Chess awaits a new world champion | The Express Tribune
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LONDON: Chess will crown a new world champion when Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren begin their battle on Sunday in the shadow of incumbent Magnus Carlsen , who voluntarily relinquished the title he held since 2013. Carlsen has spent more than a decade as the world's top-ranked player and crushed Russia's Nepomniachtchi in 2021 in the last of his four successful title defences. The Norwegian, 32, said last year he lacked the motivation for another tilt. Nepomniachtchi, also 32, will compete under the neutral flag of the world governing body (FIDE) when he takes on China's Ding for the vacant title and a 1.2 million euros ($1.31 million) winners' prize in the best-of-14 contest in Astana, Kazakhstan. World number two Nepomniachtchi won the Candidates' Tournament with a round to spare while third-ranked Ding, 30, qualified as the runner-up. Neither has held the world title before - a first for the championship. "I can write my name in history,