17…Rb8?! was 18.Nh4!

Ding confessed he’d totally missed that move and that the deeper idea behind 17.Qe2 had been to meet 18…Bf8 with 19.Qf3!, when all White’s pieces were suddenly massing against the black king.

There was no longer any easy solution for Ding, but in the sequence that followed he found the most tenacious defensive resources. 19…bxa4! was cold-blooded, inviting Nepomniachtchi’s 20.Bxh6!

Ian later lamented:

Capturing on h6 looked so nice, but actually I never could find any decisive blow.

He had some regrets about not slow playing his advantage — he suggested 20.Ngf5 — but that doesn’t appear to be stronger, and his direct approach might have worked if Ding hadn’t responded accurately with 20…Nc5!. After that, 21.Ng6 again looks crushing, but there was no lethal threat, while Black had options.

Once again in Astana the players had created sheer chaos on the board.

Ding here decided there was nothing to stop him grabbing another pawn, and in fact after 21…Rxb2! 22.Nxf8 Rxf8 23.Bg5!? Nh7 24.Bc1 the computer was claiming Black had fully equalised, at least until he played 24…Rb5!? instead of 24…Rc2!

When Nepomniachtchi blitzed out 25.Ba3!, Ding’s decision looked rash, but it turned out he had a plan, and after 25…Re8 26.Bc4 he offered the exchange with 26…Be6!

There was nothing wrong with taking the rook on b5, though both players felt Black would get at least some compensation. Ian commented of not accepting the sacrifice:

I probably thought it’s just too good. After I grab an exchange, if I’m not winning by force, it becomes, I wouldn’t say double-edged, but it’s tricky, of course, those pawns. Black has some plan like the knight goes to f6, the other knight maybe to b3. It should be winning, I believe, for White, at least some nice chances, but it wasn’t clear.

At this point, when it was suggested that taking the bishop on e6 was an option, Fabiano Caruana said that he’d bow down to Ian Nepomniachtchi if that move was made. Sure enough, it was!

The commentators weren’t the only people surprised, with Ding confessing it “came as a total shock”. If Ian hoped for that effect to knock Ding off balance and see him burn up time on the clock, however, he was disappointed, as Ding responded relatively fast with 27…Nxe6 28.Nf5 and the crucial 28…c5!

Ian later regretted not playing the more promising 29.Bc1!, since after 29.Qe2!? Ding was suddenly solving all his problems with 29…Rb3! 30.Qc4 Qc6! (a move Nepo said he missed, but not the only equaliser) 31.Bc1 Nf6 32.Qxa4 Qxa4 33.Rxa4 and queens were off the board.

Black was definitely no longer getting mated, and Ian said he’d overlooked from a distance that after 33…Rxc3 34.Bb2 Ding could force simplifications with 34…Rb3! 35.Bxe5 Rb4! 36.Rax5 Rxe4 and soon the players had made the time control in a position where Ian’s extra pawn shouldn’t be enough to win.

The game was very far from over, however, since we got the first long endgame of the match.

When Ding exchanged off rooks, he admitted he’d thought the knight endgame would be an “easy draw”, but soon he realised he was wrong. A 5-time World Champion could have warned him.

Fabiano Caruana had in fact recalled that game, without seeing Vishy’s remark.

The moment the commentators realised the full peril Black might be in was when they were suggesting 55…Ne4? for Black here.

That was in fact a losing move after 56.Nd3! Nd6 57.Ke5!, which was something Ding said he also discovered during the 15 minutes he pondered his move. He also felt 55…Ke7 was losing, which objectively it isn’t, though Black would be walking a tightrope.

Instead, however, Ding found what he called “the only move to save the game”, 55…h3!

Splitting up the white passed pawns after 56.gxh3, and the essential 56…Ke7!, was the key decision, and after that Ding never looked in danger again, though the game kept going.

Ian Nepomniachtchi never missed any clear wins | photo: Stev Bonhage, FIDE

For the first time in the match the players reached move 60 and started to get a 30-second increment each move, before a peaceful outcome was reached on move 82.

Ian briefly looked upset afterwards, and must have felt he’d missed a big chance to almost seal the World Championship title.

Ian had calmed down before the press conference, perhaps helped by his team explaining that he hadn’t in fact missed any clear wins over the course of a hard-fought game.

Check out some of the recaps of the day’s action.

So Ian Nepomniachtchi still leads by a point, now at 5:4, but of the five games remaining Ding Liren will have the white pieces in three of them. Ding was asked about his self-confidence on a scale between 1 and 10, but instead answered the less awkward question of his confidence in winning the match. He gave it a 5/10.

Whatever number you put on it, the match is certainly still in the balance, with Game 9 featuring plenty to admire from both players. There’s now another rest day, before Ding Liren will have the white pieces in Sunday’s Game 10. Fabiano Caruana will again be back with Tania Sachdev and Robert Hess for live commentary. 

Don’t miss all the action from 15:00 local time (5am ET, 11:00 CEST, 2:30pm IST)!

See also:

• Official website
• Nepomniachtchi-Ding Liren World Championship match games
• The Ding-Nepomniachtchi Opening Press Conference
• Ding Liren survives scare in Game 1
• Nepo wins World Championship game at 13th attempt
• Ding Liren passes acid test in World Championship Game 3
• Ding Liren pounces on blunder to win Game 4
• Nepomniachtchi retakes the lead with Game 5 win
• Ding wins Game 6 of World Championship rollercoaster
• Ding Liren freezes and loses heartbreaking Game 7
• Ding Liren blows huge chance as prep leaks online