Missed Chances Leave Carlsen, Yu, Fedoseev Locked In Title Race
GMs Magnus Carlsen, Yu Yangyi, and Vladimir Fedoseev share first place on 7/9 at the 2023 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship after Fedoseev missed a golden opportunity to defeat Yu while Carlsen was frustrated to squander winning chances against GM Vincent Keymer.
In the Women's event, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk hit the front off the back of a 3.5/4 day-two score. Wins over day-one leaders IM Nurgyul Salimova and GM Zhu Jiner position her half a point ahead of GM Humpy Koneru and WGM Zhai Mo with three rounds left to play.
The 2023 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship will conclude with rounds 10 through 13, on Thursday, December 28, starting at 5 a.m. ET/11:00 CET/3:30 p.m. IST, while the women's title will be decided after round 11.
2023 World Rapid Championship | Round 9 Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2818 | 7 | |
| 2 | 11 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2716 | 7 | |
| 3 | 15 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | 2699 | 7 | |
| 4 | 137 | GM | Bharath, Subramaniyam H | 2426 | 6.5 | |
| 5 | 26 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2654 | 6.5 | |
| 6 | 43 | GM | Cheparinov, Ivan | 2618 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | 4 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2767 | 6.5 | |
| 8 | 13 | GM | Dubov, Daniil | 2712 | 6.5 | |
| 9 | 79 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | 2547 | 6.5 | |
| 10 | 18 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2691 | 6.5 | |
| 11 | 42 | GM | Shevchenko, Kirill | 2619 | 6.5 | |
| 12 | 17 | GM | Radjabov, Teimour | 2691 | 6.5 | |
| 13 | 36 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2631 | 6.5 | |
| 14 | 98 | GM | Idani, Pouya | 2516 | 6.5 | |
| 15 | 37 | GM | Andreikin, Dmitry | 2629 | 6.5 | |
| 16 | 50 | GM | Korobov, Anton | 2601 | 6.5 | |
| 17 | 88 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2534 | 6 | |
| 18 | 39 | GM | Anton Guijarro, David | 2625 | 6 | |
| 19 | 57 | GM | Chigaev, Maksim | 2587 | 6 | |
| 20 | 52 | GM | Xu, Xiangyu | 2598 | 6 |
(Full standings here.)
In the wake of a stellar year in which GM Vidit Gujrathi won the FIDE Grand Swiss and reached the quarterfinals at the FIDE World Cup, the Indian GM's world rapid title hopes took a major blow when he came face-to-face with the four-time champion Carlsen in round six.
Playing cautiously with White, Vidit steered the position towards an equal double-knight endgame, but Carlsen showed why he is often heralded as one of the best endgame players of all time.
The five co-leaders before round six became one as Arjun Erigaisi-Yu and Ivan Cheparinov-Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ended in tame draws, leaving Carlsen as the sole leader at the mid-point of the event. Yet, the tension at the top of the standings remained unchanged...
Carlsen's ability to squeeze water from stones withered somewhat as the day progressed and the Norwegian conceded three straight draws against Arjun, Yu, and Keymer, respectively.
His round-nine game against Keymer left the defending champion particularly disappointed, given that it had all the hallmarks of a classic Carlsen constrictor.
Magnus is furious with himself at giving away a big advantage despite having 9 minutes more on the clock than Keymer! #RapidBlitz pic.twitter.com/MEJ49N6b5T
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 27, 2023
Yu was the only player able to capitalize immediately on Carlsen's draws and brilliance was afoot as he overcame the 16-year-old GM Bharath Subramaniyam, who, despite the loss to Yu, is having the tournament of his career. See if you can find Yu's creative way to win a pawn below.
Along with Bharath, another teen sensation GM Volodar Murzin has ascended into contention. Consecutive wins over GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Ian Nepomniachtchi in rounds six and seven, as well as draws with GMs Daniil Dubov and Teimour Radjabov in rounds eight and nine, make him a player to watch. He will almost certainly improve upon his 23rd-place performance in the 2022 edition.
While Yu plodded along with Carlsen at the top of the standings, Fedoseev took the opportunity to join them, dispatching GMs S.L Narayanan, Timur Gareyev, and Arjun in consecutive rounds. The Russian-born, Slovenian representative would have secured a 4/4 score and assumed the lead had he not missed an important idea in his game against Yu.
Fedoseev will not have time to dwell on what could have been though as he will face none other than Carlsen in round 10. Meanwhile, Yu will face Vachier-Lagrave, who is the top seed of a 13-player pack sitting half a point off the lead.
While Bharath and Murzin have led the way in terms of youth prospects, an eight-year-old, Roman Shogdzhiev, potentially became the youngest player to ever beat a GM in a world championship tournament following his round-one win over GM Jakhongir Vakhidov. Proving this was no fluke, Shogdzhiev toppled a second GM, Norway's Johan-Sebastian Christiansen in round six.
Truly sensational result. Could very well be the youngest to beat a GM in a World Championship ever. https://t.co/z7jYv7xzRX
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 27, 2023
2023 Women's World Rapid Championship | Round 8 Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 51 | IM | Bodnaruk, Anastasia | 2265 | 7 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2444 | 6.5 | |
| 3 | 29 | WGM | Zhai, Mo | 2351 | 6.5 | |
| 4 | 11 | GM | Zhu, Jiner | 2431 | 6 | |
| 5 | 21 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | 2371 | 6 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2486 | 6 | |
| 7 | 42 | IM | Garifullina, Leya | 2287 | 6 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | Lei, Tingjie | 2517 | 6 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 2463 | 6 | |
| 10 | 69 | WGM | Priyanka, Nutakki | 2205 | 6 | |
| 11 | 12 | GM | Muzychuk, Anna | 2424 | 5.5 | |
| 12 | 10 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2436 | 5.5 | |
| 13 | 59 | WIM | Lu, Miaoyi | 2239 | 5.5 | |
| 14 | 1 | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2575 | 5.5 | |
| 15 | 70 | WGM | Beydullayeva, Govhar | 2197 | 5.5 | |
| 16 | 24 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2363 | 5.5 | |
| 17 | 28 | IM | Narva, Mai | 2351 | 5.5 | |
| 18 | 2 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 2528 | 5.5 | |
| 19 | 65 | WGM | Yu, Jennifer | 2217 | 5 | |
| 20 | 102 | WFM | Nurgaliyeva, Zarina | 1963 | 5 |
(Full standings here.)
Only one player, Bodnaruk, could rise above a seemingly cursed first position as the lead changed hands several times on day two. While GM Zhu Jiner snapped IM Nurgyul Salimova's streak with a stroke of luck in round five, friendly fire from compatriot WGM Zhai Mo meant that Zhu's lead was short-lived.
GM Humpy Koneru then had a shot of her own at Zhai and put on an attacking masterclass, stemming from the Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights, Vienna Variation.
It was a fifth win on the trot for the Indian GM, who suffered a shock defeat at the hands of WGM Turmunkh Munkhzul in round two.
In the final game of the day though it was Bodnaruk who picked up a key win over Zhu and put herself in the box seat heading into the final three rounds. Our Game of the Day, which featured the piercing 23.Bxf7+!! has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.
In other news, popular streamer FM Anna-Maja Kazarian took to Twitter to admonish FIDE after being handed a €100 fine for "not complying with the official dress code." Chess.com reporter Tarjei Svensen was quick to question whether or not this was "the first dress code fine that FIDE has ever given."
Update: I got fined. This is absolutely ridiculous. @FIDE_chess please revert this warning. My shoes are NOT sports sneakers https://t.co/3VlGwMtaPp pic.twitter.com/vRcGlMgeFh
— Anna-Maja Kazarian (@AMKazarian) December 27, 2023
I hope FIDE is happy now. I’m absolutely devastated. The way that this was handled is not okay. 1 more round to go today… pic.twitter.com/NAHMpOZ3cX
— Anna-Maja Kazarian (@AMKazarian) December 27, 2023
full respect to fide for finding a new way to generate revenue by introducing the Sneaker Tax #GrowTheGame pic.twitter.com/r0ycV4UaUd
— MrDodgy has entered the chat (@ChessProblem) December 27, 2023
Dress codes and private lounges aside, the 2023 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship has been filled with drama on and off the board and this will only be amplified as we head into the final day of play, where the open and women's world rapid champions will be crowned.
How to watch?
You can watch the 2023 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on Twitch and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page: World Rapid | Women's World Rapid.
The live broadcast was hosted by GMs Robert Hess and Peter Leko.
The FIDE World Rapid Championship is an over-the-board event that determines the FIDE World Rapid open and women's champions. The event starts on December 26 at 5 a.m. ET/11:00 CET/3:30 p.m. IST and features a $500,000 prize fund.
The current rapid and blitz chess champion Carlsen will attempt to defend his titles in a stacked field including Nepomniachtchi, Duda, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana, and many more 2700+ players.
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