We have a new world chess champion. Yesterday, Ding Loren from China beat Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia in a rapid tie break after a tied 14-game match (they recorded three wins each and eight draws).
I have long been an admirer of Ding's: he is a brave player and it did not surprise me that when things got really tense he prevailed over the more fluent Nepo. (The match was Ding vs Nepo to all chess fans and, incidentally, Ian is pronounced Yan.)
The two contested the match because the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, declined to defend his title. Carlsen, who had been champion for a decade, came to resent the time that preparing for a championship match every two years used up and was enthused by his wider chess business interests.
He remains the strongest player in the world and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future, but Ding is the world champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment