The Russian Jan Nepomnyashchi and his Chinese opponent Ding Liren ended the first game at the 49th World Chess Championship on Sunday with a draw. The game in the Kazakh capital of Astana lasted almost five hours until both players agreed on a point split following 49 moves. Ding then admitted that he felt “too much pressure”.
Nepomnyashchi is considered a slight favourite. The 32-year-old has won the majority of the 73 games once morest Ding so far, most of which took place online due to the pandemic. 14 games are played with a long thinking time. The prize money is two million euros.
Permanent world champion Magnus Carlsen did not compete due to lack of motivation. The 32-year-old Norwegian won the Candidates Tournament for the first time in 2013, won the title at the World Cup that followed and hasn’t relinquished it since. Initially, a duel between Nepomnjaschtschi, winner of the 2022 Candidates Tournament, and Carlsen was planned. With his renunciation, the Second Thing moved up. It is the second World Cup for Nepomnjaschtsch, in 2021 he lost significantly to Carlsen. Ding plays his first world championship.
