[Event "FIDE Candidates"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Round "6"]
[Annotator "Sam Shankland"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2020.03.23"]
[PlyCount "79"]
1. e4 {The most important game of round six was definitely Ian Nepomniatchi
against Ding Liren. Nepo had showed excellent form in the first five rounds
and was leading the tournament by half a point, while Ding, who many
(including myself) considered the pretournament favorite had struggled thus
far. A decisive result would change a lot. A win for Ding would have put him
back on 50% and dragged the early leader down to +1, blasting the tournament
wide open. But the opposite turned out to be the final result, and
Nepomniatchi now has a full-point lead after the first six rounds while
relegating Ding to the bottom of the crosstable.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 {Given Ding's disaster against MVL and that he faced some
problems against Grischuk, I was a little surprised he stuck with the same
repertoire for a third time. I thought he would try to pivot and find
something a little feistier and less vulnerable to targeted preparation.} 6. d3 {The first notable move of the game.} (6. Re1 {This was the choice of both MVL
and Grischuk, and Ding got into some trouble in the opening in both games. I
guess Nepo expected him to have solved his problems here.} )b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 0-0 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. b4 Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Nc6 13. Bg5 {This
position has been reasonably common as of late. I never understood these
Spanish structures so well, but I always thought Black should avoid allowing
the bishop for knight exchange on f6.} Qd7 (13... Ng4 {and} )(13... Nd7 {
are very valid alternatives.} )14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nd5 a5 16. Rb2 {Both sides
were blitzing up to here, and only now Ding started to think.} axb4 17. axb4 Bd8 18. c4 Nd4 19. Nxd4 exd4 20. Qc2 Re8 21. g3 {Nepomniatchi has prepared
very well and was still in his analysis at this point, and Ding's position
looks a little fragile. The pawn on d4 can fall at any moment.} bxc4 22. Qxc4 c6 23. Nf4 Bg5 24. Ne2 $1 $16 {Black is under serious pressure. The pawn on d4
is ripe for plucking next move and he doesn't seem to have any notable
counterplay.} (24. Qxd4 $4 {Of course White should not be so quick to take on
d4.} Bf6 $19 {} )d5 25. exd5 cxd5 26. Qb3 $1 {
The doubled pawns on d5 and d4 are causing two serious problems to Black's
position. First off, they are weak and hard to defend, but secondly, they have
allowed White a dangerous passed pawn on b4 that is well supported by the
queen and rook on the b-file, and a serious danger to run straight down the
board. At this point, Ding started to defend very well.} h5 $1 {Active
counterplay. Black is looking to launch the h-pawn deep into White's position
to compromise his king safety, much like Nepo did himself against Wang Hao
yesterday.} 27. b5 h4 28. b6 h3 (28... Rab8 {Black could have considered
taking a moment to get the rook in front of the b-pawn.} )29. Kh1 $1 {A very
strong move. White is planning Ng1, which will cover the f3-square, making it
impossible for Black to find a way to get the queen to g2, and also pressuring
the h3-pawn, which could drop off at any moment.} Reb8 30. Rfb1 Bd8 $6 {
This feels like the wrong plan to me. Somehow I don't like the combination of
spending three tempi on h5-h4-h3 to try to make White's king uncomfortable, and
then promptly shifting all the pieces to the queenside. It seems inconsistent.} (30... Rb7 {I would have preferred blocking the pawn, and hoping to follow up
with Rab8 next. The bishop on g5 may end up being useful some day.} )31. Qb5 $1 Qg4 $2 (31... Qf5 {The machine prefers this move, but Black's position is hardly a
bed of roses after} 32. Nxd4 $16 )32. Qxd5 $18 {White is a clean pawn up, and
a very dangerous one on b6 at that, and has secured the long diagonal. But he
still has to be careful. Nepo had barely used 10 minutes on the whole game at
this point, and he could have done himself a favor by slowing down, given that
he had a ton of time to make not very many moves.} Ra5 33. Qc6 $2 {Nepo played
this move almost immediately, and was lucky it went unpunished.} (33. f3 $1 $18 {White should win pretty routinely.} )Rc5 $2 {And Ding repays the favor,
perhaps having already mentally given up. Black had a strong tactical resource
that could have saved the game.} (33... Rxb6 $1 34. Rxb6 Qxe2 35. Rb8 {It's
easy to see this far and expect Black to resign, as White has won material and
covered both the back rank and the long diagonal. But after} Re5 $1 36. Rxd8+ Kh7 {It turns out White has a real problem defending e1, and he has no checks
to try to mate Black first with his extra material. For instance, after} 37. Rg1 Qxf2 $1 {The twin threats of Re2 and Re1 are hard to meet, and White
should think about how to equalize. This variation is not obvious by any
stretch, but it's not crazy difficult either. If Ding had been on better form,
Nepo may well have ended up regretting playing so fast.} )34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Ng1 $18 {Now its all over.} Rxb6 36. Qxd8 Rxb2 37. Rxb2 Rc1 38. Qh4+ Qxh4 39. gxh4 Rd1 40. f3 {Although there was a hiccup, this was still a very convincing win
by Nepomniatchi, and given his current lead, I think he is a solid favorite to
win the Candidates at this moment.} 1-0