World Chess Championship 2021

World Chess Championship 2021
Dubai Exhibition Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
26 November – 10 December 2021
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Nepomniachtchi
  Norway Magnus Carlsen [a] Ian Nepomniachtchi
 
Scores
Game 1½45 move draw½
Game 2½58 move draw½
Game 3½41 move draw½
Game 4½33 move draw½
Game 5½43 move draw½
Game 61 136 moves0
Game 7½41 move draw½
Game 81 46 moves0
Game 91 39 moves0
Game 10½41 move draw½
Game 111 49 moves0
Game 12Not required
Game 13Not required
Game 14Not required
  Born 30 November 1990
30/31 years old
Born 14 July 1990
31 years old
  Winner of the World Chess Championship 2018 Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2020–21
  Rating: 2856
(World No. 1)
Rating: 2782
(World No. 5)
← 2018
2023 →

The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Expo 2020 at Dubai Exhibition Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between 24 November and 12 December 2021.[1] It was originally scheduled for the latter half of 2020 but was postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] As a result, this is the first sporting event to be held at an international exposition since the 1904 Summer Olympics during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, United States.

The match began with five consecutive high-quality draws, before Carlsen won a closely-contested eight-hour struggle in Game 6 that, with 136 moves, was the longest ever game in a World Chess Championship. Following this loss, Nepomniachtchi's level of play worsened, with Carlsen capitalizing on a series of one-move blunders by Nepomniachtchi in Games 8, 9 and 11 to win another three points. This gave Carlsen a convincing match win with four wins, seven draws and no losses.


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