In Astana, in an hour, the first game of the match for the title of the new chess king will begin, after the victory of the Russian Jan Nepomnjašnji in the pretenders' tournament, the Norwegian Magunus Karlsen gave up his defense.
In the previous defense of the throne, the Norwegian won Nepomnjaši, and his place was taken by the second contender's tournament, the Chinese Ding Liren
Liren is the first Chinese in history to fight for the title, Nepomnjašnji is only the second chess player in history to win the pretenders tournament twice, even though he was an outsider.
There are no favorites in the match in Astana, in the 39 matches between them, the Russians won 13, LIrena won nine, the rest ended in a draw.
In total, chess players can play 14 games with a time control of 120 minutes for 40 moves, then 60 minutes for 20 moves and 15 minutes until the end of the game with an allowance of 30 seconds for each move (out of 61).
To win the game follows from, for a draw 0,5. The player with a total score of 7,5 becomes the world champion.
In case of a tie (7:7), a tie break is played - four games with time control of 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. If the score remains tied, 2 games are played with control of five minutes + three seconds per move, then two more games if necessary, then three plus two blitz games until the first victory.
In any case, by May 1st, the world will have a new world chess champion.
"Now I have mixed feelings, because this is a big challenge for me. But I see that I am ready for the challenge. I had excellent preparations and I feel that I have acquired the skills to handle pressure. I don't feel nervous right now. Note that he has a higher rating, and my last performance in Holland was a disaster. Maybe that's why he is the favorite in the duel, but, in my opinion, we have equal chances," LIren said and added:
"The Russian is a good and friendly chess player. He can play very fast and strong if he is in top form. He also has experience from the previous match for the title. His problem is a lot of emotion, sometimes he plays too fast and forgets to prepare. If he makes a mistake, I will use it," he said. is Liren.
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