Nihal Sarin resigns after world no. 2 Ding Liren loses game due to poor Internet connection

The 18-year-old Indian chess star made a surprise move after his Chinese opponent Ding lost his internet connection during their match in the Speed Chess knockout on Friday.

FILE PHOTO: Nihal had a 3.0-2.0 lead over Ding who failed to register a move and ran out of time during their match in the Speed Chess Championship knockout. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

Indian chess player Nihal Sarin won praise for his sportsmanship when he resigned in three moves against world number two Ding Liren after he lost the game due to poor Internet connection in the Speed Chess Championship on Friday.

Nihal had a 3.0-2.0 lead over the Chinese chess pro, who failed to register a move and ran out of time during their match in the Speed Chess Championship knockout. However, in a surprise move, the 18-year-old Nihal chose to resign in just three moves, bringing the score to 4.0-3.0.

A huge show of sportsmanship from @NihalSarin who resigns in 3 moves after Ding Liren loses due to a poor internet connection. 👏 pic.twitter.com/OnQUBBlGAP

— Chess.com (@chesscom) December 9, 2022

In the Speed Chess Championship, the players feature in 90 minutes of blitz games with a time limit of 5 minutes for all moves with an additional 1-second increment for every move. It is followed by 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet games.