This duel fascinates an entire sport

World champion Magnus Carlsen is not lacking in self-confidence before his fifth duel for the chess crown. The defending champion answers the question of whether his match experience is his most important asset. “My biggest advantage is that I play chess better,” said the Norwegian before the World Cup duel with Russian Jan Nepomnyashchi that begins on Friday in Dubai. A Fabiano Caruana or Ding Liren would have been more unpleasant for him as a challenger, said Carlsen.

But his rival is also brimming with self-confidence, says the world's best chess player, Judit Polgár, who will be a live commentator at the World Cup: "His body language says I will win, and it's completely normal that I'm the next world champion." This distinguishes Nepomnyashchi from the previous challengers Sergei Karjakin and Caruana, who could not really have imagined a victory against Carlsen. They already met at U12 tournaments While Carlsen briefly topped the live world rankings as an 18-year-old and has been number one continuously for over ten years, Nepomnjaschtschi has only had consistently good results in the last two years. Both were born in 1990. They met for the first time at the U12 European and World Championships in 2002. They became friends at the pool table, although “Nepo” tried to cheat when he was losing. The Russian, who was five and a half months older, won two of her first games on the chessboard.

Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. © AFP / GIUSEPPE CACACE

From that time, the now 31-year-old is the only world-class player to have retained a positive record against Carlsen in games with classic time considerations. They last drew twice in Stavanger in September. Their last decisive long game went to Carlsen in July 2019 in Zagreb. At that time, as so often before, Nepomnyashchi fell victim to his impulsiveness. A hastily executed move led to defeat. Since then he has gotten better control of himself. He only lost one of 14 games in the World Cup candidate tournament in Yekaterinburg before the elimination was interrupted on March 26, 2020 due to the Corona lockdown in Russia.

Carlsen believes that this was a lucky coincidence for Nepomnyashchi: “He rarely plays well when he has lost.” When the Candidates Tournament continued after 13 months in April 2021, the Russian, unlike the other contenders, no longer made any mistakes. The highest prize money in almost 30 years In their 14-game duel in Dubai, whoever loses first could have decisive significance. Fitness speaks for Carlsen, but Nepomnyashchi has caught up. In the summer, he not only lost ten kilos, but also underwent an extensive sports medical examination in Munich and received advice from FC Bayern athletics coach Marcus Lindner.

Due to Covid-19, the match will take place a year late. The two chess geniuses are playing for two million euros at Expo 2020 in Dubai - the highest prize money since 1993. The pandemic has had a positive impact on interest in chess. Millions have discovered online chess. Many more people have watched the series “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix. The Play Magnus group of companies co-founded by Carlsen has gone public: its share package is currently worth eight million euros.

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This duel fascinates an entire sport

The Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been number 10 in the chess world for over 1 years. Now, however, he is challenged by a Russian - a duel that electrifies the entire sport. Also because the signs this time are special.

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