Lower than per week after Ding Liren grew to become the seventeenth World Champion he’s again in motion at present in Bucharest, Romania as he takes on Maxime Vachier-Lagrave within the first spherical of the Superbet Chess Basic. It’s not simply Ding making the journey from Astana, as Ian Nepomniachtchi faces Ding’s second Richard Rapport. The road-up options 2022 Grand Chess Tour champion Alireza Firouzja in addition to Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and native wildcard Bogdan-Daniel Deac.
After the World Championship match went the space in Astana there have been fears that one or each of the gamers would skip the primary occasion on the 2023 Grand Chess Tour, however each have made it to Bucharest for the Superbet Chess Basic. The 9-round classical match begins at 14:00 CEST on Saturday Might sixth, with $350,000 and a prime prize of $100,000 up for grabs.
Ding Liren can’t assist himself taking first, as he drew the no. 1 seed for the match.
He begins with the white items in opposition to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the French star who has quietly returned to the brink of the High 10.
Essentially the most eye-catching Spherical 1 conflict, nonetheless, is between Ian Nepomniachtchi and the person he fought a proxy battle in opposition to in Astana, Ding Liren’s second Richard Rapport.
Will we get to see any of the concepts that didn’t fairly make it into the match, maybe even one of many traces that was burned when Ding and Richard’s coaching video games had been found on-line?
Anish Giri, the winner of this yr’s Tata Metal Masters, takes on Polish no. 1 Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
19-year-old Alireza Firouzja, the world no. 4 behind no. Ian Nepomniachtchi and no. 3 Ding Liren, hasn’t performed a classical recreation since he received the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, and with it the Grand Chess Tour, again in September. In Spherical 1 he takes on Wesley So, who has had loads of time to get well from a frenetic begin to the yr.
Fabiano Caruana will now, like Anish Giri, change from commentary to taking part in, and he begins in opposition to native star Bogdan-Daniel Deac, who’s the one wildcard within the occasion however already a 2700 participant.
Essentially the most anticipated recreation of the match, nonetheless, is prone to be Nepomniachtchi-Ding Liren, which is able to already happen in Monday’s Spherical 3.
Given how the match went it’s doable Ding will battle with the black items, although his freshest reminiscence will probably be of how he received the ultimate fast recreation with Black.
Don’t miss all of the Superbet Chess Basic motion stay right here on chess24 from 14:00 CEST on Saturday, Might sixth!
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