The World Chess Championship 2023 was a chess match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren to determine the new World Chess Champion, held under the auspices of FIDE. The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023, and was a best of 14 games, with rapid tiebreaks played if necessary. The previous champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title against Nepomniachtchi, the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2022, citing a lack of motivation. As a result, Nepomniachtchi faced Ding, the runner-up of the Candidates.
Nepomniachtchi took the lead three times during the match, winning games 2, 5, and 7. However, Ding evened the score each time, winning games 4, 6, and 12. Both players missed several opportunities, with Nepomniachtchi having a decisive advantage in games 12 and 14, and Ding in game 8. After a 7–7 tie in the classical games, the match proceeded to rapid tiebreaks. After draws in the first three games, Ding boldly declined a draw by repetition in the final rapid game, and won with black to become the 17th World Champion.
Commentators praised the match for its excitement, high number of decisive games, and the fighting spirit of both players, but also criticized the quality of play and large amount of blunders. Ding's path to becoming World Champion was also seen as remarkable, as he had neither qualified for nor won the Candidates.
Carlsen refuses to defend the title The previous World Champion was Magnus Carlsen, who first won the title in 2013. To keep the title, Carlsen was periodically required to defend it in a championship match against a challenger, determined by a Candidates Tournament. Carlsen successfully defended the title in the world championship matches of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021. In December 2021, soon after the 2021 championship (against Ian Nepomniachtchi), Carlsen stated that he lacked the motivation to defend his title again, unless the challenger was Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja had risen to number two in the world rankings in 2021 at age 18. In April 2022, Carlsen again publicly stated that he was unlikely to play in the next world championship, this time without mentioning any potential opponent.
The Candidates Tournament 2022 concluded in early July 2022, with Nepomniachtchi its winner. FIDE and Carlsen were already in talks regarding the world championship match and its format. On 20 July, Carlsen announced that he would not defend his title. Therefore, the 2023 world championship match was between Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, the winner and runner-up of the 2022 Candidates Tournament, respectively, and Carlsen lost the title when the match concluded. After Carlsen formally confirmed his decision in writing, FIDE officially invited Ding to participate in the 2023 world championship.
History of non-participation Non-participation by the incumbent champion in the World Chess Championship is rare. The only two previous times in chess history where an undisputed world championship was played without the defending champion were in 1948 and 1975. The World Chess Championship 1948 was a five-player tournament held without the previous champion Alexander Alekhine, who had died in 1946. In 1975, incumbent champion Bobby Fischer declined to take part because of dissatisfaction with the format – the World Championship match was first-to-12.5-points, while Fischer wanted a first-to-ten-wins format. After FIDE declined to meet Fischer's demands, Fischer forfeited, and FIDE awarded the title to Fischer's challenger, Anatoly Karpov, the winner of the Candidates Final. No Championship match was held.
Non-participation by the incumbent champion in disputed World Chess Championships from 1993 to 2005 was more common. For the World Chess Championship 1993, incumbent Garry Kasparov and his challenger Nigel Short broke with FIDE and organized the championship on their own terms. FIDE disqualified them and set up its own FIDE World Chess Championship 1993 with runners-up Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov. This set up the 13-year period of split World Champion title 1993–2006. In the sub-period of 1999–2004, the FIDE Championship was held as a knockout tournament with 100–128 candidates: here Karpov refused to participate in 1999 due to the lack of privileges for him as incumbent champion, and 2002 FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov refused to defend his title in 2004 to protest against the preponderant role FIDE granted Kasparov in the re-unification process.The Week in Chess 247, 2 August 1999
Candidates Tournament 2022
The challengers were Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, who qualified as the winner and runner-up, respectively, in the Candidates Tournament 2022 in Madrid, Spain, which began on June 16 and ended on July 5, 2022.Regulations for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022, (PDF) FIDE Ding qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022 through his rating, as a replacement for Sergey Karjakin, who had been barred from playing by FIDE due to his comments supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nepomniachtchi had challenged world champion Carlsen in the previous championship in 2021.
The participants were: Qualification methodPlayerAgeRatingWorldranking(June 2022)Top 100 Players June 2022, FIDE2021 World Championship runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi27667Candidate nominated by FIDE Teimour Radjabov275313The top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2021 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 275016 Sergey Karjakin 2747 17The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 Alireza Firouzja 27933 Fabiano Caruana 27834The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 Hikaru Nakamura 276011 Richárd Rapport 27648Highest rating for May 2022 Ding Liren 28062
Results
Championship match
Organization The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023 at the St Regis Astana Hotel.
The prize fund was €2 million. It would have been split 60% vs 40% between the winner and the runner-up had either player scored 7½ or more points in the classical portion of the match. As the match was tied after 14 classical games, the prize fund was split 55% vs 45% in favor of the winner of the tiebreak. The main sponsor for the event was Freedom Holding Corp., a Kazakhstan-based Russian investment company with ties to the Central Asian region, with chess training app Chessable, mining company LLP Tioline, and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation also sponsoring the event.
The chief arbiter was Nebojša Baralić from Serbia, while the deputy arbiter was Gerhard Bertagnolli from Italy.
The first move of each classical game was ceremonially performed by guests invited by the organisers:
Game Guest 1 Ashat Oralov Minister of Culture and Sports for Kazakhstan 2 Timur Turlov President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.Nepomniachtchi defeats Ding in the second game of the World Championship match, FIDE, 10/04/2023.3Talgat MusabayevSoviet and Kazakh cosmonaut4Mike KleinFIDE Master and CCO for ChessKid.com5Serik SapiyevKazakh amateur boxer and 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist (men's welterweight boxing)6Dana Reizniece-OzolaWoman Grandmaster, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, and politician7Jeroen van den BergTournament Director for the Tata Steel Chess Tournament8Victor DolgalevDirector of LLP Tioline, a sponsor of the event9Marat AzilkhanovDeputy Chairman of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan10Kunsulu ZakaryaHead of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences11Kanat SharlapaevChairman of the Board of Baiterek National Managing Holding12Dimash QudaibergenKazakh singer-songwriter13Zhenis KassymbekAkim (Mayor) of Astana14Alanna BerikkyzyWinner of the FIDE World School Chess Championships 2023 in the Girls Under 9 category
Match regulations The time control for each game in the classical portion of the match was 120 minutes per side for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting with move 61.Regulations for the FIDE World Championship Match 2023, FIDE, 2023
The match was best of 14 games; a score of at least 7½ would win the world championship. Due to the score being equal after 14 games, tiebreak games with faster time controls were played:
A match consisting of 4 rapid games with 25 minutes per side and a 10-second increment starting with move 1 will be played. If a player scores 2½ points or more, he would win the championship. If the score had been equal after the rapid portion, a mini-match of two blitz games would have been played, with a time control of 5 minutes per side and a 3-second increment starting with move 1. If a player scored 1½ points or more, he would win the championship. If the blitz mini-match was tied, another mini-match with the same conditions would be played to decide the winner of the championship. A drawing of lots would take place before each mini-match to decide which player plays with the white pieces. If both blitz mini-matches were tied, a single blitz game with a time control of 3 minutes per side and a 2-second increment starting with move 1 would be played, and the winner would win the championship. A drawing of lots would decide which player plays with the white pieces. If this game was drawn, another blitz game with reversed colours would be played with the same time control, and the winner would win the championship. This process would be repeated until either player wins a game.
Players were not allowed to agree to a draw before Black's 40th move. A draw claim before then was only permitted if a threefold repetition or stalemate has occurred.
Previous head-to-head record The pre-match head-to-head score between Nepomniachtchi and Ding in classical games was: 3 wins for Nepomniachtchi, 2 wins for Ding, with 8 draws. Their most recent pre-championship games, during the 2022 Candidates tournament, resulted in one win to Nepomniachtchi and one draw.
+Head-to-head recordNepomniachtchi winsDrawDing winsTotalClassicalNepomniachtchi (white) – Ding (black)2507Ding (white) – Nepomniachtchi (black)1326Total38213Blitz / rapid / exhibition1317939Total16251152
Seconds Nepomniachtchi worked with Nikita Vitiugov, along with Maxim Matlakov and Ildar Khairullin, while also consulting with former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Ding chose Richárd Rapport as his main second. The other members of his team were Jakhongir Vakhidov, and two people from Peking University. He received advice from Wei Yi and Ni Hua.
Schedule The games began at 15:00 local time (EKT), which was 09:00 UTC.
Colours were drawn at the opening ceremony using a robotic arm assisted by artificial intelligence. Nepomniachtchi received the white pieces for the first game. Colours alternated thereafter, with no switching at the halfway point. Colours for the rapid games were drawn at the press conference after game 14: Ding received the white pieces for the first game.
Date Event Friday, 7 April Opening ceremony Saturday, 8 April Media day Sunday, 9 April Game 1 Monday, 10 April Game 2 Tuesday, 11 April Rest day Wednesday, 12 April Game 3 Thursday, 13 April Game 4 Friday, 14 April Rest day Saturday, 15 April Game 5 Sunday, 16 April Game 6 Monday, 17 April Rest day Tuesday, 18 April Game 7 Wednesday, 19 April Rest day Thursday, 20 April Game 8 Friday, 21 April Game 9 Saturday, 22 April Rest day Sunday, 23 April Game 10 Monday, 24 April Game 11 Tuesday, 25 April Rest day Wednesday, 26 April Game 12 Thursday, 27 April Game 13 Friday, 28 April Rest day Saturday, 29 April Game 14 Sunday, 30 April Tiebreaks Monday, 1 May Closing ceremony