The third game at the World Chess Championship between the Russian Jan Nepomnyashchi and his Chinese opponent Ding Liren ended in a draw.
In the Kazakh capital of Astana on Wednesday neither of the two grandmasters could gain an advantage, so that they agreed on a draw like in the opening game, this time after 30 moves. Nepomnyashchi took the lead on Monday with a win in the second duel and is now 2-1 ahead by one point. The fourth game takes place on Thursday.
“I wasn’t happy with the result. At one point I tried to play to win but I couldn’t find a way to assert myself. So I think a draw is a decent result for both of us,” said Ding, adding: “My friends helped me deal with my emotional issues. Now I feel more comfortable on stage.”
14 games are played with a long thinking time. A win is worth one point, and a draw gives each player half a point. Whoever reaches 7.5 points first wins. In the event of a tie, the decision will be made in a tie-break scheduled for April 30th. The prize money is two million euros. Permanent world champion Magnus Carlsen did not compete due to lack of motivation.
