Ian Nepomniachtchi’s recurrent victories in world under-10 and under-12 championships anticipated him a bright future early on. Although his chess development didn’t keep the pace of contemporaries like Magnus Carlsen and Sergei Karjakin, it wasn’t long till the Russian boy became a Grandmaster, aged 17.
In the following years, big successes (like European Individual Champion 2010, Aeroflot Open 2015, Tal Memorial 2016, Hainan Danzhou 2016, Dortmund 2018, and two Russian Championships) alternated with periods of instability.
It was only in 2019 that Nepo breached the top-10 for the first time, but he hasn’t looked back ever since. He has consolidated as the world #4 and is currently at his peak rating (2792). In April 2021 he won the Candidates Tournament to become the World Championship Challenger.
Nepo is one of the few players in the world with a positive score against Carlsen (4-1) and is usually referred to as the most talented, so their match-up promises to be nail-biting.
In the months prior to the event, he created a Chessable course on the King’s Gambit. Will it be part of his preparation? You can judge for yourself while getting a weapon to upset the balance against 1.e4 e5.
