All the trappings of a world championship match are in place: the headline-grabbing prize fund, the throngs of working media and cocktail-sipping VIPs, the sound-proof studio couched inside a sleek purpose-built playing hall. The only thing that’s missing is the sport’s best player and most compelling draw.
Magnus Carlsen, considered the greatest chess player on the planet even before rising to the No 1 ranking more than a decade ago and winning the title from Viswanathan Anand, will be enjoying a skiing holiday in the French Alps when Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and China’s Ding Liren kick off their €2m ($2.2m) world title match on Sunday at the St Regis Astana Hotel in the Kazakh capital.
