SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES for TUESDAY, April 10th of 2023

Game two of the World Chess Championship match... was won with the Black pieces by Ian Nepomniachtchi! Former World Champion - in all time controls - Vishwanathan Anand had opined at the end of game one that this match would get really interesting if one of the players made a mistake. Well... chess wishes sometimes do come true. The flip side of that but of course is that chess nightmares happen! Can Ding Liren bounce back and show his fighting spirit? The rest day today - which is Tuesday - is badly needed by the Chinese Superstar. Game three looms large upon Wednesdays horizon however... Will he collapse while Nepo shines or will he fight his way back into title contention?

As for tactical practice there are three puzzles for you to tackle after my coverage of World Championship Game two. I hope you find the puzzles both entertaining and instructive. They are graded somewhere between easy and intermediate in this installment. Enjoy'em!

SPOILER ALERT: Game given below - result blurted up above!

[Event "WCh 2023"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2023.04.10"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2788"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[ECO "E10"]
[Opening "Queen's pawn game"]
[WhiteFideId "8603677"]
[BlackFideId "4168119"]
[EventDate "2023.04.09"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. h3 dxc4 5. e3 c5 6. Bxc4 a6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nc3 b5
9. Bd3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Ne4 Na5 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. e4 c4 14. Bc2 Qc7 15. Bd2
Rg8 16. Rc1 O-O-O 17. Bd3 Kb8 18. Re1 f5 19. Bc2 Nc6 20. Bg5 Rxg5 21. Nxg5 Nxd4
22. Qh5 f6 23. Nf3 Nxc2 24. Rxc2 Bxe4 25. Rd2 Bd6 26. Kh1 c3 27. bxc3 bxc3 28.
Rd4 c2 29. Qh6 e5 0-1

ANAND on Game 2:

"Game 2 . Was a lot of excitement to watch and comment. My two key moments

"A move that was screaming to be played. Ian Nepomniachi has just sacrificed the exchange with 20...Rxg5!"

"26...c3 - the most clinical finish. The pawn just goes forward and White has to resign!" ~ Vishy Anand

“Where Champions come and go, chess endures.” - Promo piece at start of FIDE video covering game 2!!

FIDE WEBSITE COVERAGE:
https://worldchampionship.fide.com or
TWIC (The Week In Chess)
https://theweekinchess.com