Diplomats – Edwin Nathan Yabo Glusman and Marco Alberti, Ambassadors of Israel and Italy in Kazakhstan, respectively, followed closely and analysed the game till the final Rook endgame. Edwin Nathan Yabo Glusman and Marco Alberti, Ambassadors of Israel and Italy in Kazakhstan respectively, are following closely and analysing the game in the VIP lounge. #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/CQ7PyvYIq1 — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 29, 2023 But let’s start from the beginning. The hall was buzzing with unhurried anticipation. No one knew this would be the longest game of the match. It was 1. d4 Nf6 and game 14, the last classical game in the FIDE World Championship match between Russian chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi and Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren kicked off in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Saturday, April 29. In the first few moves of the Nimzo-Indian Defence, Ding and Nepomniachtchi followed the opening moves of game five, in which Ding achieved a decisive advantage but failed to capitalise on it. Irina Krush about Ding's decisions earlier in the game: We see some shocking things... 19.Bb4 is not even a tactical mistake; it's a pretty basic positional mistake. I guess that is what enormous stress and tension do to people. #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/vxT5PLkhdP — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 29, 2023 Alanna Berikkyzy, winner of the FIDE World School Chess Championship in the Girls under nine category, made the ceremonial first move for Ding Liren who was playing with the white pieces, on Saturday before the duo wandered, made some very difficult decisions, for six hours and denied chess fans the world over the chance to know who becomes the 17th undisputed world chess champion in a 14-game match. It was past 9pm in Astana when they agreed to a draw. The score was 7 to 7. ALSO READ: World Chess Championship: Game 13 is drawn, everything hangs on final Maulen Ashimbayev, the Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, made the ceremonial first move for Nepomniachtchi. Before then, the score was even at 6.5-6.5; and everyone knew that in case of a draw in Saturday's game, the Champion will be decided on a rapid play tie-break the next day, April 30, at 15:00 Astana time. Game 13 of the FIDE World Championship match ended in a draw, on Thursday, April 27, when, despite creating a better position as Black, Ding simplified and entered a riskier endgame where he was at a disadvantage. ALSO READ: World Chess Championship 2023: Ding wins ‘nerve-racking’ game 12, equalises Earlier, on Wednesday, April 26, game 12 was filled with dramatic turns of fortune as Ding opted to go for the Colle System of Queen's Pawn and emerged victorious after Nepomniachtchi played hastily and completely destroyed a commanding position. ALSO READ: Former world champion Kasparov calls April’s world title match ‘amputated event’ Saturday’s draw means that the FIDE World Championship match will go into rapid/blitz tiebreaks. The tie-breaks On Sunday, the last day of the match, the players will head into the tiebreaks without a rest day. Vladimir Kramnik about the world championship match tie-break: Your objective strength in playing rapid chess is less important. In this format, only four games, it depends on certain circumstances: how well did you sleep, how lucky you are. #NepoDinghttps://t.co/RIFTDadgf2 — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 29, 2023 Commentators believe the players respective rapid ratings will not really matter much on Sunday. Israeli chess grandmaster, Emil Sutovsky, who is CEO of International Chess Federation (FIDE), said: Tiebreak is largely about what kind of a day you have. Very strong players, both of them, but only one of them is going to have a good day. FIDE CEO @EmilSutovsky: Tiebreak is largely about what kind of a day you have. Very strong players, both of them, but only one of them is going to have a good day. #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/AFvyi671Dg — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 29, 2023 The time control for the standard games is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The prize fund for the match is two million euros, with the reward being split 60:40 between the winner and the runner-up. The World Champion will be decided in a four-game rapid playoff with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. There shall be a drawing of lots to decide which player starts with white pieces. If the score is still a tie after four rapid games, according to FIDE, another two-game playoff shall be played with a time control of five minutes plus three seconds increment per move. If the score is still level, another two-game playoff shall be played with the same time control. If the score is still even after this game, a single game shall be played with a time control of three minutes for each player plus two seconds increment per move, and these games will continue until a decisive result is reached.
