He got tired - and "blew it off". Why Ian Nepomniachtchi didn't become the world chess champion

Carlsen is 31 years old, he is ranked first in the ranking of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The Norwegian has held the title of world champion since 2013, when he beat the representative of India, Viswanathan Anand. In 2014, in a match with Anand, he defended his title; in 2016, Carlsen defeated Russian Sergei Karjakin in the match for the world chess crown, and in 2018, American Fabiano Caruana. Nepomniachtchi is also 31 years old, in the FIDE rating he is on the fifth line. The Russian became the European champion in 2010, won the World Team Championship twice (2013, 2019) as part of the Russian national team, and won the Candidates Tournament in 2021.

“What happened to me here has never happened in any other tournament. During my career, I have lost quite a few games, but not so much in such a short time”, - Ian Nepomniachtchi commented on the outcome of this match.

It should be noted that after the long domination of the Soviet chess school, the next loss of Russian chess players was perceived painfully by many.

A normal kid, this Yang!

But, fortunately, not all. For example, journalist Alexey Belyakov is happy for Nepomniachtchi:

“I followed the match.

Magnus simply defeated Jan by winning four times. That is why the match was finished ahead of schedule: the winner became clear, Magnus is the champion again.

No, I don't understand chess at all. The Spanish game, the Turkish gambit, the rook ending - this, soryan, is not for me.

So what the fuck, you say, did you follow them? It would be better to watch as the janitor shovels the snow.

Will explain.

I am always interested in drama, latent conflict, psychology. I am always interested in heroes in such situations. When there is silence around, there are almost no events and at the same time there is a tough confrontation. It is decided who will receive the crown. And another 1.2 million euros. Although the loser - 800 thousand, which is also not bad.

And you know, I really liked this Nepomniachtchi. Yes, he played much weaker, Magnus is generally a fierce chess Viking, he himself said that he can roll vodka during the break, only he plays better later. (Not during this match, it's about others.)

Nepomniachtchi behaved very dignified. He admitted all mistakes and bloopers, no barbs to the opponent. No statements to be happily quoted by propagandists. Himself to blame.

And when he finally lost, he extended his hand to Magnus over the board, smiling.

In short, this is a normal kid Yan, originally from Bryansk..."

Jan got tired of losing, so he scored

Social psychologist Aleksey Roshchin noted a very important and funny difference between today's chess players (and above all Nepomniachtchi) from the previous ones:

“The score, of course, is on the scoreboard - but chess is played not only for the sake of counting. These football compilations can consist exclusively of tables - from chess tournaments and matches, games remain, which then fans of the whole world sort out, analyze and admire for years and centuries. In the Carlsen - Nepomniachtchi match, only two games turned out to be "normal" - the second and the sixth. Everything else, especially the latter, is some kind of trash and slag. Nightmare.

As a result, the brutality of Magnus and his kick of the defeated opponent becomes clear: the game of the challenger, by and large, discredited the match for the world championship itself, turning it into some kind of marketplace farce, "joke". Having won a “cool” match, Magnus partially devalued his own “crown” - it also began to look a bit like a jester's hat. And he was the first to realize it.

(...)

I will allow myself to say out loud what many have already guessed. The solution to Jan's behavior in the second part of the match has nothing to do with some kind of "nervous breakdown", which in fact did not exist at all. True, for the sake of describing his condition, one will have to use a not entirely scientific (and even seemingly not quite decent), but nevertheless extremely accurate "term", which is good because everyone, and not just high-browed professors of psychology, will understand it. Yanchik, to put it simply, “scored”. That's all.

I played and played, then I realized that things were somehow not going well, then I also lost a game in which I could draw a draw many, many times, or even win. After that, I realized that everything that was happening was no longer pinning, and simply scored.

(...)

We are simply not used to the fact that someone follows the commandment to “forget” at a world championship match. For some reason, it was believed that at this level, "forget it" is not suitable, that it is customary to "push back" there (less popular, but also a common verb).

But Jan - and this is the most striking thing - just did not balk at the word "absolutely". And personally, I - let someone blame me for paranoia - can not help but discern traces of the "New Normal" in this.

This is deeply symbolic. Yang is a symbol of the new world replacing the old. It is Jan, not Magnus. A symbol of the world in which it is not accepted to STRESS. Why is the new generation watching Tik-Tok, and in the clips, the frame change should occur at least every 3 seconds? Because watching for a long time is stressful. And the thick books ?! Who reads thick books today? The reason is the same - it’s tense.

At the same time - no, it cannot be said that the "new people" are AT ALL incapable of long-term effort! Even as capable, but ... if carried away. The same Yang, in fact, BEFORE the Match was known in the chess world precisely because he was able to calculate 14-move combinations at the board and was generally famous for his very sharp tactical vision, everyone was afraid to go into complications with him - very, dog, sharp-sighted ! And during the match, he yawned two-way “forks” and let him catch his bishop. Why? Yes, I scored because ... The hobby passed, it became boring. Everyone who has children knows perfectly well how it happens..."

Lost Nepomniachtchi, and the "traitor" Dubov is to blame!

And journalist Vladimir Demchikov drew attention to another aspect of this event:

“A funny story with an attempt by various chess and chess-related patriotic fools to stigmatize the work of Grandmaster Daniil Dubov in the team of Magnus Carlsen in the match against Jan Nepomniachtchi. Grandmaster Shipov even called him a "traitor" on his website.

Yes, here's the annoyance: despite all the efforts and media efforts, it is not possible to enlist the support of the masses. Here is a poll of visitors to the Championship website, which is quite official.

A trifle, but nice.

This unsuccessful attempt to declare Grandmaster Dubov a "traitor" (for his collaboration with Carlsen during the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi match) actually looks not only pathetic, but even somewhat touching. After all, this is nothing more than an attempt to again give chess some kind of political dimension, to return chess "to the front line", to make it an arena of confrontation with the accursed foreign countries. And in general, to return the glorious days of Botvinnik-Karpov, when chess was the number one state sport. This will never happen, so Dubov's accusers are a little sorry - they have only disappointments ahead of them, no matter how many "traitors" they have exposed.

And it is also interesting that those who are now fussing around Dubov and his mythical "betrayal of the interests of Russia" are not at all embarrassed that Nepomniachtchi did not even appear under the flag of Russia - he had no right. Russia is punished for state support for violations of doping rules, and our athletes at world championships act as "stateless persons." But now the party line orders to be completely silent about this, to pretend that performing under some comic flags is normal (Nepomniachtchi, for example, played under the flag with the letters CFR). At the same time, there are specific people who did all this and did not answer for anything, and the "traitor" is still Dubov..."