Ding Liren is 17th World Chess Champion!
04.30.23 Congratulations to World Chess Champion Ding Liren! The World Chess Championship Match went into the tiebreaking phase after the fourteen-game classical portion ended in a 7.0 to 7.0 tie. Official rules stipulated that the players would play four games at the rapid time control of G/25 +10. After three draws, Ding Liren, with the black pieces, played a sharp game in a Ruy Lopez and was able to threaten promotion which caused Ian Nepomniachtchi to resign after Ding's sixty-eighth move.
The 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship Match played in Astana, Kazakhstan was an incredible fourteen-game Match with six decisive games. In stark contrast to world chess championship matches in recent history in which draw after draw played out--most notably was Carlsen-Caruana 2018 that resulted in a 6.0 to 6.0 score after twelve straight draws--the Ding-Nepomniachtchi Match included six decisive games. Four of those decisive games happened consecutively in Games 4-7.
Ding can be regarded as the club tournament players hero as who could fail to be enthralled with a modern-day world championship match including openings such as the French, London, and Colle! Ding chose to mix it up and lay down the gauntlet by discarding many well-trodden paths which made for a spectacularly exciting contest.
After a 7.0 apiece tie in the classical portion of the Match, the players embarked on a four-game rapid (25 +10) tiebreaker. In Game 4 of the tiebreaks after three consecutive draws, Ding was able to keep his cool after many ups and downs and threaten to queen his c-pawn which forced Nepo's resignation.
Kudos and congratulations to both players for creating an enduring, artistic, and creative Match.
Hail Ding Liren the 17th World Chess Champion!
Ding Liren ½ ½ ½ 1 2.5
Ian Nepomniachtchi ½ ½ ½ 0 1.5
Tiebreak results
Final Results
Replay Games Here
(Click on the Games & Results link in top banner to change game number.)
World Championship 2023 Schedule image: FIDE.com
