Chinese chess grandmaster Ding Liren on Thursday, April 20, mishandled his advantage in a highly complicated game 8, allowing Russian chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi to escape with a draw.
Indian chess grandmaster Vishy Anand's opinion on Game 8 – a game many feel that Ding should have won – was that the Chinese grandmaster, who was playing white, "deserved more for his courage but Nepo defended brilliantly when he needed to.”
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"Nerves are a very big factor. This match is for the ages," tweeted Anand.
Considered heart racing and heart breaking, the game delivered the first draw of the ongoing 17th World Chess Championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan. Nepomniachtchi managed to escape with a draw and continues to have a 1-point lead on the scoreboard.
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Nepo: I was lucky
The Russian stays in the lead 4.5-3.5.
After Ding&039;s 45th move, the players shook hands.
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Later, during the press conference, Nepomniachtchi admitted that at some point during the game, he suddenly felt overambitious and made some awful moves that almost cost him the game, or at least half a point.
"And then I was lucky and had some nice chances to escape."
During game seven, on Tuesday, April 18, Ding shocked the audience by playing the French Defence, and eventually blundered the game away after 37 moves and just under four hours.