| Dubai Exhibition Centre,Dubai, United Arab Emirates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 November – 10 December 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defending champion | Challenger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) | .jpg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Magnus Carlsen |  [a]Ian Nepomniachtchi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born 30 November 1990 30/31 years old | Born 14 July 1990 31 years old | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner of theWorld Chess Championship 2018 | Winner of theCandidates Tournament 2020–21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rating: 2856 (World No. 1) | Rating: 2782 (World No. 5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheWorld Chess Championship 2021 was achess match between the reigning world championMagnus Carlsen and the challengerIan Nepomniachtchi to determine theWorld Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices ofFIDE and played duringExpo 2020 at Dubai Exhibition Centre inDubai, United Arab Emirates, between 24 November and 12 December 2021.[1] It was originally scheduled for the latter half of 2020 but was postponed until 2021 because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2] As a result, this is the first sporting event to be held at an international exposition since the1904 Summer Olympics during theLouisiana Purchase Exposition inSt. Louis, United States.
The match began with five consecutive high-quality draws, before Carlsen won a closely-contested eight-hour struggle inGame 6 that, with 136 moves, was the longest ever game in a World Chess Championship. Following this loss, Nepomniachtchi's level of play worsened, with Carlsen capitalizing on a series of one-move blunders by Nepomniachtchi in Games 8, 9 and 11 to win another three points. This gave Carlsen a convincing match win with four wins, seven draws and no losses.
The challenger wasIan Nepomniachtchi, who qualified by winning theCandidates Tournament 2020–21, an eight-player double-round robin tournament inYekaterinburg, Russia.[3] Originally scheduled for 15 March to 5 April 2020, the tournament was halted at the halfway point on 26 March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The second half was played between 19 April and 27 April 2021, also in Yekaterinburg.[5]
The qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament were:[6][7]
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (March 2020)[8] | ||||
| 2018 World Championship runner-up |  Fabiano Caruana | 27 | 2842 | 2 |
| The top two finishers at theChess World Cup 2019 |  | 33 | 2765 | 9 |
 Ding Liren (runner-up) | 27 | 2805 | 3 | |
| The top finisher in theFIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 | Wang Hao (winner) | 30 | 2762 | 12 |
| The top two finishers in theFIDE Grand Prix 2019 |  Alexander Grischuk (winner) | 36 | 2777 | 4 |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi (runner-up) | 29 | 2774 | 5 | |
| Highest average rating |  Anish Giri | 25 | 2763 | 11 |
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (replacement for Radjabov)[9][10] | 29 | 2767 | 8 | |
| Wild card chosen by organizer, subject to eligibility criteria | Kirill Alekseenko[11] (highest non-qualifier in Grand Swiss) | 22 | 2698 | 39 |
If one or more players declined the invitation to play in the Candidates Tournament, the players with the next highest average ratings would qualify. On March 6, 2020,Teimour Radjabov withdrew because of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic,[10] and this rule was used to selectMaxime Vachier-Lagrave as his replacement. Radjabov was given a direct entry into thenext Candidates Tournament.
| Rank | Player | Score | H2H | Wins | SB | Qualification | NEP | MVL | GIR | CAR | DIN | GRI | ALE | WAN | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) | 8.5 | — | 5 | 55 | Advance totitle match | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) | 8 | — | 4 | 53.75 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ||||
| 3 | Anish Giri (NED) | 7.5 | 1.5 | 4 | 50.5 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ||||
| 4 | Fabiano Caruana (USA) | 7.5 | 0.5 | 3 | 50.5 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ||||
| 5 | Ding Liren (CHN) | 7 | 1.5 | 4 | 48.75 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ||||
| 6 | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) | 7 | 0.5 | 2 | 50.5 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ||||
| 7 | Kirill Alekseenko (RUS) | 5.5 | — | 2 | 38.5 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ||||
| 8 | Wang Hao (CHN) | 5 | — | 1 | 34.5 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ||||
Note: Numbers in the crosstable in a white background indicate the result playing the respective opponent with the white pieces (black pieces if on a black background).
The organization rights belong to World Chess, the commercial partner ofFIDE.[12]
The match was a best-of-14 match, with tie breaks if necessary. It was increased from best-of-12 (in place for every world championship match since2006), after all 12 regular games were drawn inthe previous match in 2018.[13]
On 29 June 2020, the match was officially postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The prize fund was€2 million, split 60% vs 40% between winner and loser. If the match had been tied after 14 classical games, the prize fund would have been split 55% vs 45% in favor of the tiebreak winner.[14]
The chiefarbiter was Mahdi Abdulrahim from United Arab Emirates, and the deputy arbiter was Andy Howie from Scotland.[15]
The first move of each game was ceremonially performed by guests invited by the organisers:
| Game | Guest | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkady Dvorkovich | FIDE President |
| 2 | ||
| 3 | Anastasia Myskina | Former tennis player and the2004 French Open Women's singles winner |
| 4 | Saeed Hareb | General Secretary of theDubai Sports Council |
| 5 | Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan | Head of the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Social Development |
| 6 | Sergey Sobyanin | Mayor of Moscow |
| 7 | Andrey Guryev Jr. | CEO ofPhosAgro |
| 8 | Míchel Salgado | FormerReal Madrid football player |
| 9 | R Praggnanandhaa | Thefifth-youngest chess grandmaster in history |
| 10 | Amna Al Qubaisi | The first Emirati female racing driver |
| 11 | Adi K. Mishra | Representative fromAlgorand Inc |
Thetime control for each game was 120 minutes per side for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-secondincrement per move starting with move 61.[16]
The match was best of 14 games; a score of at least 7½ would win the world championship. If the score had been equal after 14 games, tie-break games with faster time controls would have been played:
Players were not allowed toagree to a draw before Black's 40th move. A draw claim before then was permitted only through the arbiter, if athreefold repetition orstalemate had occurred.[17]
Prior to the match, Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen had played 13 games against each other at classicaltime controls, of which Nepomniachtchi won 4 and Carlsen 1, with 8 draws. Several of these games were played when they were juniors, however, and in the five years before the match their head-to-head score was 1 win each with 4 draws.[18] Their most recent pre-championship game, during the 2021Norway Chess tournament, was a draw.[19]
| Carlsen wins | Draw | Nepomniachtchi wins | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical | Carlsen (white) – Nepomniachtchi (black) | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Nepomniachtchi (white) – Carlsen (black) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| Total | 1 | 8 | 4 | 13 | |
| Blitz /rapid / exhibition | 22 | 32 | 10 | 64 | |
| Total | 23 | 40 | 14 | 77 | |
Bids were originally to be presented to FIDE no later than 1 March 2019, with inspection of the proposed venues between 1 July and 15 August 2019.[21]
Early interest was expressed in 2018 byMonaco andVienna,[22] though nothing came of these.Stavanger, Norway, announced a bid in March 2019, but withdrew it in June 2019 after Carlsen expressed reluctance to play the match in Norway.[23][24] In November 2019, FIDE presidentArkady Dvorkovich announced that FIDE had received bids fromDubai andArgentina.[25] In February 2020, he announced the match would most likely take place inDubai.[26]
In January 2021, FIDE announced that the match would take place in Dubai from 24 November to 16 December 2021, as part ofExpo 2020.[1]
Due toWADA sanctions against Russia, FIDE confirmed that Nepomniachtchi would not compete under the Russian flag, but would play as a neutral player. The sanctions apply only to the world championship match, not to other FIDE events such as theCandidates Tournament. TheCourt of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships, and it is implemented by WADA in response to thestate-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.[27][28]
Nepomniachtchi played under theChess Federation of Russia (CFR) flag. Before the first game,WADA sanctions barred FIDE from using an initial flag with the full name "Chess Federation of Russia", so FIDE officials deployed a flag with the initials "CFR".[29][30]
Nepomniachtchi was helped byseconds Sergey Yanovsky,Vladimir Potkin,Peter Leko andSergey Karjakin.[31][32] Carlsen's seconds were revealed after the match asPeter Heine Nielsen,Laurent Fressinet,Jan Gustafsson,Jorden van Foreest, andDaniil Dubov. Carlsen confirmed thatNils Grandelius, who helped in previous World Championship preparation, was not on his team for this match.[33][32]
Dubov was criticised by a number of other Russian players, includingSergey Karjakin andSergei Shipov, who suggested that Dubov (a Russian grandmaster) should not aid a non-Russian in a match against a fellow Russian. In response, Dubov contended that he considered it to be a match between two individuals, and said that a counter-argument was that working with Carlsen would improve his chess and hence help the Russian team.[34]
In previous world championships, the players followed a simple two days on, one day off schedule. For this match, FIDE changed the format to a weekly cycle: 3 games Friday-Sunday, rest Monday, two games Tuesday-Wednesday, rest Thursday. Days with games are shaded. The tighter schedule was deliberately designed to try and ensure more decisive games.[dubious –discuss][citation needed]
Games started at 16:30 local time (GST), which is 12:30UTC.
Colours were drawn at the opening ceremony, and Nepomniachtchi received the white pieces for the first game. Colours alternated thereafter, with no switching at the halfway point as in previous matches.[35]
|
The final three games were scheduled for 11, 12, and 14 December and tiebreaks were scheduled for 15 December; however, these were not required because Carlsen reached 7½ points after Game 11. Consequently, the closing ceremony, originally scheduled for either 15 or 16 December, depending on whether or not tiebreaks would be required, was moved up to 12 December.
| Rating | Match games | Points | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi(CFR) | 2782 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | Not required | 3½ | ||
| Magnus Carlsen (NOR) | 2856 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7½ | |||
Note: Since Carlsen reached 7½ points with game 11, the match ended even though not all 14 games were played.
Game 1 was a 45-move draw. Nepomniachtchi (White) opened with 1.e4, and the game developed into aRuy Lopez. The players followed established lines until Carlsen (Black) played 8...Na5, the top choice of theneural networkchess engineLeela Chess Zero.[37] Nepomniachtchi quickly played the strong but not obvious move 14.Kf1!, indicating that he was still within his preparation. Carlsen sacrificed a pawn in return for thebishop pair, morespace, and more activity. Nepomniachtchi played some inaccurate moves (22.Bf4?! and 30.Ne1?!), allowing Carlsen to gain a slightly better position. With Carlsen pressing, Nepomniachtchi defended accurately, returning the pawn to neutralize Black'sinitiative and reached athreefold repetition draw. In his commentary,GMSam Shankland expressed concern about Carlsen's opening preparation, noting that he had failed to equalize in the opening.[37]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 2 was a 58-move draw. Carlsen played theCatalan Opening, and Nepomniachtchi elected to hold the pawn with 7...b5 rather than return it with the usual 7...a6, giving Carlsen an advantage in development and central position. Although the variation was clearly in Carlsen's preparation, Nepomniachtchi did not shirk from a battle with 13...Nd3.[40] The resultingmiddlegame was complicated, with Carlsen holding an advantage until the inaccurate 17.Ne5. Carlsen later confessed that he had missed his opponent's response 18...Nac5. Nepomniachtchi won theexchange, but White had strong compensation and initiative. The game continued to be complicated, with commentator Sam Shankland writing that he thought White had an advantage before consulting an engine, which clearly favoured Black.[40] GMAnish Giri called Nepomniachtchi's 24...c3 a "panicky" move, and indeed this gave up most of his advantage.[41] White had an opportunity to push for more, but an inaccuracy by Carlsen allowed Nepomniachtchi to force a theoretically drawn position. After a forced queen exchange, Carlsen played on for 15 moves, but the result was never in doubt.[40]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 3 was a 41-move draw. Like Game 1, the players played theRuy Lopez. Nepomniachtchi deviated first with 8.a4, but Carlsen was prepared and equalized smoothly. White had a small initiative, but after an accurate bishop maneuver by Black (17...Bc8 followed by ...Be6 preparing ...d5), mass exchanges into a drawnendgame followed.[42]Chess.com called Carlsen's preparation with Black thus far "bulletproof", although Carlsen remarked during the postgame conference that it had not been as easy as it looked, and he had not managed to get many chances.[42]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 4 was a 33-move draw. Carlsen opened with 1.e4, against which Nepomniachtchi playedPetrov's Defence. The game followed known theory until Carlsen tried thenovelty 18.Nh4. Although an interesting move, Nepomniachtchi had seen the idea before and had prepared for the variation. Although the position looked risky for Nepomniachtchi with a knight stuck on f8,[43] thepassed a-pawn provided strongcounterplay. Carlsen thought for 50 minutes looking for winning chances, before acquiescing to a draw bythreefold repetition.[44]
Commentators GM Sam Shankland and GMFabiano Caruana felt that Nepomniachtchi was the moral victor of the game, having successfully reached a clean draw even when faced with a new idea.[44]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 5 was a 43-move draw. Similar to games 1 and 3, Nepomniachtchi opened with e4 following theRuy Lopez opening. The endgame resulted in a draw bythreefold repetition.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
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| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 6 was a 136-move win for Carlsen that lasted 7 hours 45 minutes. As of 2025[update], it is the longest game in the history of the World Chess Championship, surpassing the previous record, a 124-move draw in game 5 of theWorld Chess Championship 1978 betweenAnatoly Karpov andViktor Korchnoi.[46]
With 25...Rac8, Nepomniachtchi unbalanced the position by giving up two rooks for Carlsen's queen, offering a slight material advantage to Carlsen in exchange for Nepomniachtchi later obtaining apassed a-pawn. Both Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi missed chances during a time scramble just before the first time control at move 40, where the position was considered equal. With 52...Qe4, whichAnish Giri believed was a mistake[47] and Nepomniachtchi called "unnecessary" in the post-game press conference,[48] Nepomniachtchi gave up his passed a-pawn for Carlsen's h-pawn, leading to an endgame which was advantageous to Carlsen. With 80.Rxf7+! Carlsen entered an endgame with rook, knight and two connected passed pawns against Nepomniachtchi's queen, which Giri described as "terribly unpleasant" for Nepomniachtchi.[47] While the position was atablebase draw, the burden was mainly on Nepomniachtchi to defend accurately to achieve this. Meanwhile, Carlsen could continue pressing with no serious threat of losing. Nepomniachtchi's 118...Qa5 (instead of Qb6+, forcing the white king into the open) made his task much more difficult.[47] Ultimately, Nepomniachtchi made the decisive error 130...Qe6 (130...Qb1 and 130...Qc2 were the only drawing moves according to the tablebase), allowing Carlsen to begin advancing his pawns towards inevitablepromotion.[49]
The players discussed the game immediately after its finish and seemingly agreed that the objective result should have been a draw.[50] In the press conference after the game, Carlsen said: "Obviously I'm elated to get this result. It was never easy. Frankly it shouldn't be. There was a lot of the same emotions as the game that I won againstKarjakin (in Game 10 of the2016 World Championship), which was a marathon there as well. Obviously this is huge."[48]
The game was widely praised within the global chess community. Former world championGarry Kasparov praised the game as a counterexample to the stereotypes that "chess isn't a sport" or "that physical condition isn't important in chess", as well as that "classical chess is dead".[51] Former world champion challengerNigel Short described the game as "epic" and called Carlsen's effort in the game "stupendous".[52] Later in the match,The New York Times called game 6 "the breakthrough that blew open the contest" and "an epic struggle that rewrote the chess record books."[53]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
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Game 7 was a 41-move draw. Carlsen equalized smoothly out of another Ruy Lopez, after which the players heavily exchanged material leading to a drawn position. The position was completely lifeless by the 28th move, with the remainder of the game a formality to accede to the rules regarding draw offers. For many commentators, this lifeless draw was not surprising because of how draining game 6 had been (it had ended after midnight).[54]
Game 8 was a 46-move win for Carlsen. Nepomniachtchi blundered a pawn in the middle game, leaving him with a lost position, and Carlsen carefully and accurately converted his advantage to a win in thequeen-and-pawn endgame. This gave Carlsen a two-game lead, with commentators saying it was now difficult for Nepomniachtchi to win the match.[57]
Carlsen began with 1.e4 and Nepomniachtchi again replied with the Petrov Defense, Carlsen varying from game 4 with the less commonSteinitz Variation (3.d4). Carlsen's 7.Nd2 is an obscure sideline, but it was after 9.0-0, in a position apparently beyond his preparation, that Nepomniachtchi took his first think before playing the surprising novelty 9...h5!?. In response, Carlsen took an even longer think before playing 10.Qe1+?!, a safe move, rejecting sharper (and perhaps stronger) alternatives by offering to trade queens. Carlsen commented after the game that he felt too tired after game 6 to properly calculate the sharper alternatives, and, leading the match, was happy to offer the quick draw and reach the scheduled rest day. Nepomniachtchi replied with 10...Kf8, avoiding the queen trade and probable draw which would have resulted from 10...Qe7, a decision which was criticized by multiple GMs, including Giri andAnand. Nepomniachtchi commented after the game that he thought both moves were equally drawish.
Middlegame play continued relatively normally until Nepomniachtchiblundered with 21...b5??, losing the a7 pawn in a simple combination. Commentators also considered Black's subsequent defense imprecise; several GMs, including Giri, Anand, Caruana and Polgár suggested 23...Bxh3 as a possible improvement, whileStockfish rates 24...Rd6 a blunder. Nevertheless, even with best defense the position was likely already lost by this point.[58]
The rooks and bishops were quickly exchanged, and further consolidation resulted in aqueen-and-pawn endgame with Carlsen up two pawns. Such endgames are often difficult to win due to the threat ofperpetual check. Nepomniachtchi made a last-ditch effort to create perpetual checks, but Carlsen calmly spent his available time to ensure this could not occur. Nepomniachtchi gave up a third pawn on move 44 and resigned on move 46.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Game 9 was a 39-move win for Carlsen. Nepomniachtchi played the English opening, a good psychological choice because there are few forcing lines for Black.[59] He managed to get a complicated position out of the opening, which was also a success because such positions often provide greater opportunities for a win. On move 15, Nepomniachtchi missed the idea 15.b4, which temporarily sacrifices a pawn for open lines. Nepomniachtchi agreed that this idea was promising when it was pointed out to him during the press conference. As the game continued, Carlsen missed White's 24.Qe1 when playing 21...Qb4, which allowed White to win the b7-pawn, but Black had sufficient compensation. One move after capturing the b7-pawn, however, Nepomniachtchi blundered a bishop with 27.c5??, leaving the bishop trapped after 27...c6.[60] Nepomniachtchi found the best practical try after the blunder, but, down a bishop, his position could not be salvaged. This win gave Carlsen a three-point lead over Nepomniachtchi, and commentators agreed this virtually assured Carlsen would win the match.[59][61][62]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
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Game 10 was a 41-move draw. It was a quick, quiet game with the players eventually splitting the point. Nepomniachtchi surprised commentators by again meeting Carlsen's 1. e4 with thePetroff Defense, indicating that he was happy with a draw despite the match situation. The queens were quickly exchanged and a symmetrical position with no weaknesses on both sides appeared on the board, leading to a draw. Shankland described the game as a "snoozefest" and suggested that were draw offers permitted before move 40, the players might well have called the game off as early as move 11.[63]
.jpg)
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
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Game 11 was a 49-move win for Carlsen. Nepomniachtchi began with 1.e4, as he had in games 1, 3, 5, and 7, but deviated with 3.Bc4, theItalian Game, instead of the Ruy Lopez he had played previously. He did not play the most ambitious moves, and Black achieved the central pawn break ...d5 – thematic in the Italian – before White did. With no advantage, Nepomniachtchi blundered again with 23.g3??, a surprising blunder because Black has only one good response, but that response wins. Carlsen did not play the most direct winning lines afterwards, but still simplified the position into a comfortable pawn-up rook endgame which he converted without trouble. Commentators suggested that 23.Rxd4 could have maintained a drawn position.[64]
A number of commentators expressed regret and surprise over Nepomniachtchi's poor performance in the second half of the match, where he lost three games due to uncharacteristicblunders. The exhausting game six was identified as a possible explanation for the Russian grandmaster's seeming collapse. A typical comment, from theChess.com summary of the match, reads:
"It's sad; we know what he's [Nepomniachtchi's] capable of and he didn't get to show the world in this match," said GMRobert Hess during the Chess.com broadcast today. The American grandmaster and commentator expressed what seems to be the general feeling in the chess world: that Nepomniachtchi's painful collapse after game six did not reflect the high level that he had shown in the first half of this championship or at theCandidates Tournament.[65]
American grandmasterSam Shankland put it in the following words:
It really felt like two matches were played. Nepo A played match one, and in my opinion, Nepo A is the second-best player in the world. Nepo B showed up for match two, and that was a farce. I really think if he can manage to consistently bring Nepo A to the board, he can be very ambitious about playing in another world championship match and giving Magnus a better fight someday.[66]
Carlsen, in an interview withChess24.com immediately after retaining the title, took pride in his performance in game six and said that the lopsided final score may have been the result of that grueling game:
You can point at things he [Nepomniachtchi] could have done differently in every game, of course, but overall I'm happy with my play, very proud of my effort in the 6th game, and that laid the foundation for everything. The final score is probably a bit more lopsided than it could have been, but that's the way some of the other matches also could have gone if I’d gotten a lead.[67]
Oliver Roeder writing inFiveThirtyEight described the match as "featuring both the impressively precise and the inexplicably misguided". Data assembled byLichess using theStockfish chess engine estimated that of the 1,034 world chess championship games dating back to 1888, game seven was the most accurate game ever played in world chess championship history, while games three and ten were tied for the second-most accurate; on the other hand, Nepomniachtchi's blunder in game eight made it the 312th least accurate championship game ever.[68]
In an interview a month after the match, former world championAnatoly Karpov said he felt Nepomniachtchi had played really well in the first half of the match, and had real winning chances in games 1, 2, and 5. Karpov felt Nepomniachtchi had been somewhat unlucky to lose his advantage in game 1 in the middlegame, while in game 5, if Nepomniachtchi had played c4 at the right moment he would have had a pleasant advantage that is difficult to defend against. In the critical game 6, Nepomniachtchi had also gotten very close to a win – although engine analysis showed that the position was balanced, Karpov felt that in a practical game it is difficult to defend White's position under time pressure. This loss turned into a crucial psychological turning point, with Karpov postulating that Nepomniachtchi crumbled when he realized how many chances he had missed. As a result, the second half of the match was not at world championship level – Carlsen won four games out of six, which was not something that has happened since theInterregnum of World Chess Champions in 1948. Nonetheless, Karpov acknowledges that Carlsen has proven he is the world's strongest player and therefore deserves the title.[69]
Per regulation, Carlsen won €1.2 million while Nepomniachtchi took home €800,000. Carlsen won 9Elo rating points and retained his number one position on the FIDE rating list, while Nepomniachtchi lost 9 points and remained fifth.[70]
Shortly after his victory, Carlsen mentioned that he might not be motivated enough to play another world championship match unless the challenger wasAlireza Firouzja, an 18-year-old prodigy who had risen to number two in the world rankings.[71] This was something that surprised former world champion Anatoly Karpov, since Karpov felt that this was the first World Chess Championship that Carlsen won decisively (Carlsen had needed tiebreaks todefeat Sergey Karjakin in 2016 andFabiano Caruana in 2018, and in Karpov's opinion there were "questions" in his matches against Anand in2013 and2014).[69]
As the runner-up, Nepomniachtchi qualified for theCandidates Tournament 2022, an eight-player tournament to select the challenger for the2023 World Chess Championship.[72] Nepomniachtchi won and was initially expected to challenge Carlsen once again in 2023. However, Carlsen announced in July 2022 that he would not defend his title, citing a lack of motivation, and Nepomniachtchi instead playedDing Liren, the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament.[73]
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