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Carlsen, Nakamura Among Participants At World Rapid & Blitz
Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will play in Almaty, Kazakkhstan. Photos: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Carlsen, Nakamura Among Participants At World Rapid & Blitz

PeterDoggers
| 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.

PeterDoggers
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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