2021 World Chess Championship (Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi)
2021 World Chess ChampionshipDubai, UAE (November 24th-December 16th)
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12
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13
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14
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pts.
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Carlsen
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½
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½
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½
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½
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½
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1
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½
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1
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1
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½
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1
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–
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–
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–
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7½
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Nepomniachtchi
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½
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½
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½
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½
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½
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0
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½
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0
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0
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½
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0
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–
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–
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–
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3½
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Dear Chess Fans!
Here we go! The world championship will begin today and the chess world has been waiting with bated breath for this matchup. World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway will take on Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia for the World Chess Championship being held in Dubai, UAE. With the combination of the Candidates and the World Championship being postponed, we are now three years since Carlsen met Fabiano Caruana in London.
This match will prove to have a different angle. The challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi has a 4-1 classical advantage over Carlsen with the champion winning only in 2017. Despite Carlsen saying in a Norwegian podcast that either Caruana or Ding Liren would have been a tougher matchup, many will agree that Nepomniachtchi will pose a significant challenge.
2021 World Chess Championship (Dubai, UAE)
First Press Conference
Photo by Eric Rosen
Although two of his wins over Carlsen were in under-12 and under-14, “Nepo” has proven to be a tough matchup. In the preview to the match, former World Champion Viswanathan Anand noted their “incompatible” styles and that theme has been repeated by many players. Nevertheless, hardly anyone polled in chess.com’s survey chose definitively Nepomniachtchi to win. My prediction… Carlsen +2!
“No, my biggest advantage is that I am better at chess.”
~ Magnus Carlsen when asked by GM Jon Tisdall if his match experience was a huge advantage
The drawing of colors took place at the Opening Ceremony and Carlsen will play black in the first game. The colors will alternate throughout unlike in the 12-game matches. Otherwise, one Nepomniachtchi will have eight whites and six blacks. The time control is 40 moves to play in 120 minutes, followed by 20 moves played in 60 minutes, if no decisive result, the rest of the game will be decided in 15 minutes.
Each move will gain an increment of 30 seconds per move at move 61. The match will last 14 games with the winner scoring 7.5 points. In the event of a 7-7 tie, there will be four 25-minute games to determine the winner. If the rapid games do not determine a winner, then up to five blitz mini-matches will be played until a winner is determined.
If the match is still drawn, one sudden-death “Armageddon” game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes. The player with white must win the game to win the match. The closing ceremony is on the 15th if no tiebreak, and on the 16th if a tiebreak is needed.
The Chess Drum will be providing daily reports and compile the best possible collection of content on the match. The reports will single-round posts, but each of the round reports can be viewed below in one long stream.
Enjoy!
Daaim Shabazz, The Chess Drum
Opening Press Conference
Video by Joe Kempsey
Video by Sagar Shah/ChessBase India
Dubai, UAE (November 24th-December 16th)
2021 World Chess Championship: Game 7
Saturday, 4 December 2021
After epic battle, players settle for quiet draw
The most exciting part about Game 7 came from the above photo by IM Eric Rosen. It’s probably how Nepo saw Carlsen after starting their second game of the day. Last night’s epic battle, finished at 12:17am after nearly eight hours of play.
In the press conference, there were questions about the fatigue factor, but neither player seem to use that as a reason for the quick draw. The game was rather uneventful after another Marshall, the fourth. The game had no complications and was drawn quickly.
Game #7 (Annotations by GM Anish Giri for ChessBase)
Video by GM Daniel King
Video by FIDE
Video by David Howell/chess24
Dubai, UAE (November 24th-December 16th)
2021 World Chess Championship: Game 9
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
Nepo blunders piece… Carlsen has a 3-point bulge
Chess can be brutal at times. There is nothing that crushes the soul more than losing a completely winning position. Perhaps the second is making a simple blunder. There were not too many who were not sympathetic to Ian Nepomniachtchi after today’s game that featured a terrible blunder.
This was after he also blundered a pawn yesterday. His blunder will go down as one of the most careless in recent times and harkens back to Bobby’s Fischer famous Bxh2 blunder getting his own bishop trapped. The loss gives defending champion Magnus Carlsen a three-point lead with five games remaining.
Nepo came to the board with a new hairstyle minus the “man-bun” and actually looked very sharp and relaxed. Both players settled into their chairs for the ninth game and GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made the ceremonial move of 1.c4. Interestingly enough, Nepo kept the move!
After the game, Carlsen didn’t know whether the Indian prodigy had a sense of foreboding that Nepo would try something new or that he was providing inspiration. Either way, Nepo kept the move and the game began.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa making the first move for Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Photo by Maria Emelianova/chess.com
As the game entered the opening phase, Nepo’s 9.e3 gave the appearance of a Reversed Benoni. He ended up getting good play. Fast forward to 23…Ng4! Carlsen figured that he wanted to reroute the knight, but missed 24.Qe1! White threatens f3 and black must trade queens. On 25…h5 Carlsen was looking to place the knight on f5. Then disaster struck Nepo. After five minutes of thought, Nepo banged out 27.c5?? and left the room. Carlsen had an incredulous look of disbelief.
So what gives? Nepo may have had a blindspot thinking that he could simply play Nc5 to protect the bishop, but the square was now occupied by the pawn. After 10 minutes Nepo came back to the board, looked off, looked into the camera, and then came to the realization that he had blundered badly. After the game, he admitted that he missed 27…c6. Carlsen made some interesting comments after a question about the method of winning by FM Mike Klein (chess.com).
He then cited Jan Hein Donner who stated that winning a game through a swindle is more gratifying than an attacking game. What is clear is that a win is a win, but a loss is not a loss. Losing a game with an inexplicable blunder two games in a row means something has gone gravely wrong. It is a lot harder to figure out why one is blundering material than “winning ugly.”
Some commentators have noticed how much Nepo gets up from the board after he moves. Is this habit detrimental to his focus? Perhaps not, but he took only five minutes before making the fatal error in the game. The Russian’s post-game demeanor has been impeccable as he has been calm, compliant, and never ruffled with questions even after a tough loss.
Game #9 (Annotations by ChessBase)
Video by FIDE
Video by GM Daniel King
Video by FIDE
Video by Fabiano Caruana/chess.com
Video by FIDE
Video by ChessBase India