![]() In 1993, set the renowned Soviet theoretician, Efim Geller, to work on the Marshall Attack. 11 years earlier, GM Garry Kasparov had also declined it. The last time the gambit was accepted in a world championship was in Kramnik-Leko in 2004. Like he had done twice in his 2016 match with GM Sergey Karjakin, the world champion played the setup of the Marshall Gambit and, like Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi declined the gambit with 8.h3. Will Nepomniachtchi opt for the Scotch at some point? Photo: Maria Emelianova/.Ĭarlsen did not go for the dreaded Berlin variation just yet and went for 3.a6 instead. He has experience with the Scotch Opening (3.d4) as well, and if any modern-day match could see that opening-after GM Garry Kasparov revived it in his match with GM Anatoly Karpov in 1990-it's this one. ![]() Nepomniachtchi, who arrived at the board more than 15 minutes before the start, opened with 1.e4 and played the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5). The opening phase of this first game in Dubai instantly revealed the deep preparation from the players and their use of the latest technology including neural-network-based engines such as Stockfish and Leela Zero. In the 45 matches in chess history, starting from Steinitz-Zukertort in 1886, decisive opening games have been more common: 26 times, compared to 19 draws, before today. The draw in game one was not a big surprise also in the previous five title matches, the opening game had ended undecided (in the last match, in 2018, all regular games ended in draws). $517) for VIPs. A nice touch from the organizers, which has been the standard at the Dortmund super-tournament for many years but something that other top events are often lacking, is that the spectators can listen to the local commentary (by GMs Vishy Anand and Anna Muzychuk) using transmitters and headphones. The glass is not natively one-way glass but functions as such when the lights go out in the spectator area.Ī bit over 300 spectators paid for a ticket on this first day, with prices ranging from 95 AED (U.S. Like in recent title matches, a glass wall separates the spectators and the players. It was where he scored his third GM norm in 2004, and it was also in Dubai, 10 years later, where he won the world rapid and world blitz championships, becoming the first player to hold the title in all three formats. Ali Abu Khalil, considered a founding father of chess in the UAE, passed away the morning before the first game.Ĭarlsen has good memories of Dubai. ![]() Photo: Maria Emelianova/.Ī key figure in the local chess scene sadly couldn't experience this match in his home country. The Spanish pavilion is strongly chess-themed. FIDE has made sure that there will be no rest days during the weekends (which ensures more viewers!) so we'll have game days on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.Īs the biggest chess event in Dubai since the 27th Chess Olympiad in 1986, the match is held alongside the Expo 2020, which showcases 200 pavilions, out of which 191 are representative of participating countries. In the last eight title matches, between 20, the match was over 12 games before a rapid/blitz tiebreak would kick in.Īnother change is the schedule, and it's a good one. The two contestants had played 14 classical games before the match (famously in favor of the challenger by 4 to 1) and are scheduled to play 14 in the coming three weeks, two more than we're used to. Nepomniachtchi plays under the "CFR flag." Photo: Maria Emelianova/. "Obviously that's not a good thing, to play without your usual flag and your usual anthem but, you know, during a chess game you think about moves," Nepomniachtchi said after the game. Nepomniachtchi's flag on the table initially showed the logo of the Russian Chess Federation with the name of the federation spelled out, but at the last minute it had to be replaced with one saying just "CFR." The World Anti-Doping Agency ban on Russia is still active and is applied to athletes competing in world-championship-level events, where Russia's flag, name, and anthem are not allowed. Nepomniachtchi, who plays his first championship, is from Russia but doesn't play under the Russian flag. Norway's Carlsen, who obtained the title in 2013 and defended it successfully three times, is playing his fifth title match. 30) are now facing each other with a world title at stake-as well as a €2 million prize fund. They (Nepo at 31, Carlsen will turn 31 on Nov. the world number five, met at the board for the first time as little boys at the 2002 European under-12 championship in Peniscola, Spain. Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi, the world number one vs. You can also keep up with all the details here on our live events platform.ĭelayed by a full year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world championship of chess finally got underway on Friday in the Dubai Exhibition Center. You can watch the 2021 FIDE World Chess Championship live on /TV and on our Twitch and YouTube channels.
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