Through Time

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) finally confirmed the rumours as to when and where the World Chess Championship match will be held. Thus Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Champion, will defend for the fourth time his title in a 2 million €uros 14-game match alongside the World Expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 24 to December 16, 2021. Yet for the masterminds of the show there is still a big hole to fill up before chanting victory. Who will be the challenger? The press attaché of FIDE states that the Candidates Tournament 2020–21, which was halted midway in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “is due to conclude in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in April”. Already a year has passed, but there’s no trace of it in the play, apart from a couple of melancholic posts on the wall. It took a miracle to bring the sleeping queen back to earth again. And then, an ice wind takes off her crown and carries it to the feet of a young knight. She snaps out of her trance just as nothing had happened. She starts over from where she was, whispering the last line of her notes.