Boris KhodorovskyAll materialsSo the X-hour has come for the chess world. The reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen refused the match for the chess crown against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won this right as the winner of the Candidates Tournament. Everything was going to this. Even before the start of the Candidates Tournament in Madrid, the world champion stated that he would be interested in meeting with Alireza Firouzja. The rest are not interesting at all. Only after leaving Iran because of the constant pressure of the authorities, who did not allow meetings with Israeli grandmasters at the chess board, Firouzja failed the Candidates Tournament in France. After that, Carlsen began to dictate his conditions to the International Chess Federation (FIDE). During the closing ceremony of the Candidates Tournament, according to the authoritative chess portal Chess24, the world champion met with the organization's president Arkady Dvorkovich and general secretary Emil Sutovsky to discuss the situation. According to Carlsen, he told the leaders of the chess federation that he was not motivated to play another match for the world title. As Carlsen specifically emphasized, he had no demands or proposals for this meeting. Dvorkovich and Sutovsky had several. But Chess24 announced the demands of the world champion to change the format of the match, making it a kind of triathlon of classics, rapid and blitz. Although separate world championships in rapid chess and blitz are already held, and Carlsen does not always manage to win them. «Hour X» FIDE leaders appointed July 20, and it has come.
