2023 World Blitz Chess Champions: Magnus Carlsen and Valentina Gunina
The 2023 World Blitz Chess Championships concluded in a thrilling climax, with Magnus Carlsen capturing his seventh World Blitz title, marking his 17th World Crown. In the Women’s tournament, Valentina Gunina was unstoppable as she claimed her second Blitz title. Carlsen finished the Open Blitz with 16 points scored in 21 games. Daniil Dubov came in second, just half a point behind Carlsen. Vladislav Artemiev – the leader of day one and led for most of the second day of the Blitz – finished third on 15 points. Valentina Gunina dominated the Women’s Blitz tournament, netting 14 points out of 17 games. The former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk won second place (13.5), while China’s Zhu Jiner was third (12.5). In the press conference after the games, the fatigue was evident for both winners. “Honestly, I just feel very tired at the moment,” Carlsen said, adding that “the feeling of happiness will come later”. Valentina Gunina – who could not hold her emotions back after she won her last game in the Blitz – agreed with Carlsen. This triumph marks a double-double for Carlsen, mirroring his feat in the previous edition of the WRB in 2022 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he also claimed victory in both categories. “I am very satisfied with the performance and especially the results,” Carlsen added. The awards ceremony was held at the prestigious Silk Road Samarkand hotel complex. Magnus Carlsen, visibly fatigued from an intense five-day competition comprising 34 gruelling games, got up to the stage, his trademark devilish smile on display, and received both championship cups—his record fifth victory in the World Rapid and a historic seventh triumph in the Blitz. The event was closed with the famous hit by The Queen, “We Are The Champions”, performed by a children’s quire. Here follows a closer look at how the final day of the World Blitz Chess Championships unfolded. The Open Blitz The day started with round 13, which proved to be ominous for the defending Champion, Magnus Carlsen, as he lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Playing the Sicilian, Carlsen allowed his opponent to win a pawn. The Norwegian tried to complicate things by pushing his knight towards White’s ranks, but the 2021 World Blitz Champion, MVL, responded with a timely exchange sacrifice to enter a comfortable, dominating position and cruised to victory, advancing on the queenside. This would be Carlsen’s only defeat in the Blitz. But Carlsen then made a strong comeback, winning six games in a row. Despite winning the tournament, Carlsen emerged as the leader only in round 18. Until then, the leader was Vladislav Artemiev, who dominated from day one. Artemiev made just one slip in the whole tournament – on the second day, in round 18, losing to Serbian GM Aleksandar Indjic (who is a surprise of the tournament, defeating top GMs and finishing in ninth place, ahead of Duda, Rapport, Caruana, Yu and many other well-known players!). However, that loss allowed Carlsen to take the lead, and Artemiev just couldn’t catch up, making one victory and two draws in the final rounds. Daniil Dubov, who finished in second place, with just half a point behind Carlsen, must be wondering: was his “dance with the knights” in the game against Nepomniachtchi on day one (which was ruled by the arbiters as prearranged) worth the half a point that was deducted, as he only needed (that) half a point to share first place and go into tiebreaks with Carlsen? Despite this incident from day one, Dubov continued strongly on day two and deservedly won second place. The final standings of the Open World Blitz can be found HERE. The Women’s Blitz The Women’s Blitz saw two leading players follow one another step in step after every round of day two until the very end. Yesterday’s tournament leader, Valentina Gunina, started the day 1.5 points ahead of the rest. She continued her dominant play and maintained the top position until the end of the tournament, losing just one game – to Zhu Jiner, who finished third. In the critical game of round 16, Gunina defeated the Women’s World Champion in classical chess, Ju Wenjun and entered the final round as the sole leader, with half a point of advantage. In round 17, Gunina was playing as White against Anna Muzychuk, the two-time Women’s World Blitz champion. In the Gruenfeld, Gunina emerged better from the opening and commanded the position throughout, finishing with a victory which also secured her first place. This is the second Blitz crown for Gunina, who first won it in 2012. In every round, Gunina was closely followed by former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. With three draws and five victories on the second day, Kosteniuk finished in second place with 13.5 points. She did her best to catch up with the leader. However, the advantage Gunina had (including the victory over Kosteniuk in their direct duel on day one) turned out to be too far to reach. China’s Zhu Jiner finished third, with 12.5 points, winning seven out of eight games on the second day of the Blitz. The 2021 and 2022 Women’s World Blitz Champion, Bibisara Assaubayeva, finished in sixth place, leading the group of nine players with 11 points. The final standings of the Women’s World Blitz can be found HERE. Written by Milan Dinic Photos: Anastasia Korolkova, Lennart Ootes, Maria Emelianova About the event The World Rapid and Blitz is one of the most exciting and most watched chess events in the world, attracting the strongest Grandmasters. The prize fund for this year was one million US dollars, with $700,000 for the Open and $300,000 for the Women’s tournaments. The event took place from December 25 to December 30 at the Samarkand Congress Center. OFFICIAL PARTNERS: Freedom Shapagat Corporate Fund Freedom Holding Corp. promotes responsible business and contributes notably to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by channeling its sponsorship and philanthropic activities through “Freedom Shapagat” Corporate Fund. The Fund advocates for social opportunity, supports research
World Blitz Championship 2023 starts in Samarkand
The World Blitz Chess Championship kicked off with steam in Samarkand, with 12 rounds played in the Open and nine rounds in the Women’s tournament. Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi were penalized for a prearranged draw in round eleven After 12 rounds in the Open, six players are in the lead, with Vladislav Artemiev topping first place. With eight victories and one draw, Valentina Gunina is the sole leader in the Women’s Blitz, a point and a half ahead of a group of five players sharing 2-6th place. There was a delay in publishing the results of round 12 and pairings for round 13 for the Open tournament, following a dispute over a game between Grandmasters Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi from round 11. The disputed game between Dubov and Nepomniachtchi and FIDE’s decision In round 11, Daniil Dubov was playing as White against Ian Nepomniachtchi. The game in question lasted 13 moves: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nd4 Nd5 3.Nb3 Nb6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Ne4 Ne5 6.Ng5 Ng4 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Ng1 Ng8 9.Nc5 Nc4 10.Na4 Na5 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Nb1 Nb8, and they agreed on a draw in the following position: The arbiters analyzed the moves, and, after round 12, the Chief Arbiter of the tournament, Ivan Syrovy, made the decision to reduce the points both players scored in the game. Reasoning his decision, Chief Arbiter Syrovy said: “In my eyes both players are responsible for it, I consider they prearranged the result of the game. My opinion is based on the moves they played”. Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov objected to the decision, prompting a referral to the Appeals Committee. A video which was published on Twitter appears to suggest the two grandmasters discussing the prearranged draw. Late in the evening of December 29th to 30th, local time in Samarkand, the Appeals Committee unanimously voted (3/3) to reject Ian Nepomniachtchi’s appeal and uphold the decision made by the arbiter, Ivan Syrovy. The full document can be found HERE. Before the above case, there was an appeal after the sixth round by American Andrew Hong who lost to Yu Yangyi from China. Hong lost on time but claimed that the clock was not working properly when he pressed it. The Appeals Committee examined the clock and did not find any evidence of malfunctioning. The Committee ruled that GM Hong “did try to push the clock, but failed to do it properly and [the] clock’s position remained unchanged” and his appeal was rejected. This appeal delayed round seven for an hour. Here follows a report from the first day of the Blitz. The Open Blitz The first day of the Blitz in the Open tournament saw Vladislav Artemiev emerge as the main contender for the top place. He became the sole leader after defeating R Pragnanandhaa in round six. Round seven saw Artemiev having a tranquil draw with Magnus Carlsen, who trailed by half a point due to a draw in round two against the 300-points-lower-rated Jakhongir Vakhidov from Uzbekistan. A quick draw with Dubov followed in round eight. Subsequently, in round nine, Artemiev engaged in a gruelling battle against Ian Nepomniachtchi, resulting in yet another split point. At this juncture, Carlsen and Dubov caught up with Artemiev, all three sharing the lead with 7.5 points each. Then tragedy struck – Artemiev erred in the opening as Black against Sarin and was forced to defend a bad position, which he ultimately lost. In round 11, however, he made a comeback against Sjugirov to emerge as first among the tournament leaders again. In round twelve, Artemiev decided to slow down and made a quick draw with Erigaisi. Artemiev currently leads a group of seven players, including Dubov, defending Blitz Champion Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, Vachier-Lagrave, and Indians Sarin and Erigaisi. It’s worth noting that if Dubov and Nepomniachtchi have half a point deducted each, per the Chief Arbiter’s decision, they will not be among the players sharing the top spot. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen registered six draws and seven wins on the first day. In round 12, he faced Ian Nepomniachtchi, whom he defeated twice in the match for the World Champion title. Despite an intense game with both sides transitioning to an endgame while in time trouble, a crucial imprecision by Carlsen provided Nepomniachtchi with a significant opportunity, which he missed, resulting in an immediate draw. Anish Giri, aiming to secure a place in the 2024 Candidates, started strongly in the Blitz after a slow start in the Rapid. With five points after six rounds, he was among the second tier of players, trailing the leader by just one point. However, from round nine onwards, Giri encountered setbacks. His loss as White to Dubov in round nine due to a misplay in the middlegame significantly weakened his position. Although he had an advantage against Pragnanandhaa in round 10, he allowed it to slip into a draw. Rounds 11 and 12 ended in draws with Murzin and a loss to Aleksandr Shimanov, respectively, marking Giri’s second loss of the day with the white pieces. The Women’s Blitz Valentina Gunina, a one-time gold and two-time silver medalist in the World Blitz, made an impressive start in the Women’s tournament. Leading with 8.5/9 after day one, she replicated her previous performance from the Almaty 2022 World Blitz by securing the top spot on day one yet again. Gunina started with a remarkable streak of seven consecutive victories (including against the reigning Women’s Blitz Champion, Bibisara Assaubayeva) and became the sole leader from round six. Her first draw came in round eight with India’s Harika Dronavalli. At this stage, Anastasia Bodnaruk, fresh off her Women’s Rapid win, ascended to second place, trailing by just half a point with 7/8. Challenged in the final round of the day, Gunina clinched a decisive victory against Bodnaruk with the black pieces, finishing the day with 8.5/9, a point and a half ahead of her closest competition. Reflecting on her performance at the end of the first day, Gunina remarked: “I feel tired, but I