2021 FIDE World Chess Championships - Predictions & Overview + Candidates

The FIDE World Championships are finally here. After a gruelling, disrupted candidates, with a lot of Covid controversy, finally concluded, Nepo burst out ready, to challenge Magnus for the title...

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CURRENT MATCH SCORES : ( 6 draws, 3 decisive result )

Game 1 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 2 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 3 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 4 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 5 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 6 : 1 - 0 ( Magnus won )
Game 7 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 8 : 1 - 0 ( Magnus won )
Game 9 : 1 - 0 ( Magnus won )
Game 10 : 1/2 - 1/2
Game 11 : 1-0 ( Magnus won )

Total score/s : Magnus : 7.5 - 3.5 : Nepo ( of 11 games )
MAGNUS WINS AFTER RETAINING A BIG LEAD OF 4 GAMES!!!

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The Candidates was officially held from the : 15th of Mar 2020 to the 27th of Apr 2021 and was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia

The Qualifiers for the Candidates :

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Qualification method | Player :
(March 2020)[8]

2018 World Championship runner-up
Fabiano Caruana

The top two finishers at the Chess World Cup 2019
Teimour Radjabov (withdrew)
Ding Liren (runner-up)

The top finisher in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019
Wang Hao (winner)

The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2019
Alexander Grischuk (winner)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (runner-up)

Highest average rating
Anish Giri

(replacement for Radjabov)[9][10]
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Wild card chosen by organizer, subject to eligibility criteria
Kirill Alekseenko[11] (highest non qualifier in Grand Swiss)

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There was a lot of controversy over this, including about Covid, and even suing threats were made.
Eventually it all was calmed down and the Best rating was scrapped as well ( more info for another time.. )

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All the players at the 2020 Candidates

Players again

Candidates Playing Hall

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Right, well enough about candidates for now.
If you want to see games I suggest watching agadmator for deep analysis !
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/fide-candidates-2020/ - Live games / standings on chess24

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NOW, time for the ACTUAL championships.

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Overview of the 2 players :

Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) 2782
Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 2855

Nepomniachtchi is Russian, but will compete as a neutral competitor under the FIDE flag, due to WADA sanctions against Russia.

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Links :

Lichess Official Blog -
https://lichess.org/blog/YZ-1YhEAACMAi7ij/world-championship-2021-officially-opens-in-dubai

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/carlsen-nepomniachtchi-world-chess-championship-2021/1/1/1 - Round 1 game / s link ( you can navigate from there! )

Lichess ( Broadcast ) -
https://lichess.org/broadcast/world-chess-championship-2021/game-1/olFFWcs6

Official Website -
https://fideworldchampionship.com/

Schedule :

Nepo has white first, Magnus in game 2, Nepo in 3, Magnus in 4 etc.

Game Schedule

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That's pretty much it on Overview and Candidates.
Now my predictions....

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Q1 )

Who will win?
A - I think Magnus will have it this year, but I think Alireza might win the candidates soon and be a strong contender for the title. ( Sorry Nepo and Magnus! )

Q2 ) What will the score be? Will there be Tiebreaks?
A - I don't think there'll be tiebreaks this year ( sorry Nepo!) , Um I think the score will some something like 7.5 - 4.5 or around that mark. Or even 6.5 - 5.5, but I think Magnus will have a stronger lead.

The first games are off to a slow start with draws, and I thought this would happen, but I think some wins are coming soon..

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That's it pretty much.
Have fun watching this!!
Hopefully I'll do some coverage...

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