FIDE World School Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 kick off in Tashkent
The 2024 FIDE World School Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships began today in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, kicking off an exciting week of chess for over 250 young players from around the world. The opening ceremony at the International Hotel featured inspiring speeches and electrifying cultural performances. Notably, the 1st Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, Husan Turdialiev, emphasized the vital role of junior chess in developing future leaders. It was followed by the national dances and the laser show. The championship features tournaments in various age groups, ranging from U9 to U20. Young players will compete in both rapid (15 minutes + 10 seconds increment) and blitz (3 minutes + 2 seconds increment) formats over the course of the week. Live broadcasts and continuously updated results are available here: https://lichess.org/broadcast/-/Xk9fngNu https://lichess.org/broadcast/-/NxNWXEtu With a strong start and an impressive line-up of young players, the tournament promises to show exciting performances by future stars of the game. Standings after Round 3 Photos: Uzbekistan Chess Federation
Chessy stuns defending champions WR Chess to lead 2024 WRTC after Day 1
The first day of the event in Astana (Kazakhstan) saw several surprising results, with Chessy scoring a convincing 5-1 victory over WR Chess in round four. On board one for WR Chess, world rapid and blitz champion Magnus Carlsen suffered a stunning defeat as White to Richard Rapport of Chessy in just 22 moves The second edition of the World Rapid Team Championships started in Astana, Kazakhstan, today, with the first four rounds taking place. Five of the world’s top ten players are participating, including Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Ding Liren, and Ian Nepomniachtchi (who met in the same city last year for the World Championship title), alongside a new set of players and teams. After the first day, the team of Chessy—captained by GM Emil Sutovsky—emerged as the sole leader, having won all four matches and securing eight match points. They are followed by the Decade China Team and Al-Ain ACMG UAE, who each have seven match points. WR Chess Team, who won the inaugural World Rapid Championship in Düsseldorf in 2023, trails the leaders by two match points. They lost the final match of the day to Chessy in a direct duel for first place. WR Chess is in a pack of seven teams with three victories and one defeat out of the first four rounds: Team MGD1, Knights Of Chess, Ashdod Chess Club, Kazchess, GMHans.com, and Astana-1. Complete standings after Round 4 In an interview on the first day of the event, World Champion Ding Liren said he was “very happy to be back in Astana,” calling the city a “lucky place” for him: “The last time I was here, I won the world championship match, so this is a lucky place for me.” Following doubts about his recent performances, Ding said he is here to prove others wrong: “I came here to win some points and recover confidence.” He scored 3.5 out of four games on the first day of the tournament. A Closer Look at the First Four Rounds of the 2024 World Rapid Team Championship Round 1 Each match in round one ended with a winner. The favorites and defending champions, WR Chess, started with a perfect score against the Kyrgyz Chess Academy. Ian Nepomniachtchi won a miniature against GM Semetei Tologon Tegin in the first game of the tournament. The new team, Decade China, the second-favorites by rating, scored 5.5 out of six. One of the surprises of the first round was Daniil Dubov’s defeat with the white pieces by GM Boris Grachev. In the Catalan, Dubov had a piece for three pawns but made several mistakes, allowing his opponent to dominate and win. Despite their top player losing, the Al-Ain ACMG team from UAE, the third top team by rating, won their match against the GMs Kazakhstan squad with a score of 4-2. Another surprising result was Hans Niemann losing as White to Meylis Annaberdiyev after blundering in a tactical endgame despite having more time on the clock. Round 2The second round brought early drama as some of the top teams clashed. Just a few minutes into the start, there was a major upset: Richard Rapport, playing for Chessy, defeated chess legend Nigel Short, representing the FIDE Management Board team. In the Ruy Lopez, Short blundered and lost his queen. Chessy went on to win the match 4.5-1.5, while FIDE’s Al-Mudahka staged a surprise by defeating the 200-points higher-rated GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi with the black pieces, who blundered in a better position. Another early upset saw the young team of Rookies, with an average team rating of 2271, defeating the Ashdod Chess Club 4-2. All the heavyweights in the Ashdod team, including Sarin, Eljanov, and Volokitin, lost their games. One of the most exciting matches of the round was WR Chess narrowly edging out Royal Chess, a team of top players from Olympic Champions Uzbekistan. It started badly for WR, with early trouble for Vadim Rosenstein and Vincent Keymer. However, Praggnanandhaa and Alexandra Kosteniuk made a comeback to equalize. Abdusattorov – playing against the team made up of his Uzbek compatriots – then won on board two, and Nepomniachtchi managed to secure a draw on board one, resulting in a crucial 3.5-2.5 victory for WR Chess. Decade China scored a 6-0 victory over Astana. On board one, Denis Makhnyov sacrificed a piece against World Champion Ding Liren but couldn’t make any progress and ended up losing. Al-Ain ACMG from UAE defeated Teniz Kazakhstan 5-1. Dubov was in trouble again and on the brink of losing but managed to save the game in a knight endgame. Round 3Round three finally saw Magnus Carlsen play his first game in the match between 2023 World Rapid winners WR and third-placed Team MGD1. Playing as Black on the first board for WR, Carlsen opted for the solid Berlin Defense against India’s top-rated player, Arjun Erigaisi. Carlsen gradually outplayed his opponent, winning a pawn and forcing a winning pawn endgame. Ian Nepomniachtchi, now on board two for WR, survived a scare from Narayanan but won after his opponent got into severe time trouble. Harika Dronavalli of MGD1 scored against former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan in a dramatic, time-troubled game. Mihir Shah of MGD1 defeated Rozenstein on the last board, while Sadwahani drew with Duda, resulting in a final score of 3.5-2.5 for WR. Decade China continued confidently, defeating GMHans.com 4-2. A big surprise in the match was Yue Wang’s loss as White to the 200-points lower-rated Andrew Hong. On board two, strong Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei had a dominating position against Chinese player Wei Yi but misplayed and lost, handing an important point to Decade China to secure the match. Despite Vidit losing again, Chessy continued strong in this round, defeating the Knights of Chess from Krakow 4-2. Al-Ain ACMG defeated the Rookies 5-1, while Kazchess scored a clean sweep against the team of Egypt, propelling them to second place among the leaders who won all matches. Following a surprise defeat in round two,