Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ian-NepomniachtchiIan Nepomniachtchi (1990-) is a Russian chess Grandmaster. He won the World Team Chess Championship as a member of the Russian team in Antalya, 2013 and Astana, 2019. Nepomniachtchi won the 2015 European Team Championship in Reykjavík with the Russian team.

Ding Liren

Do favorites win World Chess Championship qualifiers?

Earlier in this World Chess Championship cycle was the 2021 World Cup. Its top two finishers earned spots in the 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament. To pair its single elimination matches, the World Cup ranks each of its participants by their chess ratings. Thus, the World Cup provides data for the question, “Do ratings favorites win World Chess Championship qualifiers?” More 🡢

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Greatest World Chess Champion of All Time?

How to judge which world chess champion is the greatest of all time? One might look at the number of years that the champion held the title, inflation-adjusted peak rating, dominance over peers, or abilities as a chess ambassador. Another criterion, adopted by this article, is how many different challengers has each world chess champion faced. More 🡢

Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Magnus Carlsen

Chess, the number 1,000, and Carlsen’s social media

Although the chess board has 64 squares, the number 1,000 relates to two recent chess milestones. World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has made 1,000 tweets, including tweets about the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. His 1,000th tweet linked to a “brand new social media platform.” On New Year’s Day, the Mechanics’ Institute posted its 1,000th Chess Room Newsletter. More 🡢

Ian Nepomniachtchi

FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships: A Christmas Miracle

The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships were originally scheduled for Kazakhstan. When that country’s government mandated a seven-day quarantine for many potential participants, FIDE found the championships a new home. More 🡢

Magnus Carlsen, FIDE World Chess Championship, Dubai, 2021. Photo by FIDE/Niki Riga

Carlsen wins 2021 World Chess Championship

The 2021 World Chess Championship match was scheduled for 14 games, meaning that the first player to reach 7.5 points became the champion. Within the match, each win was worth one point and each draw was worth a half-point. By scoring his fourth win in Game 11, Carlsen reached 7.5 points and remained the World Chess Champion. More 🡢

World Chess Championship 2021

2021 World Chess Championship: Playing for Two Results

The expression “playing for two results” means that one player may win or draw. The third result, a loss, is not likely to happen to that player. In both Game 6 and Game 8, Carlsen was playing for two results. Carlsen won the endgame in Game 6 strategically and used a tactic to get a winning advantage in Game 8. More 🡢