Ian Nepomniachtchi’s victory over Magnus Carlsen of Alpine APL Pipers in the final match of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League led his team Ganges Grandmasters to an unlikely maiden title in Bengaluru. Back in 2021, he had unsuccessfully challenged Carlsen in the World title match; that would turn out to be the Norwegian’s last defence of his crown. One of the most gifted players of his generation, the Russian shared the World blitz title with Carlsen two years ago. Excerpts from an interview Nepomniachtchi gave The Hindu:
You returned to the Global Chess League after missing out on the last two editions.
I had some visa issues, unfortunately, in 2024, and last year I skipped. Back in 2023, I played in the inaugural edition. I found it interesting. It is really fun for players. Because, sometimes, especially classical chess, it’s a little bit too controlled. And it sometimes can be a bit boring, not only for players, but even for the fans, I believe.
The GCL’s format brings a lot of different imbalances. You don’t know the colour before the game, at least for the first part of the league, as it is decided by the toss, and you have four points for a win with black pieces and three with white. It is all fun and brings in some extra excitement. So, all in all, I think it is a good tournament to have in your calendar.
How did you find the response from the Bengaluru crowd? There were full houses for most days and the fans were cheering. That is not something you usually see at a chess tournament.
Yes. I have played a lot in Dortmund, where you get fans. But normally chess fans there are quite elderly, and sometimes they just start snoring in the first row. So that is a bit funny.
Everyone can hear this, but not arbiters. Jokes aside, I think the audience here is very respectful. I would never hear any sound from them during the games.
Conquering Carlsen: Nepomniachtchi says his brain had ‘fried’ in the 2021 World title match, but it stayed sharp during the GCL. | Photo
You have played for the World championship twice, against Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren. How do you view this year’s World title match between D. Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov?
The World championship match is always very special. It is like an hourglass. It is not like the round of the tournament when you can play one game badly and catch up later by beating another guy. It is always the same opponent. If we analyse the results for the past 16 or 17 months, there is some bad news for the Gukesh fans. He has lost roughly 90 Elo points or so.
Yes, he has dropped way down from being the World No. 3.
It is probably a question to him and to his team — What is going on, what is happening? He is just a bit different from what we saw in 2024, especially in Budapest and in Toronto. But, you know, that doesn’t guarantee some easy way to the crown for Javokhir. Because, you know, they are both very young and form can be very volatile sometimes.
Of course, as of now, Sindarov starts as a huge favourite, but I wouldn’t say it is something like 80 to 20. I think it should be more like 65 to 35. And I believe who wins the first game will be important. If Gukesh manages to win one, especially in the beginning, or at least not lose, the match could become unclear, as he will get some confidence. But if Sindarov starts with a win, it could easily turn into a snowball.
Expert view: Nepomniachtchi weighs the upcoming Word title clash 65-35 in Javokhir Sindarov’s favour, but says Gukesh can make it ‘unclear’ if he wins an early game. | Photo
Before your own World championship match against Ding Liren, I remember talking to Viswanathan Anand, and he had picked you as the favourite in a close match, but you lost in the tie-breaker. How difficult is it to prepare for and play in a World championship match?
The match is always tough. It is probably not the match itself. Playing itself is the easiest part, because it is what you are used to doing since childhood. But the preparation takes three months or even half a year or so. You basically live a very different life from what you normally do. It is a huge period of time, and you have to be completely focused.
Back then, watching the last round [of the Candidates], I really wanted [Hikaru] Nakamura to qualify. Okay, I really liked Ding so much more as a chess player. But sadly something happened with him. During the match he was shaky at first. But then in the middle of the match he played a sequence of quite decent games. It is very difficult when it goes down the rollercoaster, like, win-lose-win-lose. Even if you have the upper hand, even when you lead on the score, it drains some extra energy from you.
Before that, in the Carlsen match, you had drawn the first five games…
I had worked quite a bit on my chess and physical condition. But I could never predict I wouldn’t sleep at all during the match. So, basically, my brain just fried. And in Game Six, I committed a couple of blunders. And I let him into this very unpleasant ending, which I surely didn’t want to appear. I could have made as many draws as possible, but playing for a win also brings you to some unknown territory sometimes. And whenever it came down to something, even simple calculation... my brain hadn’t rested properly, I started blundering things. It was a big experience, of course, but also he played so well.
Who are the young players you are currently impressed with?
Well, now you just blink once, and some young player already becomes a Grandmaster or reaches 2700.
[Yagiz Kaan] Erdogmus is quite promising indeed. It is hard to compare him to a player like me, because now it is so much easier to learn opening in a perfect way because of computers. Now it is a whole new situation.
I was quite impressed when I played a classical game against [Faustino] Oro. He is 12 years old, and he knew so much about the opening. When I was 12, I knew a couple of lines, here and there. And I had a rating of around 2300 or even 2400. So, I was not completely talentless. But, my opening knowledge was not like this. That is a big difference between players of my generation and this one.
Back home in Russia, we have some hopes about Roman Shogdzhiev. He seems to be promising. And perhaps he could also try to get his GM title, you know, maybe set a new record.
Because of the Ukraine war, Russia cannot play in tournaments like the Olympiad. You were one of those chess players who signed an open letter to Vladimir Putin demanding an end to the military action.
As a citizen, I think it is fine to have your position.
