Ian Nepomniachtchi

Russia's No. 1

“The match against Niemann is over. An interesting experience, but two games per day, even with a shorter time control, are still exhausting. Playing Black, I defended a new opening for myself, which I studied as the match went on. Difficult, but interesting.

We played as best we could, but the contrast impressed me today. In the morning, Hans blundered a piece in one move, and I, still half asleep, for some reason did not take it — although, of course, I saw the capture…

But in the evening, Niemann played like he did in his younger years. Hats off. An educational game from White: not a single mistake. Overall, even leaving aside the strange incident in the seventh game, I had more chances to win at least one more time, so the final draw is more in his favor.

In summary — a good hard-mode training before Tashkent, but the desire to play matches in this format has clearly decreased for me…”