Nepo to Change Strategy After Disastrous Championship Score
After Game 8, Ian Nepomniachtchi, the World Chess Championship challenger, found himself two points down in the Championship match, the most important event of his chess career, and unless he changes strategy, he is going to go down as the person who just fell apart during the Match of his life. So change he will.
Apparently, Nepo enlisted the help of Sergey Karjakin, who is flying to Dubai right now to be on site and help plan a comeback for Nepo. Karjakin is the only person who led in a Match against Carlsen, back in 2016, and is known in the sport for both his defense prowess and resilience to high pressure.
According to Vishy Anand, a former World Champion and a commentator for the Carlsen-Nepo match, the challenger’s main goal should be to get one good game (a chess-speak for ‘to win one’). Should Nepo accomplish this, he can worry about saving the match altogether. At least, he will retain a theoretical chance to win, and will certainly keep his supporters and fans on their toes — something that the fans have been missing this year.
Game 9 of the World Chess Championship will probably turn into a match point for both Nepo and Carlsen, and the most important game of the year. Nepo has White.
