All about 2023 World Chess Championship

The FIDE World Championship 2023, which is scheduled to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, will determine the new World Champion as Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren square off against one another in thrilling chess series from April 7 to May 1.

The FIDE World Championship 2023 will crown a new champion as Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren compete to succeed Magnus Carlsen, who stepped down from the event after ten years. The opening ceremony for the Chess Championship will take place on April 7, but the competition won’t start until April 9.

The St. Regis hotel, in the center of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, will host all the games. One game will be played every day, with breaks every two rounds and one on April 19, which is the midway point of the competition.

Prize Pool

Freedom Holding Inc, a US-based company with Kazakh roots, will serve as the event’s general partner. The competition promises a stunning prize pool of 2 million euros ($2.17 million USD). The winner will get 60% of the winnings and the runner-up will receive 40% if the match is over in less than 14 games. In the event of a tie, the prize money will be distributed 55-45 split.

Competing players

Both the winners and runners-up of the 2023 Candidates Tournament proceeded to the championship game after world champion Carlsen declared that he would not defend his crown. With a record-breaking 9.5/14 score in the current format, Nepomniachtchi proved he is at the top of his game by winning back-to-back the Candidates titles to earn himself the chance to challenge for the title again.

Ding, on the other side, astounded everyone by playing 26 classical games in a month, qualifying for the Candidate tournament based on rating, and ultimately defeating GM Hikaru Nakamura to win second place. However, Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is rated 2793 at the moment, has the head-to-head matchup in his favor.

Out of the 13 classical chess games they played, Nepo has won 3, lost 2, and 8 have resulted in a tie. If rapid and exhibition games are taken into account, Nepomniachtchi’s lead grows to 13-9 with 17 draws.

Format

The 2023 FIDE World Championship will feature a best-of-fourteen series of classical games, just like previous world championship competitions. The first player to accumulate 7.5 points will be declared the game’s winner and eventual global champion.

The game has a time limit of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next move, and then an additional 15 minutes for the remaining moves.

There is a 30-second increment for every move beginning on move 61. Before Black makes his forty-first move, players cannot draw by agreement. In the event that the traditional match is tied, the players will play blitz games to break the tie.

Header: World Chess