Anyone been following this? That last game was wild.
I tuned in for the last game, just as it was looking like it was going to be a draw by repetition. It was so wild seeing it unfold after that rook move by Ding. Incredibly brave of him to even attempt it with a minute left on the clock.
I'm very happy that the underdog managed to win, but I cant help feeling sorry for Nepo. Hopefully he can recover after this heartbreaking loss. Maybe third time will be the charm.
Yeah, I was cheering for Ding throughout, but Ian looked so shaken at the end. When he knocked the pieces off the table in those final moves... just heartbreaking. Hope he bounces back for next year.
Ding's mental recovery was incredible to see though. Struggling with time management for so many of the early classical rounds then bouncing back for a win to take it to tie breakers.
I think Ding might've been able to win before the tiebreaks if he had had more over the board games over the past year.
Ian had his chances and he should have won. However the way in which he blundered game 12 was very predictable. I think Magnus said it last time that Ian is guaranteed to blunder because he will randomly decide to play too fast.
At the same time Ding should not have frozen and gifted that game 7 either, his biggest problem was the inexperience and axiety.
But imo Ding was always superior, just look at his win streak at the candidates. When he is calm and confident he is possibly the best player not named Magnus.
I think Ian is definitely very close and in a rematch he will have a fair chance, as long as Magnus doesn't come back I think eventualy Ian will probably win it.
