Ian Nepomniachtchi
- November 4, 2025
Defeated in two World Championship matches (2021, 2023)
Highest FIDE Elo rating: 2795
Ranking: ranked as high as world number two for four months in 2023
Tournament career: winner of eight super-tournaments:
Candidates Tournament 2020 – 2021
Candidates Tournament 2022
2x winner of the Russian Championship
winner of the Tal Memorial 2016, Dortmund International Chess Meeting 2018, and two others…
Chess Olympiads: team bronze and individual silver medal
What earned him this:
One of the stars of contemporary chess, Ian Nepomniachtchi won two Candidates Tournaments and played twice for the World Championship title. In the first match, he lost to Carlsen, where after a balanced first half of the match, he was broken by the record sixth game and did not resist the favorite much in the second half. In the second match, he lost a dramatic match to Ding Liren, which went to a tie-break.
He won the Russian Championship, the Tal Memorial, and the traditional event in Dortmund. He briefly held the second place in the world, spending most of his career around the fifth to tenth place.
Why he isn’t higher:
Besides the Candidates, his list of tournament victories is perhaps smaller than many would expect. He was unable to surpass the rating barrier of 2800 like most of his star colleagues.
Nepo is a player who can beat anyone but also lose to anyone. Brilliant moves alternate with moments of despair and surprising blunders. Greater consistency has been missing throughout his career.
Best games:
Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Alexandr Kharitonov
Dagomys 2009
Share
Miroslav Janeček graduated in English Philology at Palacký University Olomouc. Currently he works in Prague as a content editor for a large marketing company. His roots are in Opava - the historic and cultural centre of the Czech part of Silesia. That city is also the home of Slezan Opava, the chess club where Miroslav started to play chess, later went on to work as a youth coach and which he to this day proudly represents. As an aspiring chess publicist, he is the main author of articles on ChessDB.cz. In his free time, in addition to chess and writing, he also devotes himself to racket sports, history, and literature.