“Lazy genius” wants to push Magnus Carlsen from the chess throne

by time news

BerlinJan Nepomnyashchi first met Magnus Carlsen almost twenty years ago. The Russian defeated the Norwegian at the European Chess Championship for children under twelve and later became the winner. “When I had to play against this guy, I didn’t expect much,” Nepomnyashchi told Spiegel: “Norway was not a chess country.”

The 31-year-old will no longer have these thoughts today. Because when Nepo, as he is called in the chess world, meets world champion Carlsen at the World Cup in Dubai from Friday, he is an outsider. In up to 14 duels, Nepomnyashchi then gets the chance to overthrow the defending champion.

Preparation with basketball players from FC Bayern Munich

The fan of Spartak Moscow and FC Barcelona in Germany completed part of the preparation for the big showdown with the basketball team of Bayern Munich. It was particularly about fitness and endurance, which are essential for such a long duel. At the end, Nepo even got a jersey with his name, at least 16 letters, and the number 90 for his year of birth. “I am pleasantly shocked by the hospitality and the sympathy of all those who have welcomed me here,” he said in parting.

The passionate gamer has the talent of computer games such as Dota or the card game Hearthstone, otherwise he wouldn’t have scored numerous victories in his childhood days. He’s also in his prime chess age. However, too often he lacked the necessary diligence to build on the successes of his youth. “He has the reputation of a lazy genius and would probably be even stronger if he had trained more regularly,” said Ullrich Krause, President of the German Chess Federation.

Already one of the ten best players at the age of 20

He celebrated successes anyway. At the age of 20, Nepo was crowned Russian champion, and in 2019 the genius from the small town of Brjansk was one of the ten best chess players in the world for the first time. In April the previous high point of his career: Nepo prevailed against seven other grandmasters in the candidates’ tournament and can thus challenge permanent world champion Carlsen. Many experts are expecting one of the most spectacular World Cup duels in recent years.

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