Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi failed to become the new world champion, losing to the Chinese Ding Liren. If China is celebrating the well-deserved success of a favorite, then it is time for fans and officials in Russia to seriously think about who will represent the power in the dispute for the world throne next time. Sport evaluates the chances of chess players who are able to win the crown for themselves and the country.
We have not yet fully realized that on Sunday, an extremely close historical opportunity was missed. And not only Yan lost the opportunity to become world champion, but, sorry for the pathos, the whole of Russia. It is sad to state that in the near future such an option may not arise. Now we are not talking about the fact that our leading players have given up sharply. The question lies on a different plane — how competitive will they be in the visible future with «that young punks», paraphrasing Boris Grebenshchikov a little, that «will sweep us off the face of the earth?» a bright generation of young talents from India, Uzbekistan, and Iran loudly declared itself. All of them grow, progress and irresistibly rush into the world elite.
Nepomniachtchi
After the failure, the grandmaster retained the second place in the world ranking (2794 points), only the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (2853) is higher. Yan is today the most experienced and most promising Russian champion candidate. Unless, of course, the word promising can be attributed to a person who has already played two title matches.
Yes, they did not end as Nepomniachtchi and his fans expected. But after all, after that, the ambitions and aspirations of the player did not become less.
Two victories in a row in the Candidates Tournaments also speak in his favor. What none of the competitors succeeded in: this is the first time in history over the past four decades. And, of course, the experience of many months of preparation for championship matches and participation in them. The accumulated knowledge and skills will only benefit the player and become a good basis for a new assault on the summit.
The chess throne has once again remained unconquered, but masters of this level usually do not change their goals. Ian has all the prerequisites for a restart. It is no coincidence that his personal trainer Vladimir Potkin told our agency after the defeat that Jan would not stop at the foot of Olympus.
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«Over the years of work, I can see how high the motivation of Jan. He goes through many tests and has grown a lot. Jan is rightfully one of the best in the world, and he retains a lot of potential. But there are moments in which he can add and become stronger «Ian is an ambitious athlete who sets high goals for himself. I believe that he will find the motivation to continue to fight for the world title,» Potkin said.
But there is a key question — psychology. Won't Yang break now, when the crown was almost in his hands, but slipped away at the last moment? At a press conference, the utterly frustrated chess player said that a certain stage of his life had ended. And he added: «I'll probably play for a while.»But does Jan, besides desire, have the strength to again tirelessly cling to ledges for months and climb up when someone constantly strives to push you down? In the psychological protection of a lot of emotionally perceiving person, a huge hole is now gaping, and how much time will it take for him to patch it up? Not with careless stitches in a hurry, but with reliable and strong seams.
They say time heals. Now Jan has it, you need to try completely, if at all possible, to let go of the situation. To be able to forget about the fiasco, switch to something bright and pleasant, let the wounds heal, draw the right conclusions and move forward.
Moreover, he has the main right that no competitor has . The right to play without selection in the next Candidates Tournament, without wasting strength, nerves, and emotions in a cruel cabin. And start a new ascent to Olympus.
Grischuk
A bright high-class chess player, extremely extraordinary and very few like anyone else in his desire to find the truth at all costs. Constant time troubles are the eternal companions of the player, but this is a consequence of his desire to cut off everything superfluous in any position. Indeed, in every situation, Alexander is looking not for a good move, but for the best one. years as part of the Russian team won the World Chess Olympiads. And after that, our national team did not achieve such success.
During his long career, the grandmaster had both beautiful ups and long periods when he temporarily left the elite routes. But Grischuk is one of the few «grosses» who has conquered the peak limit in classical chess — 2800 points, he reached the mark of 2810.
Oleksandr's potential is bottomless in many respects, he has proved it more than once in matches and Candidates Tournaments. But the puzzle didn't fit all the time. And time is running out: the 39-year-old age of Alexander is becoming more and more «critical» for today's celestials. And after weighing all the pros and cons, we can state that the next cycle of the struggle for the title of world champion can become the most important for the grandmaster in striving for the maximum. Either the 12th chess player in the world will try to do it now, or maybe later he will have to sheath his military weapon. Fate may not bestow the next chance.
Karyakin
A native of Simferopol has been called by experts one of the main candidates for the «kingdom» for many years. In addition to an outstanding gift and an elite level, Karjakin has a very important component of success, which sometimes star colleagues lack — a strong sports character, which he showed by performing brilliantly twice in the World Cup, a qualifying competition for the Candidates Tournament.
In 2015, in the final match with compatriot Peter Svidler, Sergey bounced back from a score of 0-2 and won. And four years later, when many had already written him off, he confidently took second place and made his way into the number of candidates for a rendezvous with Carlsen.
Many people remember the brightest page of Karjakin's career — the 2016 title match against the great and terrible Carlsen. And then the Russian did not lose an inch to Magnus in the «classics» (1 win, 1 loss and 10 draws), but did not cope with the Viking in rapid.
But in the case of Karjakin, unsportsmanlike factors can play a key role. And this is not about social work, which takes a lot of time from playing chess. His activities in the Public Chamber of Russia and at the head of the Chess Federation of the Moscow Region bring help and benefit to many. This is the result of respect and trust in Sergei, his choice and his burden.
But there is a barrier that cannot be bypassed. Exclusion from participation in international competitions. In February 2022, Karyakin openly supported the SVO, for which he soon paid dearly. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) disqualified him for six months, depriving him of the honestly won right to play in the Candidates Tournament, from which, as it turned out, two participants in the championship match left. And Karjakin, after all, knows how to achieve goals in this particular competition (the results of three starts are second, first and third places). For example, the indicators of the newly crowned Ding Liren are lower — the fourth line and the second. And if Sergey had played in that tournament, who knows what other business the lucky guy from China would have been doing in April? And the definition of the title of world champion could become an internal affair of the two Russians.
The FIDE sanctions hit hard and Karjakin went for broke. He refused to participate in FIDE tournaments in a neutral status. But after all, under the patronage of any other international organization, one cannot break through to the throne.
Sergei is not ready to change his principled position, he only wants to play under the flag of their country. But FIDE, despite the fact that it is headed by Arkady Dvorkovich representing Russia, does not intend to make concessions and create a precedent.
And if the disposition does not change in the near future, then Karjakin, apparently, will not be allowed to participate in the summer World Cup, one of the key starts of the new championship cycle. Does Sergei see reasons to radically change his point of view? Don't think. Unless, of course, some careful recommendation is made to look for a compromise solution.
Dubov, Artemiev, Esipenko
For many years, serious hopes have been attached to Daniil Dubov by a large group of fans. Gifted and gushing with non-trivial ideas and solutions, the chess player seemed about to break into the elite. At the junction of 2021 and 2022, he rose to 24th place in the FIDE rankings. But more than a year has passed, and, by and large, there is no noticeable progress in sports. in order to break through behind the backs of ambitious colleagues in the second echelon, you need a powerful and high-quality breakthrough and gaining stability, which will become one of the main character traits of Daniil, who is now 27.
Carlsen himself appreciates the talent and ideas of the Russian, the Norwegian involved him in preparing for the winning match in 2021 with Nepomniachtchi. Dubov knows the specifics of championship fights from the inside, but so far the Candidates Tournament is unattainable for him. Daniil needs a vertical takeoff, but he has fuel and many other components.
Vladislav Artemyev sparkled brightly in 2019, taking off to the 10th line of the world ranking. But then the upward movement was interrupted, and the gradual surrender of the conquered heights began. In the May top FIDE roster, the grandmaster is already in 36th position. His high level of play has not disappeared anywhere, but some factors still do not allow him to fully use all his talent. Not so long ago, Artemiev won a major rapid tournament in Moscow, ahead of, in particular, the XIV world champion Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk and Sergey Karyakin. I would like to hope that this success will become a new starting point for the breakthrough of the 25-year-old chess player.
Andrey Esipenko is 21 years old, he occupies 55th place in the world ranking table. But in March 2022, he was in 24th position. But something went wrong, and the past year cannot be credited to him. Perhaps the lack of experience of playing at a high level affects the performances. But experience can be acquired, and many roads are now open to the player. The grandmaster already has a victory over Carlsen in classical chess. So now he knows very well that it's not the gods who burn the pots. yourself. And again they will fight for the coveted crown.