World Chess Championship: Of an exhilarating showdown and the which means of happiness

“A draw between these two would be like a sensation,” remarked Grandmaster Daniil Dubov after Game 6 of the 2023 World Chess Championship between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren ended with the Chinese GM drawing stage with the Russian at 3-3.

It was a contest that stretched out for 4 hours and however held the world’s consideration. Unlike numerous its predecessors, the 2023 contest has already delivered 4 decisive results in six video video games predominant eight-time US Women’s Champion Irina Krush, who was inside the commentary discipline for FIDE with Dubov, to match it to a boxing bout.

“The final positions are so beautiful. It’s disturbing how beautiful this stuff is. Aesthetically! It is incredible from a chess point of view, it’s so satisfying,” Grandmaster Anish Giri acknowledged on chess.com as he analysed Game 6.

A cursory look on the most recent historic previous of World Championship battles illustrates merely how unusual getting 4 results in six video video games has been. In the 2021 battle between Magnus Carlsen and Nepo, the first six video video games yielded just one victory. Carlsen’s skirmishes with Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin featured no wins inside the first six video video games.

In fact, going once more to Viswanathan Anand taking on Garry Kasparov in 1995, no contest has seen so many wins inside the first six video video games: 2014 Carlsen vs Anand had three wins, 2013 Carlsen vs Anand had two, Anand vs Boris Gelfand had none, Anand vs Veselin Topalov had three, as did Anand vs Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik vs Topalov had two (and a forfeit), Kramnik vs Peter Leko had two, Kramnik vs Kasparov had one and Kasparov vs Anand had none.

“I think I played one of my worst games ever. Every move was bad. My whole game contained inaccuracies. Bad day!” acknowledged Nepo in an reliable analysis of Game 6.

This Nepo vs Ding contest seems to be impressed by the phrases of Bobby Fischer, who as quickly as acknowledged that chess was beautiful on account of “one day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one.”

The Russian challenger, though, was understandably in no mood to take courses from the sport, admire the wonderful thing about it or relish how rather a lot historic previous they have been making on the board. “Ask me this question some other day,” he acknowledged when requested about his feelings about being a part of such a spectacular contest. He repeated the an identical reply for an extra question.

His opponent was further forthcoming. When requested what had led to the spate of outcomes between them, a perked up Ding quipped: “Maybe the reason is we’re not as professional as Magnus (Carlsen).”

He punctuated that cheeky reply with the widest smile he has possibly summoned since landing in Astana, an indicator that his happiness ranges had been spiking off the chart.

An American and a Russian stroll into the commentary discipline

Speaking of happiness ranges, American GM Krush, who was inside the commentary discipline with Russia’s Dubov, had requested Nepo after his win in Game 5 to cost how joyful he was between one and 10 on the press conference on Saturday. To this, Nepo had replied: “More than five and less than 10.”

With Ding having overwhelmed time trouble in Game 6, he took his sweet time to ponder his forty first switch. Krush took the possibility to ask Dubov why his compatriot had been so obscure and deflective in his response.

“What (number were you looking for)? Like 6.74?” he acknowledged in his trademark deadpan mannequin.

“I don’t think it was about him trying to hide it. Sometimes there are questions you don’t expect and you don’t know what to say,” the Russian added, giving a super clarification about how completely totally different cultures would perceive the an identical question in one other method.

Then, unwittingly, Dubov demonstrated the cultural gap as a result of the duo wandered proper right into a dialog over the which means of happiness and the way in which it meant varied issues for varied of us.

“We have food, our health is there, we have some money,” acknowledged Dubov, venturing into an ideological which means of the phrase happiness.

Meanwhile, Krush tried to lighten the mood barely by talking of how the self-heating marble floor inside the bathroom at her lodge room in Astana made her joyful.

Dubov continued: “If you look at the situation worldwide, you’re lucky to have some basic things. We’ll have dinner (food on the plate). Sometimes, we just don’t value how lucky we are that we can just sit here and play our favourite game.”

It might be going that on the end of Sunday, on the very least Ding Liren had an understanding of how lucky he was. As for Nepomniachtchi, let’s merely ask him this question one other day.