Magnus Carlsen is dethroned, the chess world has a new world champion. In a dramatic final, Ding Liren defeated Jan Nepomnjaschtschi in a tie-break on Sunday. The Russian was devastated after the defeat and received encouraging words from many quarters. The Vice-President of the Russian Chess Federation chose a different path. He sharply criticized Nepo after the game.
For three weeks, Ding Liren and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi fought an entertaining, varied and extraordinary fight for Magnus Carlsen’s legacy. The World Cup drama culminated on Sunday in the fourth and final game of the tie-breaker, in which Nepo was punished coldly by his opponent for a mistake and thus missed his chance to become world champion for the second time.
The hardest defeat of his career was written all over the Russian’s face seconds before he gave up. He shifted restlessly in his chair, pushed a few of his opponent’s conquered pieces across the table with a trembling hand, then played another move and finally gave up. The angry and deeply disappointed 32-year-old then stormed off the stage.
In view of these scenes, many fans and other professionals felt with the Russian afterwards. They cheered Nepo up with messages on social media and cheered him up. Sergey Smagin, vice-president of the Russian Chess Federation, disagrees. He sharply criticized his compatriot after the defeat in the “TASS” interview.
Nepo ‘can only blame himself’
“Jan had psychological problems before. These were also shown here,” Smagin accused the grandmaster of having a head problem. In his eyes, Nepo didn’t even consider leaving the board as a loser in the last game. “And then he made several mistakes in a position that wasn’t so difficult,” said the federation official.
“When the tension increases, he loses his cool. Ding didn’t play brilliant moves, but the average level of his moves was quite high. And in critical situations he played ice cold. Jan, on the other hand, ruined everything in 30 seconds,” criticized Smagin his compatriot.
Overall, Smagin rated the level of the World Cup games as weak. “Neither player dominated, they both had similar problems. They played without consideration or a strategic plan. Our player had a lot more chances of winning, so he can only blame himself for the loss,” complained the official.