who will you root for? Team Nepo or Team Ding?

I am team Ding because I always cheer for Asians 👍

I would rather want Ding to win because if Magnus comes back next time he seem to have a better chance of keeping the title

you must have a heart and consider ding never had the opportunity to earn a right to be in the candidates, he wanted to qualify and was trying for so long but life was just hard and even though FIDE tried travels weren't simple for any chinese players. ding unfortunately just ran out of time but then karjakin got banned which gave hope as now he earned his right in by playing and getting the highest rating which i think many are quite pleased considering ding deserves a spot to be in the candidates and may i say his entry gives me fischer themes so just saying

Sure, there were extenuating circumstances, I agree, but however you look at it, he doesn't deserve this match, even if you forget about how he qualified for the Candidates.

He was far from Nepo, when he got the chance to play. Him winning this match would make him the luckiest champion ever. People talk about Max Euwe, but the guy dethroned Alekhine in a match. Ding was lucky to be in the Candidates even, and then he will play for the title, not qualifying from that tournament on the board. 

But for me, the entire match is almost meaningless if champion doesn't play it.

They should have just get it over with and crown the winner of the Candidates. He was best of the rest after all.

What are you talking about? Ding is rated #2 in the world. Of course he deserves it.

You want to talk about undeserving, let's talk about players like Alekseenko in 2020.

i think your undermining the fact that ding is a considerable threat that carlsen always considered to be one of the only people with actual chances against him. many of the elite have said he deserved to be in the candidates and definitely would have lots of chances in a WCC match versus carlsen. while this is also off topic considering the format, ding is really one of the only few people in the last decade to beat carlsen in a playoffs OTB which is astonishing.

the thing with nepo is that as many say he is unpredictable in the aspect that when he is ready and on to fight, he can be extremely vicious but then there are days when he just collapses for no reason at all and the rest simply make you think of his performance as a story gone wrong. i personally believe that even if Carlsen did defend his title, many would still be proud of ding and even consider him a better alternative than nepo if he were to lose again like the last time.

fr no offence, i thought it was cool seeing new players but i rather prefer wesley or aronian

IMO
Wildcards should not be outside of the top 10 like Alekseenko in 2020.
Also wildcards should not be players who were inactive almost all year like Kramnik in 2018.
I think Ding was fine this year because Covid and China and all that BS... also Ding might be 2nd best only to Carlsen, so of course he should get a chance in the candidates... again all this is IMO.

Instead they should have let MVL play in 2018. You mention Wesley or Aronia, sure, they're usually in the top 10 and would probably be ok.

Aronian usually collapses in Candidates tournaments though. He may be like a 2020 Nepo in a WCC match.

yes but it would feel more better fit cause come on if its the candidates tournament having the best players from around the world fighting for the chance? then why shouldn't it not be mostly players from the top 10 who seem very fit and have good chances? its been a while since wesley was last seen and i have yet to wonder how shakhriyar would do now in a candidates event

Of course Aleksenko didn't deserve to be in the Candidates at that time, I am not talking about him at all, we are not talking about such things, we are discussing serious competition of WCC match, not about the guy who got wild card and was last afterwards. Anyone else higher rated than him deserved that wild card more than him.

I am talking about this match particularly, and the fact remains that the #2 player in the world first wouldn't even be in the Candidates if not for Karjakin (fine, you could say that he should have got the wild card being #2), but he certainly wouldn't be in this match if not for Magnus. So for me, he would be the luckiest champion ever. 

Even if he beats Ian, for me it is an almost meaningless match, because this is not the match that was deserved on the board.

That is all great, but in the actual Tournament he didn't prove to be threatening at all. This was his better tournament, the one before that (last year's Tournament) was worse. Probably the pressure getting to him.

This tells me that psychologically he is not there to challenge Magnus at this time.

For me the luckiest champion ever would have been if Gelfand won in 2012 against Anand.

It was a close match (Anand barely won on tiebreaks) and Gelfand was #18 in the world IIRC.

(No surprise that Anand could only win 1 game out of 2 matches against Carlsen in the next two matches)

But a #2 in the world becoming world champ? I wouldn't call that lucky... but it's fine that we have different opinions on this.

Just to clarify that I mean lucky in a sense of qualifying for the match. 

As for Gelfand, he didn't win in the end so he is not in the contention.

If he did, he would at least dethrone the current champion in a direct match. In any case, I hope whoever wins this match will prove himself afterwards.

#Team ding 

imagine if ding becomes the World champion , china being the most populated country ..

chess popularity will be in zenith and sponsors too ..

Team ding or team magnus comes back

Nah, I don't think either of them can do that. We'll have to wait for the next batch of talent, just like after Kasparov we had to wait for Carlsen. Not every world champ can be a super star.

You are probably correct.

Theoretically, Magnus could decide to take part in the future and one of them might have a match with him after all (for instance if Ding wins, Magnus might decide that he wants a match with him). He said that he neither guarantees it nor excludes it completely (to play for the title again).

Though of course, at this moment it doesn't seem likely.

Yeah, that would be fun, if Carlsen tried again 5 or 10 years from now. Of course at that age he should probably be the underdog, but that's part of what would make it fun.

Well who knows. If he plays in 5 years, at the age of 36 he might not even be the underdog. But a lot will come down to his force of will to play. You have people who wishes to be at the top for the longest time possible, and you have people who just retire when they are still at the top of their sport, because they feel there is nothing else to be gained by sticking around.

For the time being, he seems to belong to the later group.