| Header: | World Chess Championship 2023 |
| Dates: | 9–30 April 2023 |
| Location: | St Regis Hotel, Astana, Kazakhstan |
| Comp1: | Ian Nepomniachtchi |
| Comp2: | Ding Liren |
| Flag1: | FIDE |
| Flag2: | CHN |
| Dob1: | 14 July 1990 |
| Age1: | 32 years old |
| Dob2: | 24 October 1992 |
| Age2: | 30 years old |
| Qual1: | Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2022 |
| Qual2: | Runner-up of the Candidates Tournament 2022 |
| Elo1: | 2795 |
| Elo2: | 2788 |
| Prev: | 2021 |
| Prev Link: | World Chess Championship 2021 |
| Next: | 2024 |
| Next Link: | World Chess Championship 2024 |
| Rank1: | 2 |
| Rank2: | 3 |
| Score1: | 7 |
| Score2: | 7 |
| Game1: | -w49 |
| Game2: | |
| Game3: | -w30 |
| Game4: | >b47 |
| Game5: | |
| Game6: | >b44 |
| Game7: | |
| Game8: | -b45 |
| Game9: | -w82 |
| Game10: | -b45 |
| Game11: | -w39 |
| Game12: | >b38 |
| Game13: | -w40 |
| Game14: | -b90 |
| Game15: | -b35 |
| Type15: | Tiebreak Game |
| Game16: | -w47 |
| Type16: | Tiebreak Game |
| Game17: | -b33 |
| Type17: | Tiebreak Game |
| Game18: | >w68 |
| Type18: | Tiebreak Game |
The World Chess Championship 2023 was a chess match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren to determine the new World Chess Champion. The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023, and was a best of 14 games, plus tiebreaks.
The previous champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title against Ian Nepomniachtchi, the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2022, stating he was "not motivated to play another match".[1] [2] As a result, Nepomniachtchi played against Ding Liren, who finished second in the Candidates Tournament.
After a 7–7 score tie in the classical time format — in which five of the first seven games were decisive — on 30 April, the match proceeded to tiebreaks with rapid time format. After draws in the first three games, Ding won with black in the final game to become the 17th World Chess Champion.[3] Ding also became the first Chinese chess player to hold the title and, jointly with the 2020 women's world chess champion Ju Wenjun, made China the holder of both the open and women's world titles.[4]
Ding gained a place in the Candidates only because Sergey Karjakin, whom he replaced, was sanctioned for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ding had been unable to play throughout much of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, and had to play a number of hastily arranged matches to reach the minimum FIDE activity requirements to secure his place in the tournament. Nepomniachtchi won the Candidates, but Ding secured second place by beating Hikaru Nakamura in a must-win final-round game. Carlsen then relinquished his title, allowing Ding to play for the title despite not winning the Candidates. Nepomniachtchi took the lead three times during the match, but Ding evened the score each time, forcing a tiebreak. After three draws in the rapid tiebreaks, Ding won the fourth game to take the championship. Ding's path to winning the title was called "most improbable" by The Guardian.[5]
The previous World Champion was Magnus Carlsen, who first won the title in 2013. To keep the title, Carlsen was periodically required to defend it in a championship match against a challenger, determined by a Candidates Tournament. Carlsen successfully defended the title in the world championship matches of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021. In December 2021, soon after the 2021 championship (against Ian Nepomniachtchi), Carlsen stated that he lacked the motivation to defend his title again, unless the challenger was Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja had risen to number two in the world rankings in 2021 at age 18.[6] In April 2022, Carlsen again publicly stated that he was unlikely to play in the next world championship, this time without mentioning any potential opponent.[7]
The Candidates Tournament 2022 concluded in early July 2022, with Nepomniachtchi its winner. FIDE and Carlsen were already in talks regarding the world championship match and its format.[8] On 20 July, Carlsen announced that he would not defend his title.[9] Therefore, the 2023 world championship match was between Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, the winner and runner-up of the 2022 Candidates Tournament, respectively, and Carlsen lost the title when the match concluded.[10] [11] After Carlsen formally confirmed his decision in writing, FIDE officially invited Ding to participate in the 2023 world championship.[12]
Non-participation by the incumbent champion in the World Chess Championship is rare. The only two previous times in chess history where an undisputed world championship was played without the defending champion were in 1948 and 1975. The World Chess Championship 1948 was a five-player tournament held without the previous champion Alexander Alekhine, who had died in 1946.[13] In 1975, incumbent champion Bobby Fischer declined to take part because of dissatisfaction with the format – the World Championship match was first-to-12.5-points, while Fischer wanted a first-to-ten-wins format. After FIDE declined to meet Fischer's demands, Fischer forfeited, and FIDE awarded the title to Fischer's challenger, Anatoly Karpov, the winner of the Candidates Final.[14] No Championship match was held.
Non-participation by the incumbent champion in disputed World Chess Championships from 1993 to 2005 was more common. For the World Chess Championship 1993, incumbent Garry Kasparov and his challenger Nigel Short broke with FIDE and organized the championship on their own terms. FIDE disqualified them and set up its own FIDE World Chess Championship 1993 with runners-up Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov. This set up the 13-year period of split World Champion title 1993–2006. In the sub-period of 1999–2004, the FIDE Championship was held as a knockout tournament with 100–128 candidates: here Karpov refused to participate in 1999 due to the lack of privileges for him as incumbent champion, and 2002 FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov refused to defend his title in 2004 to protest against the preponderant role FIDE granted Kasparov in the re-unification process.[15] [16]
See main article: Candidates Tournament 2022.
The challengers were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, who qualified as the winner and runner-up, respectively, in the Candidates Tournament 2022 in Madrid, Spain,[17] which began on June 16 and ended on July 5, 2022.[18] [19] Ding qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022 through his rating, as a replacement for Sergey Karjakin, who had been barred from playing by FIDE due to his comments supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[20] Nepomniachtchi had challenged world champion Carlsen in the previous championship in 2021.
The participants were:
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (June 2022)[21] | |||||
| 2021 World Championship runner-up | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2766 | 7 | ||
| Candidate nominated by FIDE |  Teimour Radjabov | 2753 | 13 | ||
| The top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2021 | 2750 | 16 | |||
| | 2747 | 17 | |||
| The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 | 2793 | 3 | |||
| 2783 | 4 | ||||
| The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 | 2760 | 11 | |||
| 2764 | 8 | ||||
| Highest rating for May 2022 | 2806 | 2 | |||
The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023 at the St Regis Astana Hotel.[22] [23]
The prize fund was €2 million. It would have been split 60% vs 40% between the winner and the runner-up had either player scored 7½ or more points in the classical portion of the match. As the match was tied after 14 classical games, the prize fund was split 55% vs 45% in favor of the winner of the tiebreak.[24] The main sponsor for the event was Freedom Holding Corp., a Kazakhstan-based Russian investment company with ties to the Central Asian region, with chess training app Chessable, mining company LLP Tioline, and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation also sponsoring the event.[25]
The chief arbiter was Nebojša Baralić from Serbia, while the deputy arbiter was Gerhard Bertagnolli from Italy.[26]
The first move of each classical game was ceremonially performed by guests invited by the organisers:
| Game | Guest | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashat Oralov | Minister of Culture and Sports for Kazakhstan[27] | |
| 2 | Timur Turlov | President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.[28] | |
| 3 | Talgat Musabayev | Soviet and Kazakh cosmonaut[29] | |
| 4 | Mike Klein | FIDE Master and CCO for ChessKid.com[30] [31] | |
| 5 | Serik Sapiyev | Kazakh amateur boxer and 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist (men's welterweight boxing)[32] | |
| 6 | Dana Reizniece-Ozola | Woman Grandmaster, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, and politician[33] | |
| 7 | Jeroen van den Berg | Tournament Director for the Tata Steel Chess Tournament[34] | |
| 8 | Victor Dolgalev | Director of LLP Tioline, a sponsor of the event[35] | |
| 9 | Marat Azilkhanov | Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan[36] | |
| 10 | Kunsulu Zakarya | Head of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences | |
| 11 | Kanat Sharlapaev | Chairman of the Board of Baiterek National Managing Holding[37] | |
| 12 | Dimash Qudaibergen | Kazakh singer-songwriter | |
| 13 | Zhenis Kassymbek | Akim (Mayor) of Astana[38] | |
| 14 | Alanna Berikkyzy | Winner of the FIDE World School Chess Championships 2023 in the Girls Under 9 category[39] [40] | |
The time control for each game in the classical portion of the match was 120 minutes per side for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting with move 61.[41]
The match was best of 14 games; a score of at least 7½ would win the world championship. Due to the score being equal after 14 games, tiebreak games with faster time controls were played:
Players were not allowed to agree to a draw before Black's 40th move. A draw claim before then was only permitted if a threefold repetition or stalemate has occurred.
The pre-match head-to-head score between Nepomniachtchi and Ding in classical games was: 3 wins for Nepomniachtchi, 2 wins for Ding, with 8 draws. Their most recent pre-championship games, during the 2022 Candidates tournament, resulted in one win to Nepomniachtchi and one draw.[42]
| Nepomniachtchi wins | Draw | Ding wins | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical | Nepomniachtchi (white) – Ding (black) | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| Ding (white) – Nepomniachtchi (black) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Total | 3 | 8 | 2 | 13 | ||
| Blitz / rapid / exhibition | 13 | 17 | 9 | 39 | ||
| Total | 16 | 25 | 11 | 52 | ||
Nepomniachtchi worked with Nikita Vitiugov, along with Maxim Matlakov and Ildar Khairullin, while also consulting with former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.[44] Ding chose Richárd Rapport as his main second.[45] The other members of his team were Jakhongir Vakhidov,[46] a grandmaster from Uzbekistan, and two people from Peking University.[47] He received advice from Wei Yi and Ni Hua.[48]
The games began at 15:00 local time (EKT), which was 09:00 UTC.[49]
Colours were drawn at the opening ceremony using a robotic arm assisted by artificial intelligence. Nepomniachtchi received the white pieces for the first game.[50] Colours alternated thereafter, with no switching at the halfway point. Colours for the rapid games were drawn at the press conference after game 14: Ding received the white pieces for the first game.[51]
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 7 April | Opening ceremony | |
| Saturday, 8 April | Media day | |
| Sunday, 9 April | Game 1 | |
| Monday, 10 April | Game 2 | |
| Tuesday, 11 April | Rest day | |
| Wednesday, 12 April | Game 3 | |
| Thursday, 13 April | Game 4 | |
| Friday, 14 April | Rest day | |
| Saturday, 15 April | Game 5 | |
| Sunday, 16 April | Game 6 | |
| Monday, 17 April | Rest day | |
| Tuesday, 18 April | Game 7 | |
| Wednesday, 19 April | Rest day | |
| Thursday, 20 April | Game 8 | |
| Friday, 21 April | Game 9 | |
| Saturday, 22 April | Rest day | |
| Sunday, 23 April | Game 10 | |
| Monday, 24 April | Game 11 | |
| Tuesday, 25 April | Rest day | |
| Wednesday, 26 April | Game 12 | |
| Thursday, 27 April | Game 13 | |
| Friday, 28 April | Rest day | |
| Saturday, 29 April | Game 14 | |
| Sunday, 30 April | Tiebreaks | |
| Monday, 1 May | Closing ceremony |
If the match had ended before 14 games (because one player reached 7½ or more points), the closing ceremony would have been conducted either on the day of the last game or the day after. Had the match ended with the 14th classical game, the closing ceremony would have been held on 30 April. The closing ceremony was held on 1 May, due to the score being tied after 14 classical games.
Shortly after the beginning of game 8, a Reddit post pointed to two accounts on Lichess named "opqrstuv" and "FVitelli", and speculated these belonged to Ding Liren and his second Richárd Rapport.[52] The accounts had played games against each other which followed the openings of games 2, 6, and 8 of the Championship match. An account also named "FVitelli" on Chess.com had played a series of games against user "autumnstream" who self-identified as being from China, with the openings mirroring those played in the match. "FVitelli" changed their username to "ggwhynot" after the rumors emerged, seemingly acknowledging that they were at least aware of the reports. Many commentators considered the leak to be genuine, with Hikaru Nakamura stating that "there's zero chance these aren't their accounts."
The leak could have significantly disadvantaged Ding, as Nepomniachtchi could prepare against these and other opening lines. When asked about the rumours during the post-game press conference, Ding said, "I don't know which games you refer [to]."[53] [54] After game 10, Nepomniachtchi was asked if the leak affected his preparation, responding, "My team took a look. I wouldn't say it should be as hyped as it actually is. I am still more or less doing what I was going to do. We didn't change it too much."[55] After the conclusion of the Championship, Ding confirmed the leak in an interview, saying he "realised it left [them] with no real ideas, so [they] had to come up with new ones" during the match.[56]
| Rating | Classical games | Points | Rapid games | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |||||
| 2795 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 7 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 8½ | ||
| 2788 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 9½ | ||
The first game of the match, a 49-move draw, was played on 9 April. Nepomniachtchi began with 1.e4, with both players quickly playing into the Ruy Lopez. Nepomniachtchi surprised commentators with the rare sideline 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Re1, and, in the words of Erwin l'Ami, obtained a "risk-free position and long-term structural edge".[57] Nepomniachtchi missed a tactical opportunity early with 14.Nf5 (14.h3 would have set up 14...Qxd4 15.Nd5), but the game otherwise stayed mostly level until the move 25...c6?!, with Nepomniachtchi quickly playing 26.Rxd8+ Nxd8 27.Qf4!, forming a battery towards Ding's weakened and gaining the initiative. With Ding low on time, a few inaccuracies by Nepomniachtchi (30.Ng3 and 31.f4) allowed Ding to force a trade of queens and consolidate his position, reaching an endgame by move 38. A draw was agreed on move 49 after just under five hours of play.[58] [27] [59]
Ding, in the post-game press conference, provided insight into his morale during and following the game: "I'm not happy; I'm a little bit depressed. During the game, I felt a flow of inconsistency. In the first part of the game, I couldn't concentrate and think about chess. My mind was full of memories and feelings. Maybe I couldn't calculate because of the pressure of the match."
The second game of the match, a 29-move win for Nepomniachtchi, was played on 10 April. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 Ding played 4.h3, a move that had never been seen before at master level. Nepomniachtchi said at the press conference that he initially wrote 4.g3 (a standard move which would have led into a Catalan) on his score sheet, before realizing 4.h3 had been played. Alexander Shabalov stated that "[4.h3] definitely comes from Richard Rapport, Ding's second",[60] which Ding confirmed. Nepomniachtchi decided to play 4...dxc4 and treat the game as a Queen's Gambit Accepted, on the basis that White's h2–h3 is not particularly useful in that line.[61] After playing most of his moves almost instantly, Ding took over 30 minutes to play the move 12.Nxf6+, later identifying the move as a critical moment, saying he had only looked at 12...Qxf6 and entirely overlooked Nepomniachtchi's response 12...gxf6. Ding's follow-up 13.e4 was criticized for weakening his position; commentators recommended 13.dxc5 with approximate . Nepomniachtchi subsequently took over the initiative: his move 18...f5! was highly praised; it set the spectacular trap 19.exf5 Rxd4!! 20.Nxd4 (other moves avoid mate but lose) 20...Rxg2+ 21.Kf1 Rxf2+! 22.Kxf2 Qh2+ 23.Ke3 Bh6. Nepomniachtchi confirmed in the post-game interview that he felt that he was winning after 18...f5.[62] Ding avoided this trap with 19.Bc2, which was nonetheless a concession—Ding's previous play seemed to be aimed at putting the bishop on f1. After 20.Bg5, Nepomniachtchi sacrificed an exchange with 20...Rxg5!, gaining the d-pawn and a dominating position after 21.Nxg5 Nxd4, and the e-pawn shortly afterwards. Already after move 20, Ding had less than 20 minutes remaining on his clock to Nepomniachtchi's 60, and he would need to play 20 more moves to reach the time bonus at move 40. Throughout the remaining moves of the game, Ding's time dwindled and his position worsened, until, after 29...e5, leaving the rook on d4 no safe squares, Ding resigned with less than a minute remaining on his clock.
The third game of the match, a 30-move draw, was played on 12 April. Commentators noted it represented a much improved performance by Ding. The game, a Queen's Gambit Declined, followed a game which Ding had previously drawn as Black against Anish Giri in an online rapid game in 2022 until 17.N1e2. Nepomniachtchi later stated that he had looked at the game prior to the round. Ding identified 21...Nxd7 as a critical moment where he began to play for a win, but chose to invite a repetition after 27.Nb5 with 27...Nc7. In the post-game interview, Ding stated he had considered 27...d4 as a potential move to continue playing for a win, but decided it would have been too risky. The game was drawn by repetition shortly afterwards.[63]
At the post-game press conference, Ding stated, "I was not happy with the result. I was trying to play for a win at some point, but I couldn't find a way to break through. So, I think a draw is a decent result for both of us."[64] Nepomniachtchi made comments to the same effect, remarking that "The Queen's Gambit Declined is a very solid opening, so you're not going to achieve much. The most common case is when both sides play reasonably. It is hard to disrupt the equality."
The fourth game of the match, a 47-move win for Ding, was played on 13 April. The game began with an English Opening, Four Knights Variation. Nepomniachtchi's 9...Nf4 followed an earlier game won by Ding's second Rapport, leading Anish Giri to speculate that he had confused some of his preparation. This was later confirmed by Nepomniachtchi in the press conference. 14...Na5 was also inaccurate, as the knight would have a difficult time getting back into play while Ding created a strong central presence. Ding made the dynamic decision to sacrifice a pawn with 15.c5 in order to create an advanced . 23...f6 was a move Nepomniachtchi later called "unnecessary"; it allowed Ding to play 24.e6, giving him a passed e-pawn and a strong, but in return Black was able to establish the knight on a strong defensive square at d6. Nepomniachtchi was still in the game until he blundered with 28...Nd4?, a decision former world champion Viswanathan Anand described as "insane".[65] Ding made the strong exchange sacrifice 29.Rxd4!, and after 29...cxd4 30.Nb3, the knight is ready to dominate the black position from d4.[66] Ding said he originally considered 29.Qd3 as a response, but found the winning move after thinking for just over a minute, while Nepomniachtchi confirmed that he did not see it until it was played. Even though the position was completely lost for Black, Nepomniachtchi played on, with Ding precisely converting his advantage. Nepomniachtchi eventually resigned on move 47, bringing the match score back to equality.
The fifth game of the match, a 48-move win for Nepomniachtchi, was played on 15 April. Nepomniachtchi was praised by commentators for his opening preparation, with many noting that he spent very little time making his moves until move 23, a time advantage which only grew as the game progressed. Anish Giri criticized the moves 19...Bd8!? and 20...Ne7!? by Ding, calling it "the most uncomfortable setup". Ding would later state, "I think the critical moment is that I should have played 29...Qf6 instead of 29...Nxf5." Commentators stated that 29...Nxf5 was not a poor move on its own, but 30...Qf6 was the mistake, suggesting that 30...Qd7 would have held the equality. Nepomniachtchi quickly launched a attack, playing the pawn break 37.g5!, to which Ding's response 37...hxg5 was considered "losing completely" by Giri. After 38.Rg4, the natural-looking 38...f6, defending the pawn, would have run into 39.Nh4!, where 39...gxh4 40.h6! decimates the black position.[67] 38...Ra8 was instead played, allowing Nepomniachtchi to regain the pawn with 39.Nxg5. Nepomniachtchi converted the positional advantage precisely, with the move 48.Rh6 convincing Ding to resign after 15 minutes of analyzing the position.[68]
| + Ding–Nepomniachtchi, game 6 |