Konikowski/Bekemann/Müller: Chess World Championship 2021 - Jan Nepomnyashchi against Magnus Carlsen

Whenever the world chess champion has to face a challenger in the fight for the crown, the whole world looks at the event beyond the circle of fans of the royal game. This was also the case in December 2020, when the Russian Jan Nepomnyashchi was to meet the Norwegian title holder Magnus Carlsen in Dubai. However, the Covid-19 pandemic put the event on hold and it had to be postponed until autumn 2021. The duel, scheduled for 14 regular competition games, finally started on November 24, 2021.

For the defending champion, who was still 31 years old on the opening day, this was the 5th World Championship match, and his opponent, who was the same age, was sitting at the board on the World Championship stage for the first time. Carlsen went into the match as number 1 in the world rankings and the favorite with an Elo rating of 2856. Nepomnyashchi was in 5th place. His rating of 2782 was several points lower. Nevertheless, quite a few experts believed that he would take over the chess crown, because he was the only grandmaster in the world elite who had a positive record against Carlsen in classical chess. In the event that the 14 scheduled normal games did not lead to a decision, the winner would be determined in a tie-break of four rapid chess games, possibly even through further games in blitz chess or, as a last resort, in an Armageddon game. In these disciplines too, Nepomnyashchi could have a chance against the world champion, as has been reported in some publications.

In this book, all of the matches are analyzed in detail and commented on in an entertaining and understandable way. In addition, the players are introduced in the preceding chapters with biographical sketches, supplemented by commented previous duels against each other and examples of their endgame leadership. Other content such as interviews and predictions about the match round off the work.