Norwegian Magnus Carlsen will defend his title as world chess champion against Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi. The best of 14 games will win the crown.
Nineteen years after facing a chessboard for the first time, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, world champion since 2013, and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, official aspirant, They will play from this Friday a match to the best of 14 games for the title of the 2021 World Chess Championship.
The Russians Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Kárpov and Vladimir Kramnik, and the Indian Viswanathan Anand, all of them world champions before Carlsen, coincide in pointing to the “Viking” as a favorite, but warn that the Russian “bear”, a fearsome tactical player, has his options to dethrone him.
The specialized blog Chess in Numbers points to very precise percentages on the chances of victory for the two contenders, giving Carlsen 81 percent, that has been number one in the world ranking for eleven uninterrupted years, with a current rating of 2,855 compared to 2,782 for Nepomniachtchi (fifth on the list).
The first three games, to be played on consecutive days starting this FridayBefore the rest day scheduled for Monday, November 29, Carlsen’s predecessors as champions will be decisive, according to Anand and Kramnik. If Nepo (as his colleagues call him) is able to contain the Norwegian’s first thrusts and, in turn, inflict some damage on him, his hopes will get a huge boost. On the contrary, if he starts low on the scoreboard his marked emotional instability can lead him to a fatal destiny.
Anand, who lost twice to Carlsen with the title at stake (first he gave it to him in 2013 in his hometown of Madras and the following year he could not take it from him in Sochi, Russia), considers that, unlike the two previous contenders ( the Russian Sergey Karjakin and the American Fabiano Caruana), Nepo does believe himself capable of dethroning Carlsen.
Few players in the world can boast of having a favorable balance in classical chess against Norwegian, called “The Mozart of Chess” for his harmonic game, which hides great depth in its apparent simplicity. Nepomniachtchi is one of them: 4 wins, 1 loss and 8 draws against the Norwegian.
History between Carlsen and Nepo
Their first game played between them, played in Peñíscola (Spain) in 2002, ended with the victory of Carlsen, but the now official contender for the title took a first revenge when they were both 13 years old, in the last round of the U-14 World Cup. 2003, in which the Belarusian Sergei Zhigalko finished champion, Nepo took the podium (third) and Carlsen was ninth.
In the senior category, he defeated him again in the Tata Steel (2011) and London Classic (2017) tournaments. The only slow-paced game he has lost to the world champion was last year in Zagreb, although the last four offer a favorable balance for the champion: a win and three tables.
World champions seem to be the specialty of Nepo, who in classical chess also has favorable balances with Vladimir Kramnik (+5 -4 = 4, that is, 5 wins, 4 losses and 4 draws) and Viswanathan Anand (+3 -2 = 5).
The inconsistency in high competition, where brilliant triumphs alternate with unexpected defeats, has prevented him from realizing his enormous potential. Nepo is capable of the greatest subtleties on the board and setting the board ablaze with explosive play, but he has earned a reputation as a volatile player, lacking the fighting spirit required to be a champion, prone to collapse in the face of setbacks.
His critics accuse him of not taking chess seriously. He is a video game addict, who practices at a very high level, and sometimes fails to manage time during games. In the only one he has lost to Carlsen as an adult he had 28 minutes to find a not too complicated draw line and yet it only took 40 seconds to choose a losing play.
Experience can play a decisive role in this meeting in Dubai. For Carlsen it will be the fifth match with the world crown at stake. After winning it against Anand in 2013, he successfully defended it against the same player in 2014 and did not give up his title to Karjakin (2016) and Caruana (2018).
For Nepo it will be the first experience, who is preparing to defend the pride of the Russian school, which aspires to recover the crown that Anand snatched from Kramnik in 2007.
In the last defense of Carlsen’s world title, against Caruana, the 12 games at classical pace ended in a draw and the match was resolved in a tiebreaker with a resounding victory for the champion (3-0).
Regulations and awards
In addition to the world title, there will be a $ 2 million prize pool at stake, of which the winner will get 60 percent. If the match is tied at the end of the 14 games and requires a tiebreaker, the winner will receive 55 percent and the challenger the remaining 45 percent. If one of the two contestants reaches 7.5 points, the bout is over.
The time control will be 120 minutes for the first 40 plays, another 60 minutes for the next 20 and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from 61.
If there is a tie after the 14 games at a classical pace, a “play off” will be played at four games of 25 minutes per player plus an increment of 10 seconds per move. If equality persisted, two blitz games (5 minutes with 3 seconds increment) and, if necessary, a series (up to a maximum of five) of two blitz games would be played.
Finally, if the tie had not yet been broken, an “Armageddon” game would be played. The player who wins in the color draw, chooses pieces, knowing that white has a total of 5 minutes (with a 3-second increase from move 61) and black has only 4, but a tie is enough for them to rise. with the final victory.
To avoid fixes and combat passive play, the World Cup regulations state that players cannot agree to draw before Black’s 30th move. Black’s request for a draw before move 30 is only allowed through the referee, in the case of a triple replay.
The first game will be played at 12:30 GMT (07:30 in Ecuador), and will be broadcast through the YouTube channel of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), and the platforms Chess.com and chess24.com. (D)
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