Such an outcome would echo the events of 1993 when Garry Kasparov broke from Fide, and for more than a decade there were rival world champions. If Carlsen declines, Nepomniachtchi will face Ding Liren, the Madrid runner-up.
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FIDE only asked the World Champion to decide by the 20th of July, the International Chess Day, a request that was followed by a four-hour meeting in Madrid, before Carlsen headed off to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker.Īccording to the Guardian world chess now faces a potential schism. “The matter is sensitive and I don’t want to go into details, but Magnus never demanded any concrete format,” Sutovsky stated.
But both Director-General of FIDE, Emil Sutovsky, and Carlsen denied this rumours. On July 4th, the Russian website Sport-Express reported that Carlsen is ready for his fifth title defense against Nepomniachtchi in a match with a new format. Without him, the Championship match will turn into a fairly mundane three weeks. According to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Carlsen’s possible withdrawal increased the value of the Candidates Tournament, in which participants competed not only for first but also for second place.īut what does this really mean for chess? For one, it will dramatically debase the Championship title: what’s the point in fighting for it while the strongest player is not in the fight at all? The Match will also lose a lot of media attention: Carlsen is the sport’s only real superstar. This World Championship match experience doesn’t encourage Carlsen to defend his title, while a match against Ding Liren – fans favorite and the Candidates runner-up – would be in great interest. In fact Nepo was crushed 7.5-3.5 in his 2021 title challenge to Carlsen, after winning the Candidates again by a two-point margin. He is the worst possible winner, both in terms of chess and politics,” said NRK’s chess expert Atle Grønn. “He clearly lost in the World Championship, and he is not an interesting Challenger.
With an impressive performance the Russian GM finished unbeaten with 9.5/14 to become the Challenger for the second time. On the other hand Ian Nepomniachtchi gave us early signs that he is one of the favorites to win the tournament.
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