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@109 "I rate Ding as favourite now as he seems to have superior self-control" - Good call Paul:-)

What did you think of the final games, guys and guyesses?

I'm a patzer, Brendan. But I followed the match quite closely. And I thought Ding’s bravery in self-pinning to avoid repetition with Rg6 was quite astonishing, with barely a minute left on the clock. I can't think of many players who would have done it. Of course it skews your judgement if you have a eval bar in front of you, but Fabi was already getting ready for blitz. Would Magnus, I wonder?

I thought Nepo had the more promising positions over the balance of the match, but Ding’s tenacity, especially in Game 14, was something to behold, especially after his loss on time in Game 7. Most exciting match since Anand-Topalov, without a doubt

Hi Quisling,

Wasn't it an amazing end? That Rg6 move was astonishing - like you I was watching on Chess24 and Fabi, Tania and Robert just couldn't believe it.

You're right, Nepo had more winning chances but in both formats and he must be kicking himself for not seeing them through - he just seemed to play too fast at times when there was no need (listen to me, criticising a Super GM!!😂)

Re patzer - #MeToo 😀

Most entertaining match in a long while. If you published the games in a book (which used to happen for every WC match, not sure it's as important in the engine age) the games might not impress, but they were fascinating to follow.

Of two minds on the self-pin...I'd almost surely have chickened out, but White's bishop was of the wrong colo(u)r, so White would have needed to move his Q to the b1-h7 diagonal (in which case Black had the option to trade Q) and play h4-h5 to punish it. Ding is a "calculating player", so it's not that surprising he concluded it was safe, even with limited time. For instance, Ding's 40...Bxc3 also looked highly risky and depended on tactics (as pointed out by GM Leitao on chess.com).

The leak of Ding's opening preparation could turn out to be an interesting story. There was a story on ruschess.ru today to the effect that Team Ding had to throw out all their prepared lines and scramble for new ideas.

Strongly agree that Nepo had better positions over the course of the match. I question Nepo's physical fitness and regimen: he seemed to have gained pounds by the start of each new game. Quite a departure from the old days when Karpov shrank to skeletal proportions by the end of long matches. :-)

Hi Geeker,

It's funny you should mention Karpov - Tania, on Chess 24 was talking about it today and, apparently, he lost 10Kg during the match with Kasparov for the world title - I think it was the one with all the draws!

Nepo does look like he'd benefit from the odd run around the block:-)

Ding seems such a quiet, polite and humble person - I'm happy for him:-)

Hi Brendan, I think your point about playing fast is crucial. There’s so much psychology in elite chess. I can easily see how after Game 7 Ian might have felt that keeping up time pressure was part of his strategy. But equally I was amazed when Ding would ponder for what seemed like an eternity when the engines seemed to suggest that there was only one move, and it even looked clear to me (and my good friend Sesse of course) 😂.

I felt sorry that either had to lose, actually. Nepo is more “human” than many great Russians of the past. I love watching his body language. And wasn’t Smyslov the last to win two consecutive Candidates’? So he deserves one. But he may only have one more shot

Geeker, most interested to read your view, and the leak latest. Would you agree that Nepo had a much more formidable backup team, with Kramnik the icing on the cake? I do think he’ll kick himself for a long time

A novice question for Geeker: you say Ding is a “calculating” player so you are not so surprised by Rg6. Caruana dismissed it out of hand. I would have had him in the same “calculating” bracket. What am I missing?

Quisling, I feel that Ding's team was probably more formidable than on-site footage portrayed. I only noticed Rapport and an older Chinese GM whose name I didn't catch, seemingly of the Ye Jiangchuan generation . IMO China has a big state-sponsored chess machine, and several strong GMs (e.g Wei Yi, Wang Hao, Yu Yangyi) might have been requisitioned. IIRC, most of Carlsen's team (Dubov, Gustafsson, Fressinet, van Foreest) worked off-site and communicated via Skype or otherwise.

I'm surprised Nepo didn't name Péter Lékó among his seconds during the press conference. I assumed PL, who worked for Nepo during the Carlsen match, was still in the team.

I have a feeling that in this engine age, the credentials of seconds aren't as important as in the old days (Nakamura's long-time helper Kris Littlejohn is only an FM). But having advisors with WC match experience (Kramnik and possibly Lékó) should have been an advantage for Nepo.

Ian has to kick himself for making blunders while playing too fast. Happened repeatedly during the Carlsen match and maybe even more vs. Ding. He must have been coached not to do it again, but the training clearly didn't sink in.