Ding Liren.
The absence of Magnus Carlsen has robbed the World chess championship a few of its sheen little doubt, however Viswanathan Anand believes it’s nonetheless going to be an thrilling affair.
The Norwegian’s abdication means chess could have a brand new World champion for the primary time since 2013, however he is not going to be an undisputed one. The match between Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and China’s Ding Liren begins at Astana on Sunday.
“It is going to be a very exciting World championship, with two very strong participants,” Anand, a five-time World champion, instructed The Hindu over cellphone from the Kazakhstan capital. “Since the pairing is slightly unexpected, it adds a twist to it. I would say that Ding and Nepomniachtchi are not just two of the strongest but most interesting players to watch as well.”
Anand, for whom that is the primary World championship after turning into the FIDE deputy president, feels the distinction in kinds of Ding and Nepomniachtchi augurs effectively for the title-clash. “I think they are fairly equal in terms of ability,” he mentioned. “I would favour Nepomniachtchi slightly because recently he has made dramatic progress and his victory in the Candidates tournament was very convincing. Ding played much less due to Covid restrictions.”
Anand mentioned endurance was certainly one of Ding’s strengths. “He will give his all in every position,” he mentioned. “He is much more stable and has this ability to come up with good ideas in his openings, which is all the more remarkable because he has a reputation of working alone.”
He feels Nepomniachtchi has a little bit little bit of unpredictability about him. “He is very much an all-rounder,” he mentioned. “He is also incredibly prepared, I think he trained hard for his match against Carlsen. His touch of genius can become a weakness sometimes.”
He mentioned it was unlucky that Carlsen was not participating. “But it also means that instead of one, two very exciting players are getting chances,” he mentioned. “In terms of impact, the first Chinese World champion could be historic and could have a dramatic effect on the game.”
