The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced on its social networks that the match for the world championship, the title currently held by the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen , will take place from December 24 to 16 at Dubai .
This match was supposed to take place last year, but due to the pandemic the Tournament of Candidates from which the rival of the current world number 1 will come out. The remaining 7 rounds of this tournament are scheduled to be played in April in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
The most anticipated event of the chess season will take place in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) coinciding with the Expo 2020 from Dubai , which had to be postponed to October 2021 as a result of the global crisis generated by COVID-19. The prize pool will be, according to FIDE , the highest in history, with 2 million euros that will be put into play in 14 classic games (instead of the 12 of the last meetings).
It will be the fifth match for the world title of Magnus Carlsen . In 2013, eight years ago, he managed to snatch the title from Viswanathan Anand, from whom he won again in 2014. Later, in both 2016 and 2018, first against Sergey Karjakin and then against Fabiano Caruana, he had to go to the quick tiebreaker games to be able to impose his superiority.
The president of FIDE, Arkady Dvorkovich , recalled that the first world championship, in 1851, it already had an intrinsic relationship with the world of the 'Expo'. "Chess is strongly connected with events that emphasize the progress of the human mind and the fight for excellence," said the Russian manager.
For their part, from the organization of the Expo they have also received the news with good taste. “Expo 2020 will be a global celebration of the best of humanity and will also take place in one of the most ambitious and welcoming countries. What better place to host an exciting event among the best chess players ?, has recognized the Vice President of Communications of the Dubai Expo 2020, Mohamed Al Ansaari.
Despite the pandemic and at the expense of vaccines improving the situation, FIDE hopes to be able to organize parallel events to the main one, such as exhibition games or matches between players and fans.
What is clear is that it may be one of the most followed championships in history thanks to the rise of chess during the pandemic and the series 'Lady's gambit' , one of the most viewed of the year on the Netflix platform. In fact, FIDE concludes by estimating the number of games played daily in the world at 20 million, regardless of whether they take place online or on the board.
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament, which will give your champion access to face off with Magnus Carlsen in Dubai, it will conclude during the month of April. The event already started with controversy after the resignation of Azeri Teimour Radjabov, who in view of the growth of coronavirus infections that was taking place on the globe decided not to take part in the tournament.
After 7 rounds, halfway through the tournament, the organization finally decided to postpone the competition, as the players began to have problems returning to their homes and uncertainty had taken hold of the situation. Even the players themselves recognized that they could not display their best chess under the circumstances.
We will see if, definitely, the ‘Candidates’ can be resumed in April after a first failed restart attempt in November.
The current tournament ranking is as follows:
- 1-2 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (4,5)
- 1-2 Ian Nepomniachtchi (4,5)
- 3-6 Fabiano Caruana (3,5)
- 3-6 Anish Giri (3,5)
- 3-6 Wang Hao (3,5)
- 3-6 Alexander Grischuk (3,5)
- 7-8 Ding Liren (2,5)
- 7-8 Kirill Alekseenko (2,5)
The eighth round will feature the following matches:
Do you want to know more?
Follow us on our social networks to keep you informed.
