A head to head between the world champion and the leading pretender to the throne can be a game to savour. Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren are both playing in the online Chessable Masters, which began on Thursday with an all-play-all of 16, followed next week by a knockout of the top eight.
Carlsen and Ding are paired in Sunday evening’s 15th and final all-play-all round, but even if both are already qualified there could still be a battle as Carlsen always wants to be top seeded for the knockout stage. There they would be likely to meet again, either in Tuesday’s semi-finals or in the two-day final on Wednesday and Thursday.
