White's biggest threat was c4-c5, kicking the queen off of the d-file and getting ready for Bxe5 next. Black hits the f6 bishop with a gain of tempo and clears the c7-square for his king to escape. Losing the exchange is hardly the most relevant factor.
1. e2e4 The 10th round of the Candidates saw the fight for second place blow wide open. Ding's effort with Black against Rapport put him in a reasonable spot, and I am actually not sure the tournament is as over as it might look on paper. Nepo clearly is cruising—for a second white game in a row, he didn't really try much and was happy to make a draw. But he suffered a lot with Black yesterday. With 3 guys chasing him, I would not be surprised if he needs 2.0/ 4 to take clear first. If he's super confident in his ability to draw with Black, I guess cruising is fine. But... it seems a little shaky. In any case, let's get to the game! It was a wild fight. 1... e7e5  2. g1f3  2... b8c6  3. f1b5  3... a7a6  4. b5a4  4... g8f6  5. d2d3 I always thought this was an inaccurate move order for White if he wants a d3 Spanish. Now, Black can put his bishop on a better square than e7— either c5 or g7 is quite reasonable. I guess it does have the added benefit of avoiding the Open Spanish. 5... b7b5  6. a4b3  6... f8c5 The Archangel should be an excellent opening for Black if White is unable to play c3 and d4. It just looks like a good Italian for the second player. 7. c1g5 This is very bold. It is not a bad move, but strategically it’s a very risky one. In general, I never really liked these positions where White's dark squared bishop ends up on g3. I often find that if it ever gets taken, Black's unopposed dark-squared bishop on a7 often wins him the game. 7... h7h6  8. g5h4  8... d7d6  9. c2c3  9... c5a7  10. e1g1  All of this is relatively normal so far. Ding kept matching the computer, suggesting he was still in his preparation. 10... c6a5  11. b3c2  11... c7c5 I like this move, being a little patient before chasing the bishop. 12. b1d2  12... g7g5 Now and only now. 13. h4g3  13... f6h5  14. a2a3  14... a8b8 This move convinced me that Ding may well be the best player in the world on the black side of Italian structures. It absolutely blows my mind that the computer says this is best, but it is. I would not have even considered it! Black plans to leave the king in the center and develop his rook along the seventh rank. Furthermore, after the inevitable b2-b4 coming, a2-a4 will be much less dangerous when the rook is off of the a-file. [After the game, Ding stated that this move was part of old preparation that was not for this game. - ed.] 15. g1h1  15... b8b7 Black is nothing if not consistent. 16. b2b4  16... a5c6  17. c2b3  17... b7c7  18. b3d5 Up to here, the game has been dynamic and tense, but mainly strategic with some understanding of where the pieces are supposed to go, and not with too many concrete lines to consider. Now it starts heating up fast. 18... g5g4 The chaos begins! 19. g3h4  19... c6e7  20. f3g1  20... c5b4  21. a3b4  21... c7c3  This strikes me as a bit greedy. I don't think the c3-pawn was the most important factor. 22. g1e2  22... c3c7  23. f2f4 White is a pawn down, so setting the board on fire makes perfect sense. Black's king can end up in real trouble. 23... f7f6 The most human move. 24. f4e5  24... d6e5  25. e2g3 Removing the guard of f6. Black's position looks very dangerous. 25... h5g3  26. h2g3  26... h8f8 Cold blooded. 27. f1f6  27... f8f6  28. h4f6  28... d8d6 Ding has the position more or less under control, though it still looks very scary. 29. d1f1  29... a7d4  30. d5f7  30... e8d7  31. a1d1  31... c7c2 I didn't really get this move. Apparently, moving the rook back and forth could lead to a repetition... But I don't see why Black needs to worry so much just yet. 32. f7b3  32... c2c7 My suspicion is that if Rapport played Bf7 here, Ding may have taken b4 and continued the game. But, we will never find out, since Richard has never been shy about pushing the chaos button. 33. d2c4 Very enterprising! But this is the kind of thing that does not work as well against 2800s. 33... b5c4  34. d3c4 c5 is coming next and Black's position looks very scary, but Ding finds the right coordination.