Chinese Shadows

Today is a day off at the World Chess Championship in Dubai. After only eight games, the Challenger, Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi, is down two points, having lost two games in three days. Lonely but not alone in his sand fortress, he is now confronted with a mission impossible, namely finding a way to make the show go on, in spite of the fact that there might be nothing more to happen. It’s one of the most difficult situations that one may have to deal with in a pseudo-sporting business, but it is an inevitable next step in the onward march toward happiness or unhappiness, as long as “nothing is lost save honour”. Lots of words have been spoken (and written) in the last hours to explain such a débâcle, and it is just too easy — but not fair at all — to say in hindsight that other potential challengers would have done better than Nepomniachtchi. Magnus Carlsen indeed is in his prime and his play does not show any weaknesses. It would take something extraordinary to overcome such a nature force. Among the many opinions coming from different illustrious luminaries as to what went wrong, Grandmaster Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev gives one that is reliable enough to be worth trusting: “Ian Alexandrovich showed that, unfortunately, he was not fully emotionally prepared for any eventualities in the match. Namely, a loss situation to bounce back from. However, his coaches decided to insist on their original strategy, though it proved extremely uncomfortable for Nepomniachtchi. Ian Alexandrovich’s opening policy can be hardly called a success: it was not very consistent with his style — one should never ignore his own ‘I’”, he told Sovetsky Sport. Photo: Ali Haider/EPA.