Game 3 : Draw in 30 moves.
Ding Liren played a good game this time, and was never in danger of losing.
The game ended in a threefold repetition.
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Discussion
Game 4 : Ding won with White in 47 moves.
Ding put pressure on Nepomniachtchi with his advanced central pawns. A rook for knight sacrifice gave him a decisive advantage he converted 20 moves later.
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Game 5 : Nepomniachtchi won with White in 48 moves.
Nepomniachtchi played a preparation on a Closed Spanish and gained an important clock advantage. Then, he launched a decisive kingside attack with 37.g5 and 38.Rg4.
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Game 6 : Ding won with White in 44 moves.
Ding played the rather unusual London system (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4) and gained a slight edge at the end of the opening. Nepomniachtchi could not defend precisely, and Ding increased gradually his advantage. The game ended with a beautiful mating net.
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Game 7 : Nepomniachtchi won with White in 37 moves.
Ding surprised everybody by playing the French Defense, suggested by his second Richard Rapport. Then, he defended well but ran low on time. On move 32, he had less than one minute left, and blundered a pawn, giving a decisive advantage to Nepomniachtchi. Ding resigned four moves later, with only 3 seconds left.
Halfway through the match, Nepomniachtchi leads 4 - 3.
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Game 8 : Draw in 45 moves.
On a Nimzo-Indian Defense, Ding launched a strong attack on the h-file, and provoked Nepomniachtchi into playing a blunder (22...Bxe4 ?). Ten moves later, Nepomniachtchi played a bluff move (31...Qxh4) but Ding could not refute it and lost his advantage. The game ended in a drawn Rook endgame.
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Game 9 : Draw in 82 moves.
This is the longest game so far. Ding offered an exchange sacrifice in order to gain connected passed pawns on the a and b files with 26...Be6, but Nepomniachtchi chose a safer option with 27.Bxe6. The game went into a Rook and Knight endgame with an extra pawn for Nepomniachtchi. Ding defended this endgame very precisely and obtained the draw.
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Game 10 : Draw in 45 moves.
Ding had a slight advantage in this game, played with the English Opening, but Nepomniachtchi defended very accurately, and the game ended with bare Kings.
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