Magnus Carlsen (age: 30 years) from Norway seeks to retain his crown against challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi (age: 31 years) from Russia. Previously Carlsen defended his title against Fabiano Caruana in 2018, and this current match will be his fourth title defense. Meanwhile, Nepomniachtchi won the 2020/21 Candidates tournament with a round to spare scoring +5 -2 =7 against a field including Fabiano Caruana (USA), Ding Liren (CHN), Anish Giri (NED), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Alexander Grischuk (RUS), Wang Hao (CHN), and wildcard Kirill Alekseenko (RUS) to earn the right to be the challenger for the next world championship match. The match is being played at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 24 to December 16, 2021.