Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 July 1990) is a Russian

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. Nepomniachtchi is the reigning (shared with

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

) World Blitz Chess Champion. He is also a 2 time Russian Chess Champion. He is one of the very few players to have won two consecutive

Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The win ...

s. He is currently Russia's highest ranked active chess player. Nepomniachtchi won the 2010 and 2020 Russian Superfinal and the 2010 European Individual titles. He also won the 2016 Tal Memorial and the 2008, 2015 and the 2025 Aeroflot Open events. He won the World Team Chess Championship as a member of the Russian team in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

(2013) and

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

(2019). Nepomniachtchi won the 2015

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

with the Russian team. In October 2016, Nepomniachtchi was ranked fourth in the world in both

rapid chess Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

and

blitz chess Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

. He has won five individual medals (three silver, two bronze) at the World Rapid Championships and a silver medal at the 2014 World Blitz Championship, before winning the 2024 World Blitz Championship joint with

when the score in the final was tied at 3,5:3,5 after 7 games. In October 2022, he won a silver medal in

FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2022 The FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2022 (WFRCC) was the second official World Chess960 Championship , world championship in Fischer Random Chess (also known as Chess960). The competition followed a similar format to the FIDE World ...

. In December 2019, he qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–2021 by finishing second in the FIDE Grand Prix 2019. He won the 2021 FIDE Candidates tournament with a round to spare, which qualified him as the challenger in the

World Chess Championship 2021 The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Expo 20 ...

for the world championship title but lost his challenge to defending champion Magnus Carlsen. In July 2022, he won the 2022 FIDE Candidates tournament with a round to spare, thereby winning two Candidates tournaments in a row and again qualifying him to play in the World Chess Championship 2023; additionally, he garnered the highest score in any

Candidates tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The win ...

since the modern format was introduced in 2013. However, he once again lost his challenge for the World Chess Championship title after losing to

Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

during the 4th game of tiebreaks.

Career

Early career

Nepomniachtchi learned to play chess at age four. His grandfather Boris Iosifovich Nepomniashchy (1929–1998) was a famous teacher and lyricist in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

. Nepomniachtchi's first coaches were his uncle Igor Nepomniashchy, Valentin Evdokimenko, international master Valery Zilberstein, and grandmaster Sergei Yanovsky. At age five, Nepomniachtchi moved to

with his first coach, Valentin Evdokimenko, and trained until Nepomniachtchi was 13. Under the guidance of his coach, he took part in the World and European Championships. Nepomniachtchi won the European Youth Chess Championship three times. In 2000, he won the under-10 category, and in 2001 and 2002, he came first in the U12 championship. In 2002, Nepomniachtchi also won the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

in the U12 category, edging out

on tiebreak score.

2007–2009

In 2007, he finished second in the C group of the

Corus Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

earning his first grandmaster (GM)

norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

. Later that same year, Nepomniachtchi gained his second GM norm at the

European Individual Chess Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's) ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. The third and final norm required for the GM title was won at the ''5th Vanya Somov Memorial – World's Youth Stars'' tournament in Kirishi. Nepomniachtchi won the latter event, edging out Rauf Mamedov, Parimarjan Negi and Zaven Andriasian on tiebreak score. By winning the Aeroflot Open in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in February 2008, he qualified for the 2008

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an open chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Until 2020, Dortmund was an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund was awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot ...

. In this tournament, he shared second place after an undefeated run. In the same year, he also won the Ordix Open, a

tournament in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. He won the gold medal in chess at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

2010–2011

In 2010, in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, Nepomniachtchi won the European Individual Championship with a score of 9/11. Later the same year, in Moscow, he won the

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first R ...

, after defeating

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...

in a playoff. At the Chess World Cup 2011, Nepomniachtchi defeated Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suárez in the first round and Alexander Riazantsev in the second round in tiebreaks, but he lost to

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky (; ; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 at the age of 22, and reached a ranking of fourth in the world ...

in the third round in tiebreaks. In November 2011, Nepomniachtchi tied for 3rd–5th with Vasily Ivanchuk and

in the category 22 Tal Memorial in Moscow. Nepomniachtchi's coach in 2011 was Vladimir Potkin.

2013–2015

In May 2013, Nepomniachtchi tied for 1st–8th with Alexander Moiseenko, Evgeny Romanov, Alexander Beliavsky, Constantin Lupulescu, Francisco Vallejo Pons,

Sergei Movsesian Sergei Musheghi Movsesian (; born 3 November 1978) is an Armenian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1997. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the 2011 World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo. ...

Hrant Melkumyan Hrant Slavayi Melkumyan (; born April 30, 1989, in Yerevan) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and European Blitz Champion in 2011. Chess career He won the international Internet championship organized by the ICC chess Internet portal. In 2006, ...

Alexey Dreev Alexey Sergeyevich Dreev (, also transliterated as Aleksey or Alexei; born 30 January 1969) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster by FIDE in 1989. Career While being a promising young chess talent, ...

, and Evgeny Alekseev in the European Individual Championship. The following month, Nepomniachtchi finished second to

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov (; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-h ...

in the

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

, held in

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

. In August 2013, Nepomniachtchi participated in the Chess World Cup 2013. He was defeated by

Wei Yi Wei Yi (; born 2 June 1999) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th youngest in history. He is the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700, accomplishing this feat ...

in the first round. In October 2013, he tied for first with

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and commentator who is an eight-time Russian Chess Champion. Svidler has competed in three World Championshi ...

in the Russian Championship Superfinal, finishing second on tiebreak. Over the course of 2013, Nepomniachtchi's blitz rating surged from 2689 in January to 2830 in December. Nepomniachtchi won the silver medal at the

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapi ...

of 2014 held in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. In August, at the 5th International Chess Festival "

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav the Wise, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, ...

" in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

, he won the Tournament of Champions, a rapid chess event held with the double round-robin format featuring the six European champions of 2009–2014. At the SportAccord World Mind Games, held in December 2014 in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, he won the gold medal in the men's Basque chess tournament. In April 2015, he won the Aeroflot Open for the second time in his career, edging out Daniil Dubov on tiebreak, having played more games with the black pieces, and earned a spot in the 2015 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. Right after the end of the tournament he also won the Aeroflot blitz tournament. Later that year, in September, he won the Moscow Blitz Championship and one month later, he took the silver medal at the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. At the Chess World Cup 2015, Nepomniachtchi defeated Zhao Jun and

Laurent Fressinet Laurent Fressinet (; born 30 November 1981 in Dax) is a French chess grandmaster. He is a two-time French Chess Champion. Career He won the French Chess Championship in 2010 and 2014. In 2012 he finished second in the European Individual Ches ...

in the first and second rounds, but lost to

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru Nakamura Nepomniachtchi won the 7th

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

Danzhou Danzhou ( zh, t=儋州 , p=Dānzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Chinese island province of Hainan. The administrative seat and urban center of Danzhou is Nada Town. Danzhou was upgraded from a county-level city into a ...

tournament in July and the Tal Memorial in October. At the

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad (; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this section is open to all pl ...

, held in 2016, he won the team bronze medal and an individual silver playing board 4 for Russia. At the

Chess World Cup 2017 The Chess World Cup 2017 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 2 to 27 September 2017. It was won by Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian. This was the second time he had won the Chess World Cup, 12 ye ...

, Nepomniachtchi defeated Mladen Palac and Baskaran Adhiban in the first and second rounds, but lost to Baadur Jobava in tiebreaks. On 10 December 2017, Ian won a chess game against world champion Magnus Carlsen at the super tournament in London. In the tournament, Nepomniachtchi, the leader after eight rounds (+3−0=5), lost in a tie-break to

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...

, who managed to catch up with the leader in the ninth round, and took 2nd place. On 27 December 2017, he took third in the World Rapid Chess Championship, which ended in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

. In July 2018, he won the 46th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, scoring 5/7 (+3–0=4) to finish a point ahead of his nearest competitors. In January 2019, Nepomniachtchi competed in the 81st Tata Steel Masters, placing third with 7½/13 (+4–2=7). In March 2019, Nepomniachtchi contributed to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's World Team Chess Championship. At the Chess World Cup 2019, Nepomniachtchi advanced past the third round for the first time. He was defeated by

Yu Yangyi Yu Yangyi (; born 8 June 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He qualified for the Grandmaster title at 14 years, 11 months and 23 days old in 2009. He is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and the 2014 Asian Chess Champion. He was a me ...

in the fourth round. Over the course of 2019, he participated in the FIDE Grand Prix series, which was part of the qualification cycle for the 2020 World Chess Championship. In the series, Nepomniachtchi won two out of three tournaments in which he played. He finished second in the overall standings of the series, qualifying him for the 2020 Candidates Tournament. In December 2020, he won the Russian championship with 7½ points out of 11 matches, edging out GM

by half a point.

2021

In April 2021, Nepomniachtchi won the 2020/2021 Candidates tournament with 8½/14 points (+5-2=7) half a point above second place

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Chess Championship, World Blitz Champion. With a peak Elo rating system, ra ...

. The Candidates win qualified Nepomniachtchi to challenge

in a match for the

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

in November–December 2021. Carlsen retained his title, winning 7½–3½. In August 2021 Nepomniachtchi was Russia's highest-ranked chess player, with a rating of 2792. This placed him fourth in the world and second in Europe (after

). From 26–28 December 2021, Nepomniachtchi participated in the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Championship, where he ended as one of the joint leaders with 9½/13 points, and scored second place after tiebreaks. As a result, he qualified for a playoff against

Nodirbek Abdusattorov Nodirbek Abdusattorov (; born 18 September 2004) is an Uzbek chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he qualified for the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 1 month, and 11 days. FIDE awarded him the title in April 2018. He is Uzbekistan's h ...

, who also had 9½/13 points and scored first place after tiebreaks. Nepomniachtchi held Abdusattorov to a draw in their first playoff game, but lost in the second. As a result, he ended in second place. In December 2021, Nepomniachtchi played a friendly game with Nornickel president

Vladimir Potanin Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian oligarch. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia in the early to mid-1990s. As of May 7, 2025, Forbes ranked 81st richest in ...

, which ended with victory for the grandmaster in the 38th move.

2022

Nepomniachtchi qualified for the

2022 Candidates tournament The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022,FIDE flag, following FIDE's suspension of the Russian and Belarusian teams from international competition. In round 13, Nepomniachtchi clinched a victory in the Candidates after securing a draw against

Richárd Rapport Richárd Rapport (born 25 March 1996) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungarian Che ...

, going into the 14th and final round with a lead of 1½ points. This guaranteed him qualification for the World Chess Championship 2023. He is the first player to win the Candidates tournament undefeated since Viswanathan Anand in 2014; additionally, he got the highest score of 9½/14 in any Candidates tournament since the modern format was introduced in 2013. Nepomniachtchi participated in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2022 and World Blitz Chess Championship 2022 but did not finish in the top three spots of these Championships.

2023

Nepomniachtchi reached his peak rating of 2795, ranked 17th highest peak rating attained ever, in March 2023. During the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023, Nepomniachtchi had a tied score of 7–7 with

in the classical portion of the match. He ended up losing to Ding 9½–8½ in the 4th tiebreaker playoff as white in the rapid portion of the 18-game championship. In May 2023, Nepomniachtchi participated in the Superbet Chess Classic 2023, finishing in 9th place, after losing to Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. At the Chess World Cup 2023, Nepomniachtchi advanced to the fifth round, where he was defeated by

Vidit Gujrathi Vidit Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 27 ...

in tiebreaks. He won the 2nd Levitov Chess Week, in September with a score of 12.5 points. During round 11 of the World Blitz Chess Championship 2023, controversy arose after Nepomniachtchi faced off against fellow compatriot Daniil Dubov, with both players agreeing to a 13-move draw after playing a series of knight moves. After an investigation by FIDE, the chief arbiter penalized both Nepomniachtchi and Dubov on the basis that they had prearranged the draw, ruling the game with a result. Both players appealed the verdict, but it was rejected by FIDE. Nepomniachtchi later apologized for the incident in a video uploaded to his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. Nepomniachtchi also participated in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, but did not finish in one of the top 3 spots in the tournament.

2024

In January, he played in the 86th edition of

Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

. He placed 8th out of 14 players, with a score of 6.5 points. As the losing finalist of the World Chess Championship 2023, Nepomniachtchi was awarded direct entry into the 2024 Candidates Tournament. He led or tied for the lead for most of the tournament, but was overtaken by eventual winner Gukesh D in round 13. Nepomniachtchi was the only player not to lose a game in the tournament. Nepomniachtchi participated in the Superbet Romania Chess Classic 2024 in June, finishing on a score of 50%. In August, he played in the annual Sinquefield Cup 2024. He played poorly, finishing in 9th position. In September, Nepomniachtchi won the 10th edition of the Gashimov Memorial. In December, he played in the Champions Chess tour, finishing in second place after losing in the finals to

. In December he won a bronze medal at the World Rapid Championship held in New York. Later that month, Nepomniachtchi was crowned the joint winner of the World Blitz Championship alongside

when the pair controversially agreed to share the title after three tiebreak matches in the final ended in draws.

Rapid and blitz rankings

In addition to his strength in classical time controls, Nepomniachtchi is very skilled at

rapid Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

and

. Nepomniachtchi ranked fourth on the FIDE rapid list and sixth on the blitz list.

Personal life

Nepomniachtchi is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is often referred to by the nickname "Nepo". He graduated from the Russian State Social University. On 4 October 2021, Nepomniachtchi appeared on the TV intellectual show '' What? Where? When?''.

Esports

In 2006, he was introduced to the video game ''

Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod (video gaming), mod for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne'' (2003). The objective of the game is ...

'' (''Dota''), later becoming a semi-professional ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...

'' player. He was a member of the team that won the Winter 2011 ''Dota'' tournament, and also served as a commentator at the ESL One Hamburg 2018 ''Dota 2'' tournament, using the nickname ''FrostNova''. He also plays ''

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a 2014 Online game, online digital collectible card game, digital collectible card video game produced by Blizzard Entertainment, released under the free-to-play model. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthsto ...

'' and introduced fellow Russian chess grandmaster

to the game. The two later provided feedback to the ''Hearthstone'' game developers.

Political views

Together with 43 other Russian elite chess players, Nepomniachtchi signed an open letter to Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

in March 2022, protesting against the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people."'Stop the war.' 44 Top Russian Players Publish Open Letter To Putin"
Chess.com, 3 March 2022

Books

* Grandmaster Zenon Franco (2021). ''Nail It Like Nepo!: Ian Nepomniachtchi's 30 Best Wins''. imited Liability Company Elk and Ruby Publishing House . * Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco (2021). ''Eight Good Men: The 2020–2021 Candidates Tournament''. imited Liability Company Elk and Ruby Publishing House . * Cyrus Lakdawala (2021). ''Nepomniachtchi: Move by Move''. veryman Chess .

References

External links

* * * * (2007–) * (1999–2006) * *
Ian Nepomniachtchi
chess games and profile at Chess-DB.com
Ian Nepomniachtchi
profile at WorldChess.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1990 births Living people Chess Grandmasters European Chess Champions World Youth Chess Champions Chess Olympiad competitors Russian chess players Jewish chess players Sportspeople from Bryansk Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in chess Maccabiah Games competitors for Russia Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Russia Russian State Social University alumni Russian Jews