After Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend the world title that had been in his possession for a decade, Candidates Tournament champion and runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren had to decide who would be the new FIDE champion. Here we will tell you who was finally the winner.
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting world title matches in history. Very changeable, on several occasions Ian Nepomniachtchi took the lead, but Ding Liren managed to equalize. In total, 6 of 14 games ended in victory for one of the two rivals.
The 7-7 equality in the classic modality forced a tiebreaker in rapid games, where the players also showed enormous parity, just as they did during the first 14 games. There were draws in the first three, but the fourth game finally defined the champion.
First world champion for China
Playing with the black pieces, that fourth and final game went to Ding Liren, who thus became the new FIDE world champion, taking the place that until now belonged to Magnus Carlsen. He will be the first Chinese outright world champion, as the women’s championship has already had several Chinese players as champions (including current title holder Ju Wenjun).