Alexander Grischuk assessed the chances of Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren in the match for the chess crown

Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk could not choose a favorite in the match for the world championship, which will be held in Kazakhstan from April 7 to 30.

“I think the odds are very close to 50/50. If someone is the favorite, then by a very small margin – a maximum of 55/45. And it’s very difficult for me to say who exactly might be the favorite. Firstly, Ding Liren did not play in these tournaments at all and did not take any place at all. And so, it seems to me, the competition has grown very much in recent years. Last year’s world blitz champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France took 31st place in the blitz this time. So there is nothing tragic as a result of Jan. Of course, this is some kind of indicator, but three or four months pass between this World Cup and the World Championship match, so I wouldn’t attach too much importance to this,” – Grischuk said.

At the end of December, the Rapid and Blitz World Championships were held in Almaty (Kazakhstan). Nepomniachtchi took 14th place in the rapid tournament, and 12th in the blitz.