Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will play in Almaty, Kazakkhstan. Photos: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Carlsen, Nakamura Among Participants At World Rapid & Blitz

PeterDoggers

Updated: Dec 16, 2022, 9:22 AM | 50 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura, the two biggest stars in chess, will be among the participants at the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. As always, the tournament will be held during the last week of the year.

It's going to be another great five days of speed chess between Christmas and the new year. FIDE has published the preliminary list of participants for the World Rapid & Blitz, and many big names will be playing once again.

Besides Carlsen and Nakamura, we have GMs Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri, Alexander Grischuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and reigning World Blitz Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The reigning champion in rapid, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, is not on the list (yet).

A name that is hard to ignore is that of GM Hans Niemann, who is involved in a lawsuit with both Carlsen and Nakamura. It remains to be seen what will happen if he is paired with any of these players. The last time they played, Carlsen resigned after one move.

2022 World Rapid (Open) Participants, Top 40

#	Fed	Title	Name	Rtg
1		GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2834
2		GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2795
3		GM	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	2791
4		GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2777
5		GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2766
6		GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2759
7		GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2747
8		GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2746
9		GM	Yu Yangyi	2743
10		GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2741
11		GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2727
12		GM	Brunello, Sabino	2725
13		GM	Giri, Anish	2708
14		GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2694
15		GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2693
16		GM	Jobava, Baadur	2688
17		GM	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	2682
18		GM	Matlakov, Maxim	2671
19		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2659
20		GM	Shankland, Sam	2657
21		GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2656
22		GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	2652
23		GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2646
24		GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	2646
25		GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2644
26		GM	Gelfand, Boris	2641
27		GM	Svane, Rasmus	2641
28		GM	Anton Guijarro, David	2640
29		GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	2640
30		GM	Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	2633
31		GM	Gukesh, D	2632
32		GM	Guseinov, Gadir	2632
33		GM	Andreikin, Dmitry	2631
34		GM	Hovhannisyan, Robert	2630
35		GM	Sarana, Alexey	2629
36		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2628
37		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2628
38		GM	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	2628
39		GM	Moussard, Jules	2625
40		GM	Andriasian, Zaven	2624

2022 World Blitz (Open) Participants, Top 40

#	Fed	Title	Name	Rtg
1		GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2909
2		GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2847
3		GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2830
4		GM	Yu Yangyi	2807
5		GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2803
6		GM	Giri, Anish	2792
7		GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2782
8		GM	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	2773
9		GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2771
10		GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2763
11		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2750
12		GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2745
13		GM	Andreikin, Dmitry	2735
14		GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2733
15		GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2733
16		GM	Amin, Bassem	2713
17		GM	Sarana, Alexey	2708
18		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2702
19		GM	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	2698
20		GM	Matlakov, Maxim	2674
21		GM	Svane, Rasmus	2674
22		GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2672
23		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2669
24		GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2663
25		GM	Kobalia, Mikhail	2662
26		GM	Zhigalko, Sergei	2662
27		GM	Kadric, Denis	2657
28		GM	Sadhwani, Raunak	2657
29		GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2649
30		GM	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	2644
31		GM	Brunello, Sabino	2641
32		GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2639
33		GM	Asadli, Vugar	2635
34		GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	2634
35		GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2633
36		GM	Gukesh, D	2632
37		GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2632
38		GM	Petrosian, Tigran L.	2632
39		GM	Andriasian, Zaven	2625
40		GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	2623

Both reigning champions among the women will be defending their titles: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and IM Bibisara Assaubayeva. Their main rivals will be GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno, Humpy Koneru, Tan Zhongyi, Nana Dzagnidze, Harika Dronavalli, Zhansaya Abdumalik, Antoaneta Stefanova, and IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.

2022 World Rapid (Women) Participants, Top 40

#	Fed	Title	Name	Rtg
1		GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2537
2		GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2531
3		GM	Tan, Zhongyi	2502
4		GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	2484
5		GM	Dzagnidze, Nana	2475
6		GM	Harika, Dronavalli	2475
7		GM	Koneru, Humpy	2468
8		GM	Abdumalik, Zhansaya	2448
9		IM	Saduakassova, Dinara	2435
10		IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	2411
11		GM	Khotenashvili, Bela	2405
12		GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2399
13		IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2396
14		GM	Gunina, Valentina	2389
15		IM	Atalik, Ekaterina	2385
16		IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2384
17		IM	Mammadzada, Gunay	2383
18		GM	Ushenina, Anna	2371
19		GM	Batsiashvili, Nino	2370
20		GM	Paehtz, Elisabeth	2369
21		IM	Javakhishvili, Lela	2364
22		IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2351
23		IM	Mammadova, Gulnar	2343
24		IM	Gaponenko, Inna	2340
25		IM	Arabidze, Meri	2333
26		WGM	Injac, Teodora	2333
27		GM	Danielian, Elina	2331
28		GM	Girya, Olga	2328
29		IM	Osmak, Yuliia	2328
30		IM	Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra	2327
31		WGM	Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim	2326
32		IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	2322
33		IM	Tania, Sachdev	2318
34		IM	Garifullina, Leya	2316
35		WGM	Gong, Qianyun	2315
36		WGM	Voit, Daria	2312
37		WIM	Savitha, Shri B	2311
38		IM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2309
39		IM	Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel	2304
40		IM	Padmini, Rout	2290

2022 World Blitz (Women) Participants, Top 40

#	Fed	Title	Name	Rtg
1		GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2522
2		GM	Tan, Zhongyi	2510
3		GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	2484
4		GM	Koneru, Humpy	2474
5		GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2469
6		IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	2431
7		GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2427
8		GM	Dzagnidze, Nana	2416
9		GM	Abdumalik, Zhansaya	2413
10		GM	Harika, Dronavalli	2407
11		IM	Arabidze, Meri	2404
12		IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2404
13		IM	Saduakassova, Dinara	2404
14		IM	Paehtz, Elisabeth	2396
15		GM	Ushenina, Anna	2395
16		GM	Khotenashvili, Bela	2385
17		IM	Mammadzada, Gunay	2383
18		GM	Gunina, Valentina	2368
19		GM	Batsiashvili, Nino	2365
20		IM	Javakhishvili, Lela	2364
21		IM	Zatonskih, Anna	2362
22		IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2361
23		IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2361
24		IM	Badelka, Olga	2337
25		GM	Danielian, Elina	2331
26		IM	Osmak, Yuliia	2328
27		IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	2322
28		IM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2316
29		WGM	Injac, Teodora	2316
30		WIM	Savitha, Shri B	2311
31		GM	Girya, Olga	2310
32		IM	Tania, Sachdev	2309
33		IM	Atalik, Ekaterina	2306
34		WGM	Frayna, Janelle Mae	2306
35		IM	Buksa, Nataliya	2303
36		IM	Bivol, Alina	2301
37		IM	Padmini, Rout	2298
38		IM	Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra	2296
39		IM	Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel	2296
40		IM	Gaponenko, Inna	2291

The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships will be held on the traditional dates, between December 26 and 30, in the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The rapid tournament will be played on December 26-28, and then the blitz follows on December 29-30.

The rapid is a 13-round Swiss for the open group and an 11-round Swiss for the women. The blitz is a 21-round Swiss for the open group and a 17-round Swiss for the women. For both sections, the time control for the rapid is 15+10 and for the blitz 3+2. A tiebreak will be played in case of a tie for first place.

On the first four days, the games start at 15:00 local time, which is 10:00 CET or 1 a.m. Pacific. The last day starts an hour earlier. Chess.com will be covering the tournament live on Twitch and YouTube as well as our events page.

Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.

Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.

Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013.

As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!

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