Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hans Niemann drew 4-4 in an eight-game grudge match in Belgrade this week, with each player winning one game and six draws. The Russian world title challenger and the controversial American, whose 2022 clash with Magnus Carlsen is the subject of the Netflix documentary Untold: Chess Mates, played two games per day at a brisk time control of one hour per player plus 30 seconds per move increment, which Fide calls 'Fast Classical'. The event was opened by Serbia's minister of sport, Zoran Gajic, and veteran grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevic made the ceremonial first move.
Nepomniachtchi won the first game, and Niemann won the eighth after the Russian missed an easy opportunity to win game seven. Relations between the players were frosty; Nepo several times wanted a postmortem, but Niemann refused. The American still blamed his opponent for the 2024 Gashimov Memorial in Azerbaijan, where Niemann had his invitation revoked after Nepo allegedly joined opposition from other players. There was no provision for a tie-break, although Niemann proposed an extra Armageddon game, which Nepo declined.
At the end, Niemann praised his opponent, writing: 'Nepo is low rated by his standards right now, but we should not forget that he almost became world champion. He's a two-time Candidates winner, two-time challenger, and has won many tournaments. My showing at this level is a great sign. I left a lot on the table, especially in the white games. This was not an easy match. This was not someone you could expect to farm. It was a great challenge, and being challenged in this way was a great learning experience.'
The match was arguably the most significant individual contest between Russian and American players since Anatoly Karpov v Gata Kamsky in 1996, or even Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky in 1972. The course was influenced by game one, where Nepo got an edge against Niemann's Ruy Lopez Berlin Wall and converted. After that, Nepo seemed reluctant to press in his white games, while Niemann took the initiative in his whites, all four of which featured the Rossolimo Sicilian and led to a win in the final game. The big missed opportunity came in game seven, where Nepo overlooked a winning move, choosing 14 a4?? instead of 14 Rxe7! or 14 Re5!.
Separately, at Norway Chess in Oslo, Magnus Carlsen equalled his worst ever tournament result with four defeats, finishing fourth in the open standings. The world No 1 lost a second game to Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu after the Indian got the better of a 3 e5 French Defence where Carlsen mishandled his clock time. Final open standings: Praggnanandhaa 18, Wesley So 17, Alireza Firouzja 15.5, Carlsen 13, Vincent Keymer 11, Gukesh Dommaraju 8. In the women's event, China's reigning world champion Ju Wenjun scored only 50% in classical games and lost six Armageddon tie-breaks, a significant failure ahead of her title defence against Vaishali Rameshbabu.
