Ding Liren’s emotions keep going downhill, loses Round 2 of the World Chess Championship Match
Game 2 of the World Chess Championship Match finished in just 29 moves to mark Nepomniachtchi’s first World Championship game win. The press conference was once more revealing for the chess world as Ding Liren didn’t seem to have recovered from his emotional downhill and anxiety, admitting that he missed nearly everything in the game.
Game 2 started paradoxically with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.h3!?, a move which surprised Nepo along with the commentators and the viewers!
“I had some feeling maybe it’s some influence of Richard. It’s a little bit like these tricky moves without some direct idea. It shouldn’t be very venomous, because basically after 4…dxc4 I can get a one tempi up Queen’s Gambit Accepted.” Nepo stated after the match, with Ding confirming his thought, adding: “It’s just a move that is very rare, and actually I know a lot of ideas after h3, but today the game was a disaster. The idea was a good invention of my seconds, but I didn’t play it very well.”
The game evolved but the players were spending most of their time in the resting lounge. “Thinking in the rest room reminds me of the days when I was playing online, but it’s totally different thinking over the board. I come to the board only in the time trouble, but it’s a little too late.” Ding commented on that, giving clear signs of the impact of COVID-19 in the OTB tournaments.
The whole game seemed like “someone else was playing” according to Twitter as Ding went from one oversight to another to eventually end up in an unbearable position, where there was only one result.
The chess fans are looking for the “real” Ding, and are very supportive of what he’s going through. It’s not the first time that the Chinese GM bounces back, and we’re all looking forward to seeing this happening!
