Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren are two of the world’s top chess players, with both players having achieved numerous accolades in their careers. When these two titans faced off in the 2023 FIDE world championship Tournament, the chess world was in for a treat.

Early match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren

Back in 2021, in their first encounter, Nepomniachtchi, who is known for his aggressive style of play, opened with the e4 pawn, while Ding Liren, who is known for his solid defensive play, responded with the Sicilian Defense. The game quickly became complicated, with both players fighting for control of the center of the board.

Nepomniachtchi, playing with the white pieces, was able to gain a slight advantage, but Ding Liren’s solid defense prevented him from making any major breakthroughs. The game eventually petered out into a draw, with both players settling for a half-point.

In their second encounter at the fide candidate tournament of 2021, Nepomniachtchi again opened with e4, but this time Ding Liren chose to respond with the French Defense. The game was again evenly matched, with both players making careful moves to avoid any major blunders.

However, in the endgame, Nepomniachtchi was able to create a passed pawn, which proved to be the decisive factor in the game. Ding Liren fought hard but was ultimately unable to stop Nepomniachtchi’s pawn from promoting to a queen, and was forced to resign.

Nepomniachtchi’s victory over Ding Liren was a crucial one, as it helped him secure first place in the Candidates Tournament and earn the right to challenge the reigning World Chess Champion at that time, Magnus Carlsen.

Fide world championship 2023

The chess Fide world championship is held at 9th of April, and we are going to cover these feature games with deep analysis later on!

In this tournament, there are many special circumstances. The current world champion and the highest rated player Magnus Carlsen gave up his title as he got bored from defending it. Last year, he proved that he is the best chess player in the world defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi without mercy and keeping his title since 2013!

The fide had to make a new rule for this tournament making a match between the challenger of the candidate tournament played last year which is Ian Nepomniachtchi and the player who achieved the second place in the same tournament which is Ding Liren

This tournament will have unique features. For example, there isn’t any time increment per move till move 60. Both Players get 1 hour increment at move 40 and 15 minutes at move 60. When both players reach move 60, the system start to automatically give each player 30 seconds per move. This could increase the risk of a player flagging out and puts more pressure on both players!

Another interesting rule is that in case of tiebreaks, players keep playing rapid then blitz without resorting to the Armageddon type of game.

If the players keep drawing, they would end up playing 3+2 blitz games with both colors till one of the players emerge victorious!

Chances of winning the title for both players

In a huge event like this, it is very difficult to predict who would win eventually. However, we must mention that Nepomniachtchi has more experience playing this tournament and has a psychological advantage over Ding Liren.

Ian Nepomniachtchi also has a positive score again Ding Liren with three wins for Ian against two for Ding and 8 draws.

Financial prize of the match!

The prize fund is 2 million euros, split 60% vs 40% between the winner and the runner-up if either player scores 7½ or more points in the classical portion of the match. If the match is tied after 14 classical games, the prize fund will be split 55% vs 45% in favor of the winner of the tiebreak.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 promises to be an exciting and highly anticipated event for chess fans around the world. The tournament will bring together the world’s top players to compete for the title of World Chess Champion, and the chess world will be eagerly watching to see who will emerge victorious.