FIDE World Championship Match 2023 officially opened
Featuring ballet and Artificial Intelligence, the grand opening ceremony in Astana was a perfect blend of tradition and innovation, setting the stage for a battle to crown the next world chess champion. The 2023 FIDE World Championship Match is officially underway in Astana following a show where music, art, tradition, magic and technology came together to announce the beginning of a three-week event which will grip the chess world. The Astana Ballet Theatre hosted the ceremony, which was attended by the players, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Sports, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, and other high-ranking officials and guests. The ceremony began with a performance by the Astana Ballet Orchestra, which played the well-known composition “One Night in Bangkok” from the musical “Chess”. This was followed by a short video recapping the history of world championship matches. The Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Askhat Oralov, took the stage as the first speaker and emphasized the match’s importance for promoting Kazakhstan as a nation that supports all sports. Oralov reiterated Kazakhstan’s commitment to the development of chess at all levels. In a letter addressed to the players and audience, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, echoed Oralov’s sentiment and highlighted that chess is taught in approximately 700 schools across the country. “This outstanding competition held in the heart of Astana will give a big boost to chess development in our country,” Tokayev declared. The speeches were followed by the performance of the Kazakh national anthem – My Kazakhstan. Following on the traditional notes, the audience was treated to the traditional Asem Konyr dance – a dedication to the women of the Great Steppe. As FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich approached the stage, a woman dressed in traditional Kazakh attire appeared beside him, cradling the coveted trophy that would be awarded to the match winner. “This is the beautiful prize that the two best players will fight for to become the next world chess champion. For both of them, this is an event they’ve been waiting for all their lives. It’s going to be very competitive. They’ll give all the talent and the skills to win it. I am confident that millions of spectators all around the world will enjoy this event, but through it, will also discover how chess makes people fight for something important. I hope that this event will give motivation for millions of kids to play chess, to use chess as a tool to improve themselves, to be better people and to make the world a better place.” Timur Turlov, the CEO of Freedom Holding Corp (which is the General Partner of the Match) and also the President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation noted the importance of the event for the youth of his country. “This Match is a great chance and a great honour for Kazakhstan. We hope this event will inspire many new chess players. I am sure we will have more of our children in future chess events. Our country is full of bright and talented people, and this type of event is important for us”. Following a spectacular performance by members of the Astana Ballet Theatre, Chief Arbiter of the match, Nebojsa Baralic, stepped onto the stage to officiate the ceremony. He was joined by two players, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren. A magician suddenly appeared beside them, signalling that the drawing of lots would be nothing short of magical. Ding Liren was particularly intrigued, closely observing the magician’s every move. But as it turned out, it was all just a playful and humorous illusion. Then came the real drawing of lots. Unlike the traditional way of doing this, with the arbiter holding a black and a white pawn in each hand clinched to a fist, this was done with the help of Artificial Intelligence. A robotic pyramid with a chess piece-filled bowl and a robotic arm on top took centre stage. The AI ceremony had two parts. In the first, one of the players had to name a colour – black or white – and if the robotic arm picked up the piece with the same colour, that player moved to the second stage, where the robot then decided if that player would be White or Black in the first round. As he is currently ranked ahead of Ding Liren on the FIDE rating list, Ian Nepomniachtchi was invited to come forward. Nepomniachtchi curiously walked over and said, “white”, and then pressed a button on the computer. Luckily for him, that was the colour the robot chose as well, which meant he moved on to the next stage. Had he guessed it wrong, it would be Ding’s turn. In the next stage, Nepomniachtchi had to press the button again, and the robot was the one to choose the colour of his pieces in game one. While robots may be better than humans in almost everything, in a sign that they’re still not perfect (especially when it comes to the fine sensory skills of hand movement), it took the robot three times to successfully navigate the task. The robotic hand mixed pieces in the bowl but did not pick up any pieces on the first try. Then, on the second – it picked up two pieces – black and white! On the final, third try – it picked up one piece. Nepo was again lucky – the colour of the piece was white! The honour (and the advantage) of the first move in the match went to Ian Nepomniachtchi. The advantage of playing with white pieces is small but counts at the top level. Nepomniachtchi downplayed the advantage by saying: “White is not bad, but black is good as well”. With the event officially opened, and the first move decided, the stage was set for an epic battle of wits between two chess titans. Who will emerge victorious in this high-stakes match? Only time will tell. But one thing was certain – the world is about to witness a display of brilliance and strategy like never before. The first game is set
2023 FIDE World Championship Match: Preview
The eyes of the world turn to Kazakhstan as the Match for the title of World Chess Champion takes centre stage in the capital of the central-Asian country From 9th April to 1st May two players – neither of whom is a defending champion – will meet for a 14-game match to decide who will be the new, 17th World Chess Champion. The upcoming match is a clash of two contenders – Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia (currently ranked second in the world) and Ding Liren from China (currently ranked third in the world). Following the decision of the reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen to give up his title, the match is played between the winner and the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament, which was held in July 2022 in Madrid, Spain. While Argentina, Mexico, and China showed interest in hosting the FIDE World Chess Championship, Kazakhstan’s capital stood out as the obvious choice given its location and chess legacy, as well as a convenient geographical location for both players. The match will feature a prize fund of 2,000,000 euros. The winner of the match, if decided in the 14 classical games, will receive 60% of the prize fund, while the runner-up will receive the remaining 40%. However, if the match goes into tiebreakers, the winner will get 55% of the prize fund, and the runner-up will receive the remaining 45%. The NASDAQ-listed Freedom Holding Corp, a US-based corporation that offers financial services and has Kazakh origins, will act as the General Partner of the event. Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Nepomniachtchi (32), also called “Nepo” in chess circles, has played once already in a World Championship Match – in December 2021 in Dubai, when he was beaten by Carlsen. However, in the Candidates Tournament in Madrid in June/July 2022, he had a stellar performance, winning the event with a round to spare. With his previous experience in a World Championship match, Nepomniachtchi could be considered the senior player of the two. Despite his loss to Carlsen in Dubai, he exuded confidence and used his experience in later tournaments to raise his level of consistency. An important factor in Nepomniachtchi’s victories has been the stability of his repertoire with the black pieces. However, a big risk for Nepomniachtchi is to be content with his current level of play and not push himself further, which may not be enough to win the World Championship match. Ding Liren On the other hand, Ding Liren (30) was not expected to play in the Candidates Tournament but was brought in as a replacement. His journey to the big match was filled with ups and downs, with a key win in the final round securing second place which, following Carlsen’s decision to abdicate the chess throne, was enough for Ding to qualify for the Match! “Ding’s A game is probably better than Ian’s, but if they’re both not at their best, I would say Ian has much better chances. His low is not that low,” was the assessment of GM Daniil Dubov, one of the official match commentators for FIDE, who was part of Carlsen’s team in the previous World Championship. In spite of being one of the top players in the world for some time now, Ding Liren is less visible publicly and gives very little away in his interviews, as he prefers to stay out of the limelight and be perceived as the underdog. This mindset may work to his advantage in the upcoming match, as he can find his psychological comfort zone and show his best. Their previous clashes Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren know each other well. In 2009, the Russia vs China chess summit saw the first encounter between the two. Nepomniachtchi won all four games in their match, which consisted of two rapid games and two blitz games. Over the next three years, Nepomniachtchi began to dominate in faster time controls at these summits, winning six games and drawing one in rapid and blitz. Nepomniachtchi’s first classical win against Ding Liren happened in 2016 at the Hainan Danzhou GM event. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Ding Liren 35…Qc8? (only 35… Крg7! offered the chance to continue the battle) 36.Rxa6 Rb8 37. Bf2! White won a piece and three moves later Black resigned 1-0 Ding Liren’s payback was in 2019 at the Cote d’Ivoire rapid event, followed by his first classical win at the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament later that same year. Ding Liren – Ian Nepomniachtchi Black’s king is in great danger and Ding launched the final onslaught 27. b4! Rc8 28. bxc5 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 hxg3 30. hxg3 dxc5 31. Кg2! Qc2 32. Qe3 Rc7 33. Qe6 Лd7 34. d6 Kc8 35. Rh1! 1-0 In 2019, the players competed in a Chess.com speed event, and Nepomniachtchi dominated and won 19-12. Nepomniachtchi also secured an important win against Ding at the 2020 Candidates Tournament, ultimately winning the event, while Ding Liren managed to equalize the score by winning the return game in the last round. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Ding Liren Ding Liren has just played 33… Rc5? but it failed to 34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Ng1! Rxb6 36.Qxd8 Rxb2 37. Rxb2 Rc1 38.Qh4+! and after White’s trading the queens it is all over for Black 38… Qxh4 39. gxh4 Rd1 40. f3 1-0 Ding Liren – Ian Nepomniachtchi After precise 19. Qg5! Ding captured Black’s trapped knight – 20..Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 Qh3 21. Bf4! Qxf3 22. Nd2 f6 23. Qxg6+ hxg6 24. Nxf3 – and converted his extra material in the endgame 1-0 At the last Candidates Tournament in Madrid, held in 2022, Nepomniachtchi won the very first round with Black, setting the course of the event. Ding Liren – Ian Nepomniachtchi Ignoring the threat to his b7-pawn Ian launched a dangerous attack – 25…g5! 26.Nxb7? gxh4 27.Nc5 h3 28.Rxe4 hxg2 29.Rxe8+ Kg7 30.f4 – and eventually got to the White’s king 30…Qh1+31.Kf2 Qxa1 32.Kxg2 Bh3+ 0-1 The second game was drawn as Nepomniachtchi executed a drawing line with the white pieces. On the other hand, Ding has shown that he is persistent and that, even if things go terribly wrong,