The world chess champion and his challenger have known each other since childhood. Jan Nepomnjaschtschi was twelve years old and already a little star in Russia. As a two-time European champion, his first world title was expected from him. The most stubborn rival turned out to be a blond toddler who, although eleven, would have passed as a nine-year-old. They started talking at the pool table. Magnus Carlsen later recalled: "Billiards with Jan wasn't great, when he's losing, he starts cheating." There was no cheating on the chessboard. Both got the same number of points. The U-12 world championship title ultimately went to the Russian five months older thanks to the better second ranking.
Nepomnyashchi's big plus in the balance sheet against today's world champion comes from this time.
He beat Carlsen twice in youth tournaments, twice as an adult.
In the classic time of reflection, Carlsen has defeated the Russian only once - in Zagreb in 2019.
Their other encounters ended in a draw.
While the Norwegian quickly rose to the top of the world and was number one in chess for the first time at the age of 19, Nepomnyashchi's development did not go so smoothly.
"Not worked like a real professional"
At the age of 19 he became European champion in the adult category and Russian champion in the same year. But in the world rankings he only climbed slowly. If there was no tournament going on, he preferred to play computer games like Dota or the card game Hearthstone and watch a lot of soccer. “I considered myself a professional chess player, but I didn't work like a real professional,” says Nepomnyashchi, looking back on that period five to ten years ago. He is now thirty and attests to a more professional attitude. “It's very important to keep improving,” he says. "All you need is to work all the time."
The eternal talent with the dropouts, which often robbed him of the fruit of his strong game, seems to have become a disciplined worker. At the World Cup Candidates' tournament he was already the winner before the last round and his defeat against Ding Liren only means that the Chinese third in the world rankings and Nepomnyashchi remains fourth in the world rankings. He himself explains the tournament winnings, which he paid for 107,500 euros, by saying that he continued to fine-tune his game and its variants while the competition was interrupted for a year due to the Russian lockdown. In addition to his traditional coaches Wladimir Potkin and Ildar Khairullin, Nikita Witjugow and the Hungarian 2004 World Cup runner-up Peter Leko, who otherwise coaches the German talent Vincent Keymer, also came.His doctor and girlfriend also traveled to Yekaterinburg with them. He was also vaccinated against Covid-19. Equipped for all eventualities.
Nepomnyashchi attributes the fact that he prevailed at his first participation in a candidates' tournament to the fact that he followed the two previous editions intensively as a commentator.
Above all, Wladimir Kramnik's appearance in Berlin in 2018 stuck in his memory as a chilling example.
The former world champion started brilliantly, but continued to play with a high risk of winning.
“You shouldn't drive yourself crazy and, if possible, not lose yourself.
Better a boring draw, ”said Nepomnyashchi, explaining his line.
Excellent memory
His tongue twister name means "the one who doesn't remember". Russian players like to joke about it. In fact, "Nepo", as he is known internationally, has an excellent memory. In the past he often played too fast and lost the fruit of his previously strong game by making a mistake. That didn't happen to him in Yekaterinburg. Carlsen knows how strong a nepomnyashchi is in good shape. Their 14-game match from November 24th in Dubai promises to be more colorful than the one-sided duels with his predecessor Vishy Anand or the draw-heavy fights against Sergei Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana, which Carlsen only defeated in the jump-off thanks to his superiority and less time to think about it .
He cannot rely on this against Nepomnyashchi. Just last month he lost a rapid chess match against the Russian on the Champions Chess Online Tour. Carlsen has match experience and physical fitness beforehand. Nepomnyashchi would not be the first challenger to train his tummy before the first World Cup game.