@@JosiahAngell Russian invasion, karjakin political commentary and ban, Ding's marathon to qualify, beating in the last game Nakamura in the candidates (who was ok with a draw), Magnus not being interested in playing, trailing 3 times against Nepo and equalising, beating Nepo in the last game of rapid with black pieces. So Magnus is part of the universe yes
Nepo dropping pieces when he lost the final decisive rapid game was probably the image of the championship . Probably the only time we will see French Defense and London in a world championship match . Nepo and Ding made this a match for the ages . Hope Nepo returns for round 3 .
Nepo needs to be credited here. It is INSANELY difficult to not throw every object in sight after losing the World Championship title to one rapid game.
He had every chance to win in classical or even rapid, but just didn’t grab it. And if you find it difficult not to throw things after losing a game, you better stay away from chess. Smh
It is now the second time he has lost a World Championship final, he would get more credit if he showed he had learned more from the defeat last time, against Magnus. He didn't capitalise from the fact he was playing against a player who kept running out of time. He didn't consistently outplay the eventual winner. Mahnus is now still number 1, Ding 2, and Nepo 3.
he wasn't even supposed to participate in the candidates in the first place, then he wasn't even supposed to play wcc, and he wasn't supposed to comeback three times,...and here we are
Man I cry just seeing Nepo, I had no favourites but to see those "missed chances" in the match I really felt with him. Ding had just another level of endurance from qualifications to the top. Hats off to the new World Champion.
Both players had a ton of missed chances In game 7 and 8 Ding could have potentially come out with 2 wins. In game 7 he played brilliantly to gain the initiative and a slight advantage as black, but froze under time trouble and blundered the game away. In game 8 he had a huge advantage, but didn't want to spend too much time and took Ian's bluff. Because of these two games, Ding came out of those two games down a game rather than up two. A two point advantage that late in the World Chess Championship would have almost guaranteed Ding's victory in the classical portion, maybe with a game or two to spare. In game 12, Ian was playing one of the best games of his career before both players suddenly started blundering like crazy. If Ian won this game, he also would have been up two games even later in the tournament, essentially guaranteeing his victory. Instead, the blunderfest ended with Ding taking a victory, and he would ultimately win in tiebreaks. Ian definitely missed a big opportunity to all but clinch the title late in the match, but Ding also had a similarly strong opportunity earlier. In the end, all that matters is that neither player played the right moves and Ding outplayed Ian in the rapid tiebreaks.
There's this moment when you win , when you just rewind back what led you there. When you have worked you entire life to get that one thing, and you finally get it. It's surreal.
Not gonna lie, as someone who follows this World Championship from the Candidates, I initially thought that Nepo would win the World Championship convincingly (this sentiment is also supported by many other GMs that predict Nepo will be World Champion). Nepo went undefeated and blew everyone out of the water. In addition to that, his opponent is very out of shape. Ding was literally considered an inactive player last year. However, Ding's journey in World Championship represents his game plan the best, he is someone who can squeeze water from a stone. Ding's glory in World Championship is undoubtedly a miracle and a beautiful underdog story.
Ding wasn’t actually the underdog usually though. Pre-Covid ding was a level above Nepo. Then he became inactive due to China’s harsh restrictions. I always felt that Ding in normal circumstances would be the favourite against anyone but Magnus.
@@Albert-be4ok true, even Magnus predict that Ding will win the WC in his interview several months ago. But that's why I explicitly mentioned that Ding was out of shape in this WC, while Nepo shows that he's a level above everyone in Candidates, hence the underdog. So many decisive matches happened simply because Ding has not recovered to his true form. Pre-covid Ding would never let any time trouble got him that bad in game 7.
for me the image that sticks is the last minute or two when Nepo's hand is shaking, such heartbreak for him losing not one but two title matches. Ding fought so well and is a great Champion and I'm looking forward his next match as WC. (and I hope that we'll see those two greats challenge each other to their limits in another title match.
1. Ding is the only player that makes Magnus nervous 2. Ding was extremely out of form due to inactivity 3. Ding was not at ease in the beginning making him lose game 2 in a horrible way 4. Ding's preparation got leaked losing the possibility of surprising his opponent and being forced to play things like the colle system and london system. 5. Ding's preparation for the WC match was very less due to time. From the openings it could be seen that Ian was better prepared. Still Ding came out on top. He is the best player in the world when it comes down to material understanding and imbalanced positions. It is in imbalanced positions that he always triumphs over Carlsen. A Ding vs Carlsen WC match would be epic
Watching this a month and a half before Ding's defense vs Gukesh, Ding actually showed emotions throughout this match. He smiled every handshake, he cried when he won, but over the last year and a half with Ding's depression, he's barely showed any emotion, mostly sadness and blank, with only that one time he beat Nakamura in the armageddon did he crack a smile. Hope he'll display some of this emotions during the match. Also what happened with Ding's jawline? He looked so much more handsome during the match.
Whenever I feel down, I remember Ding Liren winning the championship. He was not even supposed to participate the candidates! If Magnus didn't moved aside, he wouldn't have played the final. You never know what surprises life has kept for you in the future. Hopefully it's all good for everyone
I feel bad for that black knight. He worked so hard all game. Then we retire him only to nominate him to jump off the cliff. And as the protector of all things corner, he leaps to his death off the edge of the table in a tuck and roll.
An exciting match and all, but can Ding hold on to the championship? Excluding Carlsen, I feel anyone ranked in the top 10 can beat each other on a given day, there's no meaningful difference in playing strength.
You might be surprised but Carlsen is not to be excluded here. Anyone in top 10 is also capable of beating Carlsen if they are in form and (dare I say it) especially Ian.
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I would say though nepo was out of shape. Nepo lost to a rusty Ding who has barely played during the covid year during his PEAK. Nepo had one of the best and flashy of seconds yet he could not utilise them all.
Ding might have won the world championship, but is he the best player in the world ? He didn't play Magnus, I find it very disappointing Magnus didn't defend his title. Nothing against Ding, good luck to him.
Nepo wouldn't have been the best player in the world either if he won. Ding is generally better than Nepo before covid hit and prevented him from playing for 2 years, and he has taken games from magnus before. He is no worst than 2nd best.
The point of the WCC is not to find out who is the best chess player. The official Elo rating ranking already does that. The point is to crown someone champion, one who has more nerves, more guts, more mental strength under pressure. The self pin of Ding Liren in the last rapid game (which was not forced, he could've settled for a draw) was a move of a champion, and Nepo was unable to deal with it properly under the high stress condition.
World Championship is war. World Championship game a battle. Israeli-Palestinian war 1948. Gaza battle 2023. Media, political etc wording Gaza war is questionable.