Jan Nepomniachtchi took the lead again after the seventh game of the World Chess Championship in Astana. The 32-year-old Russian won the duel with the Chinese Ding Liren on Tuesday and is now 4:3 in front. 7.5 points are required for the world title.
“Nepo” had opened the game with the white pieces and surprisingly got on the defensive at first. The duel then turned out to be largely even, before the Russian benefited from a blackout by his Chinese opponent, who lost track of time and completely lost control of the game. Ding finally gave up after move 37 under extreme time pressure.
The eighth meeting of the two grandmasters is scheduled for Thursday (11 a.m.). In the final duel, the successor to the retired world champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) is sought. If there is a draw after 14 games, there will be a tie-break on April 30th.