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 Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

grandmaster. Nepomniachtchi won the 2010 and 2020 Russian Superfinal and the 2010 European Individual titles. He also won the 2016 Tal Memorial and both the 2008 and 2015

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament played in Moscow and sponsored by the airline Aeroflot. It was established in 2002 and quickly grew to be the strongest open tournament; in 2013 it was converted to a rapid Rapids are sections ...

events. He won the World Team Chess Championship as a member of the Russian team in

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

(2013) and

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

(2019). Nepomniachtchi won the 2015 European Team Chess Championship in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

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 to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, bli ...

and

blitz chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blit ...

. He has won two silver medals in the World Rapid Championship and a silver medal at the World Blitz Championship as well as winning the 2008 Ordix Open. In December 2019, he qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–2021 by finishing second in the

FIDE Grand Prix 2019 The FIDE Grand Prix 2019 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2021. The top two finishers who had not yet qualified, qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–21 ...

. He won the 2021 FIDE Candidates tournament with a round to spare, which qualified him as the challenger in the World Chess Championship 2021 for the world championship title but lost his challenge to defending champion

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

. 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 The World Chess Championship 2023 is an upcoming chess match, taking place from 7 April to 30 April 2023 to determine the new world chess champion. The incumbent champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title against Ian Nepomniachtchi ...

; 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 w ...

since the modern format was introduced in 2013. In October 2022, he won a silver medal in FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2022.

Career

Early career

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

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban la ...

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

with his first coach, Valentin Evdokimenko, and trained until Ian was thirteen. Under the guidance of his coach, he took part in the World and European Championships. Nepomniachtchi won the

European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 there was als ...

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. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

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 ...

in Wijk aan Zee earning his first grandmaster (GM) norm. 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: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. 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 Parimarjan Negi (born 9 February 1993) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 20 days, which made him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time. As of July 2021, h ...

and

Zaven Andriasian Zaven Andriasian (sometimes transliterated as Andriasyan; hy, Զավեն Անդրիասյան; born March 11, 1989, in Yerevan) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and former World Junior Chess Champion. Chess career He won the 2005 European Y ...

on tiebreak score. By winning the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in February 2008, he qualified for the 2008 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. 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 () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

. He won the gold medal in chess at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-18 ישראל תשס"ט), 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 O ...

2010–2011

In 2010, in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

, Nepomniachtchi won the

European Individual 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) ...

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 ...

, after defeating

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken ...

in a playoff. In November 2011, Nepomniachtchi tied for 3rd–5th with

Vasily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leadin ...

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 Constantin Lupulescu (born 25 March 1984) is a Romanian chess grandmaster and a five-time Romanian Chess Champion. He has competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019, 2021. Chess career Lupulescu won the Romanian Chess ...

, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Sergei Movsesian,

Hrant Melkumyan Hrant Melkumyan ( hy, Հրանտ Մելքումյան; 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 ch ...

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

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oghlu Mammadyarov ( az, Şəhriyar Həmid oğlu Məmmədyarov; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is ranked No. 1 in Azerbaijan and No. 13 in the world ...

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 rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE recognized tourn ...

, held in Khanty-Mansiysk. In October 2013, he tied for first with

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (russian: Пётр Вениами́нович Сви́длер; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian chess grandmaster and an eight-time Russian Chess Champion who now frequently comment ...

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 Rapid ...

of 2014 held in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

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

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...

” in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) 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 confluenc ...

, 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, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, 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 Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (russian: Даниил Дмитриевич Дубов; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. He i ...

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 and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

2016–2020

Nepomniachtchi won the 7th

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

Danzhou Danzhou () is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Chinese island province of Hainan. Although called a "city", Danzhou administers a large area which was called Dan County or Danxian () until 1993. The administrative seat and ur ...

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

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad ( az, 42-ci Şahmat Olimpiadası; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this ...

, held in 2016, he won the team bronze medal and an individual silver playing board 4 for Russia. On 10 December 2017, Ian won a chess game against world champion Magnus Carlsen at the super tournament in London. In the tournament Nepomniachtchi, who was the leader after 8 rounds (+3-0=5), lost in a tie-break to Fabiano Caruana, who managed to catch up with the leader in the 9th round, and took 2nd place. On 27 December 2017, he took third place in the World Rapid Chess Championship, which ended in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the ...

. 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

's World Team Chess Championship. In late May of the same year, he participated in the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix tournament, which was part of the qualification cycle for the 2020 World Chess Championship. The tournament was a 16-player event. Nepomniachtchi defeated GM Alexander Grischuk in rapid tiebreaks during the finale, winning the tournament. This brought him a total of 9 Grand Prix points, placing him at the top of the scoreboard. In December 2020, he won the Russian championship with 7.5 points out of eleven matches, edging out GM

by half a point.

2021

In April 2021, Nepomniachtchi won the 2020/2021 Candidates tournament with 8.5/14 points (+5-2=7) half a point above second place Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. 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 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...

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 up as one of the joint leaders with 9.5/13 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 and the 2021 World Rapid Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he qualified for the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 1 month, and 11 days. FIDE awarded him the ...

, who also had 9.5/13 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 up with second place in the event. In December 2021 Nepomniachtchi played a friendly match with

Nornickel Norilsk Nickel (russian: ГМК «Норильский никель»), or Nornickel, is a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company. Its largest operations are located in the Norilsk–Talnakh area near the Yenisei River in the no ...

president

Vladimir Potanin Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (russian: Владимир Олегович Потанин; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian billionaire businessman. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia in ...

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

2022

Nepomniachtchi qualified for the 2022 Candidates tournament as the World Championship runner-up, and took an early lead in the tournament. He competed under the 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-Romanian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months and 6 days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungari ...

, going into the 14th and final round with a lead of 1.5 points. This guaranteed him qualification for the

. He is the first player to win the Candidates tournament undefeated since Viswanathan Anand in 2014; additionally, he got the highest score of 9.5/14 in any Candidates tournament since the modern format was introduced in 2013.

Rapid and blitz rankings

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

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...

and

. As of June 2021, Ian ranked 5th on the FIDE rapid list and 10th on the blitz list.

Personal life

Nepomniachtchi is Jewish. 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? ''What? Where? When?'' (russian: Что? Где? Когда?, translit. ''Chto? Gde? Kogda?'') is an intellectual game show well known in Russian-language media and other CIS states since the mid-1970s. Today it is produced for televisio ...

''. 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 holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

in March 2022, protesting against the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

and expressing solidarity with the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

people.

Video gaming

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 for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destro ...

'' (''Dota''), later becoming a semiprofessional ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to '' Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota ...

'' 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 free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the '' Warcraft'' series ...

'' and introduced fellow Russian chess grandmaster

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

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 People from Bryansk Russian Jews 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 activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine