Carlsen Beats World Rapid Chess Champion, Leads With Fedoseev, Van Foreest, Erigaisi

The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships are among the many hottest occasions within the FIDE calendar and the fast-paced match has change into an incredible supply of leisure for chess fans to bridge the hole between Christmas and New Year.

“Welcome to Kazakhstan”: The World Rapid and Blitz Championships formally opened in Almaty. #RapidBlitz

Read all concerning the opening ceremony within the report by Milan Dinic: https://t.co/mk5MVUSmAu

📷: David Llada pic.twitter.com/9VjRrOAKa4

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 25, 2022

In the guts of Almaty, Kazakhstan lies the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, the venue which can play host to this 12 months’s championships. The metropolis will likely be hoping to offer a home-ground benefit to IM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who will vie to defend her ladies’s world blitz chess champion title.

The open occasion is stuffed with an illustrious group of the world’s high gamers and among the key contenders heading into the primary day have been reigning champion Abdusattorov, Carlsen, GM Hikaru Nakamura, World Blitz Chess Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and world championship challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Despite the consistency of those gamers, the world’s speedy and blitz championships are infamous for producing surprising winners, largely because of the volatility of leads to short-time controls, in addition to the influence of momentum. Sharp techniques are sometimes sufficient to win video games as demonstrated by GM Surya Ganguly as early as spherical one.

Seven of the highest 10 seeds managed to win their first-round encounters although it was not easy crusing for Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave, or GM Alexander Grischuk, who every drew in opposition to their lower-rated first-round opponents.

Carlsen obtained off to a flying 3/3 begin, dispatching Chessbrah’s GM Eric Hansen en path to his excellent rating. The Norwegian celebrity was left staring down the barrel of a possible defeat after discovering himself in a worse place in opposition to GM Evgeny Tomashevsky in spherical three though he rallied to enter a drawn, albeit imbalanced endgame. In basic Carlsen type, he was capable of squeeze blood from the stone and seize the total level with an array of flashy endgame techniques.

The reigning classical world champion has lengthy proven his intent to seize the world speedy and blitz titles after disappointing leads to final 12 months’s occasions. Speaking to Chess.com in final week’s “State of Chess 2022” Carlsen indicated that he doesn’t have “numerous ambitions about what to perform,” nevertheless clarified this, stating: “I like the sport, I like enjoying, in order that’s all of the ambition I would like, and that is why I’m going to proceed competing within the occasions I take pleasure in.”

Last 12 months’s winner Adbusattorov, whose house nation of Uzbekistan shares its largest border with Kazakhstan, clearly felt snug in his bid to go back-to-back, additionally scoring 3/3 to kick off the day. The fourth spherical noticed the world speedy champion paired with Carlsen in a rematch of their round-10 sport from 2021 (which the world number-one spectacularly misplaced). However, this 12 months Carlsen was capable of full his redemption ark, bowling over Abdusattorov in a barnstorming sport.

This essential matchup was the deserved winner of our Game of the Day and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao under.

Several different key matchups occurred within the fourth spherical, with GM Anish Giri‘s showdown with GM Jan Kryzysztof-Duda arguably essentially the most notable. A near-faultless draw left the pair on 3.5/4, thus far mirroring the Polish GM’s efficiency from the 2021 version.

In a transparent signal that the way forward for Indian chess has arrived, speedy virtuosos Nihal Sarin and Erigaisi additionally discovered themselves on a wholesome 3/3. Erigaisi went one step additional to defeat GM Richard Rapport with the white items within the following sport and propelled himself into equal first alongside Carlsen and Van Foreest.

With a dream round-five opponent, none aside from the world champion, Erigaisi did effectively to not replicate on his drubbing by the hands of the legend on the Julius Baer Generation Cup in September the place he humbly proclaimed: “It’s simply evident that Magnus is the higher [player].”

Fortunately for the Indian prodigy, his play in opposition to Carlsen was extra like a sport between two equals and the drawn sport was a becoming end result. Erigaisi did have a couple of small probabilities all through the sport however ultimately determined that an unbeaten day having already performed the world’s finest participant would depart him in good stead.

Fedoseev was the one participant on 3.5/4 who managed to win his sport and be part of the main trio after the primary day. The Russian blitzer will tackle Erigaisi in spherical six whereas Carlsen will strive his luck in opposition to the Dutch number-two participant, van Foreest. 

2022 World Rapid Championship | Round 5 Standings (Top 20)

#	Title	Fed	Name	Rtg	Pts
1	GM		Carlsen Magnus	2834	4.5
2	GM		Fedoseev Vladimir	2741	4.5
3	GM		Erigaisi Arjun	2628	4.5
4	GM		Van Foreest Jorden	2693	4.5
5	GM		Giri Anish	2708	4
6	GM		Duda Jan-Krzysztof	2791	4
7	GM		Nihal Sarin	2628	4
8	GM		Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2676	4
9	GM		Yu Yangyi	2743	4
10	GM		Quparadze Giga	2538	4
11	GM		Nepomniachtchi Ian	2766	4
12	GM		Sarana Alexey	2629	4
13	GM		Murzin Volodar	2534	4
14	GM		Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2746	4
15	GM		Artemiev Vladislav	2727	3.5
16	GM		Yakubboev Nodirbek	2573	3.5
17	GM		Caruana Fabiano	2747	3.5
18	GM		Dubov Daniil	2712	3.5
19	GM		Martirosyan Haik M.	2575	3.5
20	GM		Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2531	3.5

(Full standings right here.)

All World Rapid Chess Championship Games

Contrasting the open occasion, the ladies’s part was filled with round-one upsets that opened up the sector. Second-seed GM Kateryna Lagno was the highest-rated casualty who fell by the hands of 2238-rated IM Olga Badelka with the white items. 

The high seed GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and the defending champion, Assaubayeva, have been additionally held to attracts in spherical one. 

Rounds two and three have been extra steady for the favorites on the high and though attracts have been aplenty, three GMs, Nino Batsiahvili, Gunina, and Elina Danielian, managed to maintain excellent scores heading into the fourth.

A sole chief emerged within the fourth spherical after Gunina was capable of capitalize on a blunder from Batsiashvili on transfer 16. Danielian nearly saved tempo however was held to a draw after poking and prodding out of a profitable French Defense in opposition to Kosteniuk. Interestingly, the Armenian GM might have pressed in a more-than-comfortable endgame had she not chosen to repeat strikes.

As the ladies’s occasion is 2 rounds fewer than the open, simply 4 rounds have been performed on the opening day. Thus, Gunina will head into day two with a half-point lead over 5 chasers. 

2022 Women’s World Rapid Championship | Round 4 Standings (Top 20) 

#	Fed	Title	Name	Rtg	Pts
1		GM	Valentina Gunina	2389	4
2		GM	Tan Zhongyi	2502	3.5
3		IM	Leya Garifullina	2316	3.5
4		GM	Koneru Humpy	2468	3.5
5		GM	Elina Danielian	2331	3.5
6		IM	Gunay Mammadzada	2383	3.5
7		GM	Nino Batsiashvili	2370	3
8		GM	Olga Girya	2328	3
9		WIM	Zeinep Sultanbek	1834	3
10		IM	Anna Zatonskih	2268	3
11		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2475	3
12		WGM	Khanim Balajayeva	2284	3
13		WGM	Atousa Pourkashiyan	2256	3
14		GM	Aleksandra Gorachkina	2484	3
15		GM	Elisabeth Paehtz	2369	3
16		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2537	3
17		WGM	Daria Voit	2312	3
18		GM	Zhansaya Abdumalik	2448	3
19		GM	Anna Ushenina	2371	3
20		IM	Nataliya Buksa	2260	3

(Full standings right here.)

All Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship Games

The 2022 FIDE World Rapid Championship is an elite over-the-board occasion that includes the most effective pace chess gamers on this planet. Masters and nationwide champions from across the globe collect to compete in a Swiss match for his or her share of the $350,000 prize fund.

Classical world champion Carlsen, adopted by pace chess legends Nakamura, Duda, and Vachier-Lagrave head the sector and will likely be challenged by quite a few different 2700+ gamers. 

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