By the fifth game of the match for the world chess crown, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren come up in equal positions – the Russian lost by equalizing the score. The surprise of the fourth game was Nepomniachtchi's grossest mistake on the 28th move. In the opening, Liren played the English Opening, Nepomniachtchi was able to successfully exit the opening and create a strong blockade position by moving his knight to the center.
On the 28th move, when everyone was already predicting a draw, Nepomniachtchi played the knight on d4 in response to Liren's move with the queen on f3. The Chinese himself notes that he calculated this move. “When Ian unexpectedly made this move, I realized that I could sacrifice an exchange to gain control of an important square. My horse was in a very strong position, and at some point I realized that I was just winning. It was hard to believe."
Nepomniachtchi himself admitted that he was in a hurry, he should have taken the knight to d6 and waited for what White would do. “Most likely, the position would be equal, but it's easier for White to make moves, he can try to strengthen the position. At some point, I lost focus. Of course, I am upset with my game, ”Nepomniachtchi said.
Even before the start of the game, the coach of the Russian noted that Liren got ready after the first failures, so the match was predicted to be difficult. As a result, Nepomniachtchi resigned before the 47th move due to a mistake.
The day before in Astana, Russian and Chinese grandmasters played a draw in the third game of the match for the title of world champion. The score at the moment is 2:2. The world champion will be the one who scores more than 7 points. Players have to play 10 more games.
