Within the walls of the Central House of Chess Player, a unique friendly match took place between the President of Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin and the Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomnyashchy.
The president of Norilsk Nickel said that he started playing chess as a child.
“As a real chess player, of course, I have some homework. Therefore, I could not immediately put all the trump cards on the table. I saved it for the right moment, and I became interested in chess as a child, ”Potanin said.
Nepomniachtchi admitted that he accepted the challenge with interest.
“I play a lot of training games, including friendly ones, but this is the first time this has caused such media interest and excitement,” he said.
The match took place in a separate hall, from which a live broadcast was conducted. The match was played according to the classic rule, when chess players are allocated strictly 30 minutes per game.
The match ended in favor of Nepomniachtchi.
The chess community noted that Norilsk Nickel are not typical sponsors who forget about an athlete's success after a defeat. The company noted that they intend to help the athlete in the future.
“Unfortunately, I was not on Jan's team when he was preparing for the world championship match. For the next match, I will definitely ask him to include me in the team, ”Potanin said.
The head of Norilsk Nickel noted that he would like to join Nepomniachtchi's team.
“In order to be of use to Jan on his team, if he invites me to the next world championship match, I need to prepare, read the theory, get some physics. In general, I will work on myself, ”concluded Potanin.
As a reminder, on December 11, the duel between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen from Norway and the winner of the Candidates Tournament, Russian Grandmaster Jan Nepomniachtchi, ended. After 11 days of games, the Norwegian won, retaining the title.
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