GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won the 2020/21 FIDE Candidates tournament and will challenge world champion GM Magnus Carlsen for the world championship beginning in November 2021. Nepomniachtchi won the tournament by playing well in both halves while several rivals struggled in one half or the other.

The tournament began on March 17, 2020 and Nepomniachtchi's wins over GM Anish Giri in round one, GM Wang Hao in round five, and GM Ding Liren in round six brought him into first place. Even after a loss to GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in round seven, Nepomniachtchi held a share of first when the tournament was suspended midway through on March 26 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

When the tournament resumed on April 19, 2021, Nepomniachtchi's wins in round 10 over GM Kirill Alekseenko and round 12 over Wang gave him a dominating tournament position, especially after GM Fabiano Caruana lost to Giri in the same round. Nepomniachtchi's draw in round 13 while Giri lost to GM Alexander Grischuk gave Nepomniachtchi the tournament victory with a round left.