Jan Nepomnyashchi successfully defended his lead in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship in Astana.
In the longest game so far, the Russian and the Chinese Ding Liren drew like they did on Thursday, so “Nepo” now leads 5:4.
After a day of rest, the next game will take place on Sunday (11 a.m.). 7.5 points are required for overall victory. If there is no winner after 14 games, this will be determined in a tie-break.
Nepomnyaschchi opened Friday’s game, but in nearly six hours neither he nor Ding were able to establish a significant advantage. The draw after 82 moves was logical.