Carlsen vs Nepomniachtchi: a promising duel

The latter’s enormous talent and self-confidence may give him some chance

It is worth reminding ourselves just how dominant Magnus Carlsen has been just in the last decade. He has spent 11 years above the 2800-mark and won the World Classical, Rapid and Blitz titles several times and remained No. 1 in all rating lists.

Despite such dominance, he has shown the ability to raise his game even higher. In 2019, results of Magnus in the Shamkir Gashimov memorial, Grenke Classic and especially the win in the Zagreb GCT event still leave me awestruck. In Rapid and Blitz chess, he can seem even more dominating.

I think his hunger and love for the game hasn’t diminished at all. He finds the time and energy to play all comers in all sorts of online formats like bullet and plays minor events there. During the pandemic, he started his own Online Tour and played every single event. While he looked tired at times, he still won the event, performed consistently at a high level.