Who is the next challenger? Happy Birthday Nepo

Ian Nepomniachtchi is a Russian GM, World #No4, and the next challenger against Magnus Carlsen!

What should you absolutely know about the next challenger?

His nickname is Nepo (short for Nepomniachtchi)
He was born in Bryansk, Russia
In 2002 he won the World Junior Championship U12, barely edging out Carlsen, whom he outrated at that point.
He became a Grandmaster at the age of 17 in 2007
In 2010, Nepomniachtchi won his first Russian Championship, defeating Karjakin in a playoff by drawing an Armageddon game as Black.
He won the 2010 and 2020 Russian Superfinal, the 2010 European Individual titles, the 2016 Tal Memorial, and the 2008 and 2015 Aeroflot Open. He also won the World Team – Chess Championship as a member of the Russian team in Antalya (2013) and Astana (2019), and the 2015 European Team Chess Championship in Reykjavík with the Russian team.
At 28 years of age, Nepo entered the top 10 for the first time, reaching his peak rating to that date of 2773 and thus becoming the highest-rated Russian player.
He has won two silver medals in World Rapid Championships and one in World Blitz Championship.
In April 2021, Ian won the 2020/2021 Candidates tournament with 8.5/14 points, qualifying him to play for the world championship.
He has a brilliant record against world champions. At standard time controls, he has positive scores against GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Viswanathan Anand, and Magnus Carlsen. He also has positive records against GM Anatoly Karpov, and GM Garry Kasparov in rapid/blitz, the only formats he has played them in.

Download a card about Nepo by clicking here.