GM Ding Liren almost bounced back in sensational fashion after a gutwrenching round-seven loss, falling just short after a herculean effort from GM Ian Nepomniachtchi that resulted in a draw in the eighth round of the 2023 FIDE World Championship.
In yet another opening debut for the event, the challengers jousted through an imbalanced Nimzo-Indian Defense middlegame before Ding capitalized on a pressure-cooker blunder by Nepomniachtchi, but the latter would later escape with a draw in Houdini-esque fashion.
Game nine of the world championships will take place Friday, April 21, at 15:00 Astana time (2 a.m. PT/11:00 CEST) where Nepomniachtchi will play with the white pieces.
This is a flash report. The full report including game annotations, videos, and photos will be added shortly.
How to watch the 2023 FIDE World Championship
GM Rafael Leitao‘s annotations of the full game will be added below.
You can watch video recaps of the FIDE World Championship in our playlist below (click here).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
Match Score
| Fed | Name | Rtg | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Score |
| Ding Liren | 2788 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | 3.5 | |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2795 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | 4.5 |
The 2023 FIDE World Championship is the most important over-the-board classical event of the year and decides who will be the next world champion. Nepomniachtchi and Ding play a match to decide who takes over Carlsen’s throne after the current world champion abdicated his title. The match has a €2 million prize fund and is played over 14 classical games; the first player to gain 7.5 points wins.
Previous Coverage
https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-world-chess-championship-2023-game-8