Player
Ian Nepomniachtchi is the current World No.2 and the top player from Russia. He is a two-time Russian champion as well as a former World Youth and European Individual Champion. In 2021, Nepomniachtchi won the FIDE Candidates Tournament, earning him the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship title. In March of 2022, he then won the FIDE Candidates Tournament again. He recently faced Chinese GM Ding Liren in the 2023 World Championship match, but unfortunately, the Russian GM lost in the fourth and final rapid tiebreak game of the event.