Carlsen and Lagno win the World Blitz Chess Championship
Magnus Carlsen has won the Open section of the King Salman World Blitz Chess Championship, which finished in Moscow on Monday evening. The Norwegian Grandmaster previously won the World Rapid Championship, which was played just before the Blitz. In the women’s section, Kateryna Lagno of Russia took the Blitz title (the Women’s Rapid was won by Humpy Koneru of India). Both players repeated their victories in the blitz from last year in St- Petersburg. The winner of the Blitz was decided on tiebreak between Magnus Carlsen and American Hikaru Nakamura, as both players scored 16½ points each in the 21 rounds. The first game in the playoff ended in a draw, but Carlsen won the second one and, with it, his second crown at this event. Third place went to former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who took the plunge into the World Blitz Championship despite leaving competitive chess a year ago. After his victory in the Rapid, Magnus Carlsen said the job was only “half done” and that he wanted to win the title in blitz. Speaking to the media after his victory in the Blitz Championship, Carlsen said that the tiebreak was tough. “I’m very pleased with my performance. A lot of the games were rough, but it’s the result that counts. Also, the conditions for playing were very good so I have no complaints about the organization.” [See the full interview with Carlsen on FIDE’s Youtube channel] When asked whether he keeps track of all the big events he won, Carlsen replied – “only the world titles”. So far, in his career, Carlsen has defended the World Champion title in classical chess three times and he also has three World Rapid and World Blitz Championship titles under his belt. This is Carlsen’s third consecutive win in the World Blitz and third title in the World Rapid – an unprecedented achievement in chess history. The Norwegian is also the world champion in classical chess (since 2013). By winning both events, Carlsen pocketed $120,000 dollars ($60,000 for each event). 1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2865 – 16½ 2. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2885 – 16½3. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) 2748 – 154. Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2741 – 145. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2768 – 146. Alireza Firouzja (FID) 2649 – 13½7. Vladislav Artemiev (RUS) 2793 – 13½8. Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2807 – 13½9. Maxim Matlakov (RUS) 2720 – 13½10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 2796 – 13½11. Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2780 – 13½12. Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS) 2714 – 13½13. Anish Giri (NED) 2769 – 13½14. Alexander Zubov (UKR) 2754 – 13½15. Levon Aronian (ARM) 2698 – 13½16. Wang Hao (CHN) 2714 – 13½17. Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS) 2556 – 13½18. Peter Svidler (RUS) 2805 – 13½19. Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2700 – 13½20. Ivan Cheparinov (GEO) 2647 – 13½ … 206 players Kateryna Lagno, the winner of the Women’s Blitz, scored 13 points out of 17 games. Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine finished second (with 12½/17) and the 3rd and 4th places went to Tan Zhongyi of China and Valentina Gunina of Russia, who both crossed the finishing line with 12 points. “This was a tough day but – because of a bit of luck – I am very happy. I was White in the final round and I had to play for a win. When I overlooked a pawn, I had to play for a draw, but it worked”, Lagno said. [See the full interview with Lagno on FIDE’s Youtube channel] Comparing this victory to that of last year in the Blitz in St Petersburg, Lagno said that “this year’s tournament was tougher” because several players had chances to be first.A special prize for the best-combined performance in the Rapid and the Blitz in the Women’s category, awarded by TOTAL (the French energy major), went to Anna Muzychuk. In the Blitz games, each player had 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1. Altogether 330 players from 44 countries took part in both the Open and the Women’s events. The line-up in both sections included some of the strongest players in the world. 1. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) 2606 – 132. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 2504 – 12½3. Tan Zhongyi (CHN) 2480 – 124. Valentina Gunina (RUS) 2366 – 125. Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 2521 – 11½6. Lei Tingjie (CHN) 2543 – 11½7. Meri Arabidze (GEO) 2412 – 11½8. Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) 2452 – 11½9. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI) 2463 – 11½10. Anastasia Bodnaruk (RUS) 2375 – 1111. Gulnar Mammadova (AZE) 2293 – 1112. Humpy Koneru (IND) 2489 – 10½13. Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) 2282 – 10½14. Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) 2380 – 10½15. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) 2415 – 10½16. Alisa Galliamova (RUS) 2415 – 10½17. Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) 2390 – 10½18. Natalia Zhukova (UKR) 2239 – 10½19. Irina Krush (USA) 2371 – 10½20. Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM) 2268 – 10½ … 122 players Official website: https://wrbc2019.com Special thanks to Milan Dinic (Press officer), Lennart Ootes and Maria Emelianova (official photographers), and Etery Kublashvili (Chess Federation of Russia). Photos are available for the press at our official Flickr account.
Women’s World Championship Match: Full schedule & principals
IA Shohreh Bayat (Iran) was appointed as the Chief Arbiter of the Women’s World Chess Championship Match between Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina. The competition will take place in Shanghai/Vladivostok (China/Russia), January 4-24, 2020. Marika Japaridze (Georgia) will serve as the Deputy Chief Arbiter. Iranian WFM Shohreh Bayat is Asia’s first and only female Grade-A arbiter. She has an impressive list of events on her arbiter records, including extensive experience at women’s competitions. In 2018, Shohreh Bayat was a Deputy Chief Arbiter at the Women’s World Championship. GM Nigel Short (England) was appointed as a Chairman of the Appeals Committee at the upcoming Women’s World Championship. Two other members of the Committee are GM Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine) and IA Abd Hamid Bin And Majid (Malaysia). Women’s World Championship schedule January 04 – Shanghai Opening Ceremony and Technical meetingJanuary 05 – Shanghai Game 1January 06 – Shanghai Game 2January 07 – Shanghai Day offJanuary 08 – Shanghai Game 3January 09 – Shanghai Game 4January 10 – Shanghai Day offJanuary 11 – Shanghai Game 5January 12 – Shanghai Game 6January 13 – Shanghai DepartureJanuary 14 – Vladivostok ArrivalJanuary 15 – Vladivostok Opening Ceremony and Technical meetingJanuary 16 – Vladivostok Game 7January 17 – Vladivostok Game 8January 18 – Vladivostok Day offJanuary 19 – Vladivostok Game 9January 20 – Vladivostok Game 10January 21 – Vladivostok Day offJanuary 22 – Vladivostok Game 11January 23 – Vladivostok Game 12January 24 – Vladivostok Closing ceremony/tie breakJanuary 25 – Vladivostok Departure
World Blitz Championship: Carlsen and Lagno sprint to the top
Magnus Carlsen and Kateryna Lagno are leading in their sections after the first day of the World Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow. With nine rounds to go in the Open section, Carlsen (10/12) is half a point ahead of the second-placed Maxim Matlakov (9½/12), while another three players are on nine points. In the Women’s Blitz, the leader, Kateryna Lagno scored 8/9. She is chased by four players with seven points. The World Blitz Championship, which is taking place in the historic Luzhniki Stadium, was opened by Russian footballer and former national team member Evgeni Aldonin, who made the first move on board one, where Hikaru Nakamura was facing Marin Bosiocic. The first part of the Open tournament saw a surprising rise of the 15-year-old Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov who started with five wins. The only other player with a maximum score after five rounds was Magnus Carlsen. In Round 6 two leaders clashed. Abdusattorov sacrificed a pawn but Carlsen managed to take control of the game by consolidating his position and preserving an extra pawn. However, the Norwegian blundered badly on move 33 and lost a pawn. The World Champion couldn’t hide his anger and betrayed his frustration with a sudden hand movement. Carlsen was in trouble but eventually, the game ended with a draw. Abdusattorov’s performance slipped in the second half of the first day, but with 7/12 against some of the strongest players in the Open section, his score is very impressive. The biggest surprise came in Round 7, which saw Carlsen suffer his first defeat in both championships. After drawing his sixth game, Carlsen (who entered round seven with 5½/6) lost to Dmitry Andreikin, the two-time Russian champion. Carlsen found himself in time trouble and an inferior position due to his insecure king ended up two pawns down and eventually resigned. Carlsen quickly brushed it off and won four games and draw only one in the final five rounds. Maxim Matlakov, who is holding the second position after the first day, had five points after the first six rounds (four wins and two draws). He then had a series of three consecutive draws followed by three wins which landed him in second place by the end of the day. Matlakov’s key moment will likely come in the first game of the second day, in Round 13, when he will be facing Magnus Carlsen on board one. Three players are tied for the third place: Hikaru Nakamura, Daniil Dubov, and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The bronze-medalist from the 2018 Blitz in St. Petersburg, Hikaru Nakamura, had the momentum taken away from him in the third round when he bit the dust in the encounter with Alireza Firouzja, and then barely saved a draw in Round 4 against Timur Gareyev. Dubov started his blitz campaign with a loss to Ilia ljiushenok but then regained his confidence and maintained a good rhythm throughout the day. Ian Nepomniachtchi suffered two loses on the first day (to Ponkratov and Socko), but won his last four games, which will likely bolster his confidence ahead of the decisive day of the Blitz Championship. The former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is on eight points after 12 rounds. Kramnik’s first loss came in Round 5, where he fell to Sergey Karjakin. The former world champion lost two more games to Gabriel Sargissian and Boris Savchenko but secured a place close to the top echelons. Overall, not a bad result so far for someone who retired from active chess. 1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2865 – 102. Maxim Matlakov (RUS) 2720 – 9½3. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2885 – 94. Daniil Dubov (RUS) 2736 – 95. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2826 – 96. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (IND) 2756 – 8½7. Vladislav Artemiev (RUS) 2793 – 8½8. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 2796 – 8½9. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2706 – 8½10. Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2807 – 8½ The Women’s Blitz Nine games were played on the first day of the Women’s Blitz. Kateryna Lagno showed her determination to defend her 2018 women’s world blitz champion title. She not only scored 8 points out of 9 but also already defeated some of her most likely competitors for the title. There are four players are on the leader’s heels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Humpy Koneru, Daria Charochkina, and Alina Kashlinskaya, all on 7/9. Alexandra Kosteniuk finished the day with just one loss and will face Lagno in Round 10. The winner of this year’s Women’s Rapid, Humpy Koneru lost to the day-one leader Katerina Lagno in a dramatic battle in the final round of the first day but continues her quest for her second title in Moscow. 1. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) 2606 – 82. Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 2521 – 73. Humpy Koneru (IND) 2489 – 74. Daria Charochkina (RUS) 2212 – 75. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) 2282 – 76. Tan Zhongyi (CHN) 2480 – 6½7. Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) 2282 – 6½8. Anastasia Bodnaruk (RUS) 2375 – 6½9. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) 2415 – 6½10. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 2504 – 6½ Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://wrbc2019.com Text: Milan Dinic Photos: Lennart Ootes Photos are available for the press at our official Flickr account.
Carlsen and Koneru are the 2019 World Rapid Champions
Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Humpy Kuneru of India are the winners of the 2019 World rapid chess championship which ended on Saturday evening in Moscow. With eight wins, seven draws, and no defeats, the Norwegian grandmaster comfortably won the Open Rapid and his third rapid title. In the Women’s Rapid, the winner was determined in a playoff between the first two of three players sharing first place. Humpy Koneru won the dual after defeating China’s Lei Tingjie in a dramatic “Armageddon” battle. “To win it all you need an attacking mindset” Speaking to the media after his convincing victory in the Open Rapid section, Magnus Carlsen, who finished a whole point ahead of everyone else, said that he was very happy with his performance in the tournament saying that he “handled it fairly well.” “The first two days were the most difficult for me. I took some time to get going. I had a difficult game against Aronian and I am very happy about my performance”, Carlsen said. “Some of my opponents perhaps lacked the cutting edge, but in such a tournament in order to win all you need is to have an attacking mindset. There are a lot of people here who had good performances but they could have pushed even more.” When asked about his most difficult opponents in the tournament, Carlsen singled out three players: “I had some very difficult positions against Mamedov, Melkumyan and Wang Hao. I defended some worse positions for sure, but I never thought I was lost.” The Open Rapid: Carlsen’s path to victory in Moscow Carlsen set off on his path to victory with three wins and two draws on day one. He accelerated on the second day with four wins and two draws. After getting in the poll-position at the end of the second day, with 8/10 and half a point above the rest, on the third day of the Rapid Magnus Carlsen continued to improve his already confident performance and tightened his grip around the first place. It wasn’t completely spotless for Carlsen, but it was more than enough. In Round 11 he drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. After securing a better position, Carlsen missed the best continuation allowing the queens exchange. The situation on the board developed into a rook endgame, which did not give the Norwegian sufficient advantage to press for a victory over his French opponent. In Round 12 Carlsen was White against Levon Aronian. In a tense queen endgame, Aronian simply blundered his strongest piece and lost. This was the moment when Carlsen increased his margin over everybody else to a whole point. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was next in the line. Until playing Carlsen in Round 13, Mamedyarov had six victories, five draws and only one loss (to Vachier-Lagrave in Round 10). He was playing with authority, but all his confidence disappeared in the game against Carlsen where the Azeri GM played a line that did not suit his style and quickly lost. Carlsen was now a point and a half ahead of everybody else. A face-paced game followed in Round 14 in which Carlsen agreed to a draw with Leinier Dominguez Perez. Having finished this round first among the top boards, he was instantly now 2 points ahead of everyone before the final game, which meant that if anyone wanted to catch him, he had to win in the 14th round. Only Vladislav Artemiev, who defeated Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura who downed Ilia Smirin were up to the task. Nakamura had his destiny in his hands: had he beaten Carlsen, both would have been on 11 points meaning there would be a playoff. Either because of being tired or thinking it was pointless to expect winning over the Norwegian who was at the top of his game, Nakamura went for a quick draw after 22 moves, allowing Magnus to claim the title of the Rapid World Champion, one point ahead everybody else. A surprise runner-up Alireza Firouzja (who recently left the Iranian chess federation and participated in the tournament under the flag of FIDE) emerged second although he made his way to the top board only in the final round. Firouzja, however, had a very good tournament, defeating Mamedyarov in the final round and finishing on 10.5/15. In the final standings, he was ranked first among those tied for second to fourth places. The remaining two were Hikaru Nakamura and Vladimir Artemiev, all on 10.5/15. The places 5-11 are shared among seven players who scored 10/15: Aronian, Dominguez, Duda, Dubov, Korobov, David Anton and Yu Yangyi. The rapid also saw a great performance by the 51-year-old Ilia Smirin who, having shared the first place after the first day (with Wang Hao), finished 15th with 9.5 points, but throughout the tournament was playing at the top boards. 1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2886 – 11½2. Alireza Firouzja (FID) 2614 – 10½3. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2819 – 10½4. Vladislav Artemiev (RUS) 2756 – 10½5. Levon Aronian (ARM) 2784 – 106. Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) 2755 – 107. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 2751 – 108. Daniil Dubov (RUS) 2752 – 109. Anton Korobov (UKR) 2818 – 1010. David Anton (ESP) 2709 – 10 The Women’s rapid: Blunders leading to Armageddon Great turnarounds in competitions often arise when one side performs better than his or her opponent. Sometimes, however, changes happen not due to someone’s brilliance but rather because of their opponent’s misstep. This seemed to be the case in many of the games on the final day of the Women’s Rapid. After two days and eight rounds of play, there were four players sharing the first place, with 6.5/8: Irina Bulmaga, Tan Zhongyi, Lei Tingjie, and Mariya Muzychuk. The second tier, with 6/8 was made up of Humpy Koneru, Olga Girya, Kateryna Lagno, Harika Dronavalli, Ekaterina Atalik, and Anna Muzychuk. Several key games on the final day were decided by the blunders of players who had significantly better positions. Round Nine began with a Chinese derby, where Lei Tingjie had White against Tan Zhongyi. This turned out to be the key game of Lei’s path to the top in the Rapid. Tan achieved a
Rapid Championship Day 2: Carlsen outpaces the rest of the field
Magnus Carlsen has taken the sole lead in the Open with 8/10 after the second day of the World Rapid Championship in Moscow. Close behind are three players on 7½ – Wang Hao, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the women’s competition, the Romanian Irina Bulmaga is having a great tournament as she continues her strong performance from the first day – she is leading the pack of top four players, all on 6½/8. The Open The second day of the Open Rapid started with many draws in Round 6 – there were just three decisive outcomes on the top ten boards. As the day progressed draws continued to dominate the rounds, but important breakthroughs and turnarounds were happening anyway. At the end of the first day, World Champion Magnus Carlsen mentioned that he was slowly getting into his rhythm and hoped to peak on the second day. That is exactly what happened: after two draws in sixth and seventh rounds (against Wang Hao and Aleksandr Rakhmanov), Carlsen crushed Czech GM Viktor Laznicka in Round 8. This was the key moment as all the other top-boards drew in that round. In the ninth round, Carlsen played against Alexander Zubov who achieved a better position against the World Champion, but as luck would have it, the Ukrainian missed his chances and eventually lost. In Round 10, Carlsen was determined to keep the momentum going as he quickly and forcefully defeated Le Quang Liem, ending the second day half a point ahead of everybody else. In Round 11, Carlsen is taking on Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. After 10 rounds in the Open section, there are three players who can be considered as Carlsen’s main competitors: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wang Hao and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, all on 7½/10. Among them, Wang Hao seems to be taking a more cautious approach – not objecting to fast draws with very strong players and looking for his chances against the slightly weaker opponents. The end of the second day of the Open Rapid in Moscow saw more strong players come up in the ranks after having a slow start on the first day such as Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler, Sergey Karjakin, Dmitry Andreikin, to name a few. 1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2886 – 82. Wang Hao (CHN) 2748 – 7½3. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 2751– 7½4. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2873 – 7½5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2752 – 76. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2745 – 77. Le Quang Liem (VIE) 2740 – 78. Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) 2755 – 79. Gadir Guseinov (AZE) 2691 – 710. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2819 – 7 …205 players The Women’s tournament After eight rounds in the Women’s World Rapid, four players are sharing first place: Irina Bulmaga (who was also in the lead after the first day), two Chinese players – Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie, as well as and Mariya Muzychuk. All are on 6½/8. Bulmaga – who unlike some other players has not had much experience in top tournaments – is performing very well and has scored 2½/4 on the second day, including a win against Humpy Koneru. Her preparation for this tournament, which was done together with Ekaterina Atalik, seems to be paying off. Mariya Muzychuk made a breakthrough of the day winning all four games – all against Russian players. In Round 5, Mariya defeated the young Russian prodigy Aleksandra Maltsevskaya; Alina Kashlinskaya fell in Round 6; Daria Charochkina – in Round 7 and, finally, the Ukrainian downed Natalija Pogonina, the runner-up of the Women’s World Chess Championship 2015. The second day was also good for Kateryna Lagno who celebrated her 30th birthday. After a surprise loss in Round 4 on the first day, Lagno bounced back winning three games in a row and ending the streak with a quick draw with Harika Dronavalli in Round 8. Lagno is now in seventh place, half a point behind the leaders. Olga Girya, who was one of the three leaders after the first day with a maximum result, had a poor start on the second day, losing two games (to Koneru and Pogonina) and falling to the middle of the score-board. She managed to fight her way back to the upper ranks by defeating Alexandra Kosteniuk in Round 7 and Zhansaya Abdumalik in Round 8. In Round 9, she will be playing with black pieces against Kateryna Lagno. The tournament is not going well for Alexandra Kosteniuk. The second-seeded player finished the second day of the Rapid with 4.5/8. Kosteniuk started day two with a loss to Alisa Gaillamova. Her victory over Maria Manakova in the fifth round gave her hope for repeating the scenario of the first day when she started with a loss and then cleared three wins. This was not the case, however: Kosteniuk lost to Olga Girya and then drew with Sofio Gvetadze in Round 8. 1. Irina Bulmaga (ROU) 2383 – 6½2. Tan Zhongyi (CHN) 2496 – 6½3. Lei Tingjie (CHN) 2498 – 6½4. Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 2518 – 6½5. Humpy Koneru (IND) 2438 – 66. Olga Girya (RUS) 2365 – 67. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) 2533 – 68. Harika Dronavalli (IND) 2425 – 69. Ekaterina Atalik (TUR) 2360 – 610. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 2592 – 6 …122 players Russian footballer Dmitri Bulykin on similarities between football and chess The second day of the World Rapid and Blitz started at 3 PM Moscow time, with the famous Russian footballer Dmitri Bulykin making the first move in the Open tournament. “It is a rare thing to see chess played at a football stadium”, Bulykin said, referring to the fact that the tournament is taking place at the famous Luzhniki Stadium, the home of the 1980 Olympics and the 2018 World Cup finals. Bulykin started his career in Lokomotiv Moscow, before moving on to other popular clubs such as Dynamo, Bayer Leverkusen, Anderlecht, and Ajax. He also played for the Russian national team at the European championship in 2004. Himself a chess fan who “plays chess a bit” (a claim which should be taken with a pinch of salt coming from a Russian), Bulykin pointed out that “a lot of footballers play chess, and a lot of chess players play football.
The World Rapid and Blitz Championship kicks off in Moscow
Wang Hao, Ilia Smirin, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Leinier Dominguez are the leaders of the Open section after the first day of the King Salman Rapid World Championship. Among women, Arabidze shares the first place with Olga Girya and Irina Bulmaga, the three of them with a perfect score. Round one of the Rapid World Championship started with the president of the Saudi chess federation Rami Altassan making the first move at board one of the Open event, while FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich did the same in the women’s tournament. After five rounds in the Open Rapid, there are five players at the top, but all are half a point shy of a 100% score. Among them, however, one name stands out: Ilia Smirin. It is not often nowadays that you see anyone over 40 on the top of a tournament where the world elite play, but the 51-year-old Israeli GM did just that. Referring to the fact that he has risen up among a pack of “young lions”, Smirin noted with a smile that “even lions are prey to other animals sometimes”. The top group is led by Wang Hao – the Chinese player who surprisingly won the Isle of Man Grand Swiss to secure a place at the upcoming Candidates. Wang Hao climbed to the top together with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Ilya Smirin and Leinier Dominguez. Magnus Carlsen is just a half-point behind them. It is worth noting that the first game of the World Rapid and Blitz Championship was decided after 27 minutes and 26 moves. Not surprisingly, it was the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, who delivered on this, defeating Azamat Utegaliyev of Kazakhstan. However, Carlsen got off to a poor start in round two but managed to edge a draw with Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia. In round three the World Champion defeated Boris Savchenko but then had another hiccup with Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan in round four as the game was drawn. In round five Carlsen dispatched Aleksandr Shimanov and is set to face Wang Hao. Despite not being the leader on the first day, Carlsen always played at the top board. This decision was made for technical reasons thus allowing the Norwegian national television to cover their favorite. There is a special daily program about the Rapid and Blitz going live in the world champion’s home country. The performance of Nihal Sarin, the promising 15-year-old prodigy from India is also worth mentioning. The teenager did not flinch and scored 3.5 out of five. His rapid rating is 2292 – low compared to most others – but this is only because he hasn’t played enough tournaments. The position of a “formal underdog” in every game he plays at this event (assuming he performs well) is likely to play into Sarin’s hands. The Women’s tournament The first day of the women’s rapid started with an upset in round one as the second-seated Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to Baira Kovanova who is 280-points lower-rated! Round two saw another dramatic moment as Monika Socko (Poland) defeated the 2016 Women’s World Rapid winner and the top-rated player at this tournament, Anna Muzychuk. By round four, both Muzychuk sisters were on 50% – an underwhelming result by their standards. Altogether, seven players finished three rounds with a maximum score: a Russian FM Ekaterina Goltseva (ranked 91st at the start) was leading the pack, followed by Dinara Dordzhieva (Russia), Meri Arabidze (Georgia), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Mongolia), Olga Girya (Russia) and Irina Bulmaga (Romania). The nature of the fast-tempo play is that mistakes are more common and sudden turnarounds happen quickly. This was the case in Round four – the final round of the day for the Women’s tournament (they are playing 12 games instead of 15 as is the case in the Open section). Playing on board one Olga Girya managed to score a full point in a drawish endgame after Nana Dzagnidze made a terrible blunder, while Meri Arabidze outplayed Ekaterina Goltseva. Irina Bulmaga beat Batkhuyag Munguntuul, while Dinara Dordzhieva lost to Tan Zhongyi of China. After four rounds, Arabidze (Georgia), Girya (Russia) and Bulmaga (Romania) are tied for the first at the women’s tournament. Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://wrbc2019.com Text: Milan Dinic Photos: Lennart Ootes & David Llada Photos are available for the press at our official Flickr account.
King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships officially opened
The King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships were officially opened on Wednesday evening at the Central Chess Club in Moscow. All top-seeded players in the Rapid and Blitz events drew white pieces in the drawing of lots: Magnus Carlsen (Rapid Open) started the trend which was followed by Anna Muzychuk (Rapid Women), Hikaru Nakamura (Blitz Open) and Kateryna Lagno (Blitz Women). It was a White night in Moscow (which, unusually for this time of the year – has no snow!) as the drawing of lots in all four categories ended with top seeds drawing white pieces. That means that all participants with odd numbers will have White in the first round in both the rapid and the blitz tournaments. The pairings for the first round of the Rapid will be published tomorrow at 11 AM Moscow time (GMT +3). The hall of the legendary Central Chess Club was crowded as players, arbiters, celebrities of the chess world and journalists gathered for the official opening of what will likely be one of the most exciting chess events of the year – the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. The president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Arkady Dvorkovich, expressed gratitude to the continuous support by Saudi Arabia to this event as well as to global companies such as Total, Gazprom, and others. “I am happy that Russia is hosting another big event, this time in Moscow (the World Rapid and Blitz in 2018 were held in St Petersburg)… It is wonderful that the event is held at a great historic place such as the Luzhniki Stadium which was home to all important ceremonies in the Moscow Olympics of 1980, where I was present at the final rehearsal for the opening ceremony,” Dvorkovich said. “I wish everyone good luck and I declare the World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 in Moscow opened”. Tournament director and Executive Director of the Chess Federation of Russia Mark Glukhovsky stressed the historical importance of Moscow and its Central Chess Club and expressed hope that the organization will live up to the highest standards. “I wish everyone lots of success and invite you all to come and follow the event,” Glukhovsky said. The World Rapid and Blitz Championships have generated considerable coverage in Russian media and attracted a lot of public interest. Earlier on Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter expressing delight at his country hosting “highly prestigious international competitions, involving world-famous chess players, real champions and winners”. “I am certain that many outstanding and beautiful battles, filled with honest and intense struggle, will take place over the next few days,” Putin said. The Rapid and Blitz tournaments will be held at the grandiose Luzhniki sports arena – the famous opening venue of the 1980 Summer Olympics and the venue for the 2016 finals of the football World Cup. The event kicks off with Rapid Championship December 26 – 28, followed by a two-day Blitz tournament on the 29th and the 30th. Over 330 participants from all around the world will be taking part. The accreditation cards will be handed out in the playing hall on December 26 from 1 PM until 2:30 PM. The games will start on December 26 at 3 PM Moscow time (GMT +3). Apart from the main events, there is also an additional program featuring simuls, chess solving exhibitions, blitz and rapid tournaments. The participants of the main chess events will not only square off in chess but also have a chance to face each other in a football tournament at the Luzhniki stadium in the evening on December 28. Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Eteri Kublashvili and Amruta Mokal Official site: https://wrbc2019.com/
Arbiters getting prepared for the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships
An important step in preparation for King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships was made in Moscow yesterday. А Workshop for International Arbiters took place in the Central Chess Club on December 24. This event targeted arbiters selected to serve in the upcoming King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships (WRBC). The IA Workshop was held in Russian and English; it was based on the curriculum successfully used in the previous four events in the FIDE & CFR Pilot Project for Training and Certification of the International Arbiters for the 2020 World Chess Olympiad. The Principal Lecturer, IA/IO/FL Alexander Tkachev (Russia), the CFR Technical Director, opened the Workshop by summarizing lessons learned from previous Pilot Project events in Moscow, Tashkent, Baku, and Sochi. Mr. Tkachev proceeded to describe the criteria that arbiters shall meet in order to be nominated for the 2020 Olympiad and explained the process that the CFR will put in place for the arbiters from Russia. The Guest Lecturer, IA/IO Vadim Tsypin (Canada) worked with the participants on using English in typical tournament situations, then proceeded with a detailed refresher on Anti-Cheating Guidelines and specific measures to be taken at the World Rapid and Blitz. During a group discussion, the Lecturers helped the workshop attendees to develop a common interpretation of complex items in the FIDE Laws of Chess and the FIDE Competition (Tournament) Rules. Together, the arbiters chose the best processes and practices that they will be following in the upcoming competition. The second half of the IA Workshop featured two invited guests. IA Laurent Freyd (France), Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, warmly welcomed the attendees, stressed the importance of teamwork and answered a wide range of questions. IA Takis Nikolopoulos (Greece), Chief Arbiter of the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships, shared his experience from the 2017 event in Riyadh and emphasized that the best practices agreed upon in advance are the key to success of the arbiter team at the WRBC. Round 1 of the WRBC starts in the VIP zone of the Grand Sports Arena at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex on December 26. The next IA Workshop in the Russian Federation will take place in Moscow in January of 2020. Photo: Vladimir Barsky
Rating analytics: The number of rated chess players goes up
Kaspars Migla is the creator and founder of chessratings.top. In his column, he analyzes monthly FIDE standard rating changes, career-high ratings, rating distribution by country, continent, region, and other rating-related statistics. In this edition, he looks at the absolute numbers of rated players and the percentage of active players in different countries. According to the FIDE December data, integrated by chessratings.top, the number of players with a standard rating has surpassed the 350,000 mark (352,234 people to be exact). The number of active (those who have participated in tournaments over the last 12 months) and inactive players is roughly equal. Over the month’s time, the number of chess players increased by 2546, whereas within a year we have almost 30,000 new players (29 517). If this trend continues, then by 2024 there will be over a half-million chess players with standard FIDE rating. We will definitely inform you when it happens. Stay tuned! Total number of new players over 12 months The number of people having FIDE standard rating has grown in almost all countries. This process seems irreversible, provided that there are no radical rules and rating calculation changes. It is enough to say, that the last year Russia was the only country with more than 30,000 rated players, but not anymore. As of December 1, there are 34,811 active players in Russia, whereas in India – 32 494. Given that in the second most populated country in the world the number of players increases faster, eventually, we might see the rise of a new leader. The top 5 countries – Russia and India mentioned above plus Germany (26 549), Spain (24 784) and France (23 414) – are head and shoulders above the others. Since other countries have far fewer rated players, we can’t expect real changes in the leading quintet. Total number of chess players Currently, there are 172 848 active and 179 386 inactive players with standard FIDE rating. Last year those figures were 166 862 and 155 855 respectively. It is worth mentioning that this year inactive players outnumbered active players. Comparing to the last month, the list of countries with the greatest number of active players remained the same but there have been some changes inside the upper echelon. Spain tops the list with 15 461 active players, followed by France (13 716) and Germany (11 989). The leaders by the overall number of players India (11 682) and Russia (11 164) round out the top 5. This data suggests that the geographic chess center on our planet is located in Western Europe. A closer look at the active players pivot table provides us insight into some things that were hard to imagine before. For example, in the list of Top Federations, the USA is second, but when it comes to active players this country brings up the rear of the top 20, trailing Swede (2741), Denmark (2779) and Serbia (2849). Subsequently, in terms of large-scale involvement, chess in the USA has great potential. The same applies to China, which is third in the list of top federations. Surprisingly, the most populated country in the world can boast of only 658 active players, which corresponds to 46th position in the list. Total number of active players In terms of percentage of active players among the countries with over 5,000 players, the top positions are occupied by Czech Republic (68,6%), Spain (62,4%) and France (58,6%), whereas Brazil (37,6%), India (36%) and Russia (32,1%) round out the list. One can see that the total number of players inversely proportional to the percentage of active players. The opposite is also true: the fewer players the bigger this percentage. In some countries, such as Oman (89.1%), Faroe Islands (80.1%), Kosovo ( 77.6%), Slovakia (74,6%) those figures are really impressive. Kaspars Migla, chessratings.top
FIDE announces a new partnership with TOTAL
The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce a new partnership with TOTAL. With presence in more than 130 countries and over 100,000 employees, TOTAL is a major energy player, which produces and markets fuels, natural gas, and low-carbon electricity. The company’s ambition is to become “the responsible energy major, providing energy that is safer, more affordable, cleaner and accessible to as many people as possible”. By this agreement, TOTAL becomes one of the sponsors of the Women’s Grand Prix series 2019-20, as well as the Women’s Rapid and Blitz World Championship 2019. Thanks to TOTAL’s support, two new special trophies are established: A prize for the Best Overall Performance in the FIDE Women Rapid and Blitz World Championship 2019. This trophy will be awarded to the player who achieves the best combined result in the blitz and rapid categories. A prize for the Best Overall Performance in the Women’s Grand Prix Series, combining the results attained in Skolkovo, Monaco, Lausanne, and Italy. The partnership, which became effective on December 1st, will have a duration of half a year. More info about TOTAL Group: Official site: www.total.com TWITTER: @Total