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	[a] Ian Nepomniachtchi
	7½ Scores 3½ Game 1 ½ 45 move draw ½ Game 2 ½ 58 move draw ½ Game 3 ½ 41 move draw ½ Game 4 ½ 33 move draw ½ Game 5 ½ 43 move draw ½ Game 6 1 ← 136 moves 0 Game 7 ½ 41 move draw ½ Game 8 1 ← 46 moves 0 Game 9 1 ← 39 moves 0 Game 10 ½ 41 move draw ½ Game 11 1 ← 49 moves 0 Game 12 Not required Game 13 Not required Game 14 Not 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)
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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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