Carlsen, Lagno Win World Blitz Chess Championships
Scoring a point more than last year in Riyadh, Magnus Carlsen retained his $60,000 world blitz title with 17/21, half a point more than Jan-Krzysztof Duda ($50,000). Like in the rapid, bronze went to Hikaru Nakamura ($40,000).
Kateryna Lagno won the world blitz title with 13.5/17 ($40,000). IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh scored her second silver medal ($30,000) and bronze went to Lei Tingjie ($20,000).
The start of the second day of the world blitz. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
The fifth and final day in St. Petersburg saw nine rounds of blitz in the open section and eight rounds in the women's. Once again the venue was packed; according to FIDE official Emil Sutovsky each day about five thousand spectators came along but that sounded a bit exaggerated; our reporters on-site estimated between two and three thousand.
That's still a very impressive number and possibly rather unique for chess events in modern times. Taking into account that the organizers had about three weeks to prepare everything, the event has been a huge success from an organisational point of view.
Lots of spectators also at the closing ceremony. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE..
Two players finished with an absolutely outstanding score. Carlsen's 17/21 was not only a point more than last year, but he also remained undefeated this time. Duda's 16.5 points would have won gold in Riyadh, but he'll be very happy with silver as well, and winning 124 blitz rating points along the way.
"I am just relieved," said Carlsen, who won his fourth world blitz title and his 10th world title in total. "Today was a very tough day. I was always kind of in front but I was being chased by Duda all the way. It was never easy.
"Yesterday the score was good and the play maybe not so great. I feel like I am usually best against the best players. Today I feel like I played very well. I needed every single half point to win."
Carlsen interviewed after his victory.
In the first round of the day, round 13 in the tournament, Carlsen was paired with his Twitter nemesis Anish Giri. It was a remarkably one-sided affair.
The Dutchman, who was wearing a white shirt full of small chess symbols of different colors, got caught in his opponent's preparation, saw his king's position torn apart and flagged on move 24.
Alexander Zhukov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma and a chess lover, made the first move in the game between Carlsen and Giri. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
One of the official commentators, Peter Leko said: "I think Magnus's preparation is the best in the world for blitz and rapid. He kind of knows almost every opening and all the move orders."
Carlsen with a big smile while telling #nrksjakk after crushing Giri: "There are many who have fantasies as to what is the best way to start the day. This is mine." #WRBC2018
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 30, 2018
The handshake after Giri lost on time in a lost position. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Duda started with an impressive win against Ian Nepomniachtchi, thereby joining Vladislav Artemiev in second place. Few people play the classical Scheveningen move-order these days which allows the Keres Attack, but the Polish GM is not afraid. He followed one of his own games for a while and soon reached a winning position.
Nepomniachtchi resigns vs Duda. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
In round 14, against Wang, it looked like Carlsen was still profiting from his preparation in the Rossolimo Sicilian, for the 2018 world championship match. These early games with Giri and Wang were among Carlsen's favorites, who said: "I thought I played very nice, dynamic chess."
Wang Hao. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Duda followed suit, defeated Artemiev and grabbed sole second place in the standings—and he wouldn't let go of that until the end, always chasing Carlsen and perhaps pushing his great rival to even higher heights.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda finished an already excellent year with an amazing run in the world blitz. In rounds 9-16 he won eight games in a row. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Carlsen then defeated the two Russian IMs and blitz specialists Zhamsaran Tsydypov and Saveliy Golubov, before finally being held to a draw by both Hikaru Nakamura and Boris Gelfand.
Meanwhile, in those rounds 15-18 Duda beat Levon Aronian and Gawain Jones, then drew Sergey Karjakin before losing to Nakamura. With three rounds to go, Carlsen was on 14.5 points, Duda on 13.5 and Nakamura on 13.
Spectators watching remaining games on electronic screens—recognize the grandmasters! | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Duda's game with Karjakin was a fantastic battle between the players who played a Speed Chess match earlier this year on Chess.com, won by the Polish GM. The game was super sharp, and with seconds on the clock both declined playing for a draw, but in the end neither could avoid that result.
In round 19 Carlsen squeezed a win out of a slightly better endgame vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Carlsen got out of the opening comfortably and played fast. Leko didn't hide the fact that he's a fan: "Already one minute up on the clock. Magnus keeps on amazing us and the opposition seems to be terrified of him already."
Carlsen to #nrksjakk after R19: "It was very important to win now. It was very pleasant to play for a win completely without any risk. Duda is still in it, so it's not over. But it looks good, and it was nice to get a much better experience. Been shaky last few games." #WRBC2018 https://t.co/z0T69QxSdp
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 30, 2018
Carlsen vs Mamedyarov. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Duda still kept pace as he beat Giri, who blundered a pawn in a knight endgame that shouldn't have been a problem for Black:
Jan-Krzysztof Duda. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
In the same round, the following game was also fascinating. Nepomniachtchi missed a win earlier on and then the game seemed to be heading to a draw, but suddenly Alexander Grischuk blundered terribly.
Duda would also win his last two games, and rather easily. Aleksandar Indjic hardly put up a fight, and Gelfand also made a big error early on:
Duda interviewed a bit earlier in the tournament, after round 16.
Carlsen's 1.5/2 in the final rounds was just enough to stay half a point ahead of Duda. First, he agreed to a quick draw with Nepomniachtchi, who had arrived 1 minute and 48 seconds late at the board.
Norwegian TV says Nepomniachtchi and Potkin were together and simply forgot the time. #wrbc2018
— Geir Sune T. Østmoe (@GeirSune) December 30, 2018
Carlsen on Nepomniachtchi not showing up:"That game would've started earlier than the other games. It's a difficult situation psychologically. I didn't handle it well, so I was happy when he offered draw. I asked the arbiter to not start, I didn't want to win like this" #WRBC2018
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 30, 2018
Carlsen waiting for Nepomniachtchi. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
That meant that he still couldn't afford a loss in the last round. Instead, Carlsen won smoothly:
Carlsen interviewed by NRK after winning the world blitz. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
In the last round two old warriors were paired against each other and after he had beaten Shirov earlier in the rapid, Gata Kamsky also won against Vishy Anand, using 1.e4 b6 and a Hippotatomus setup. White was better out of the opening, but Anand panicked when Black got active:
It should also be mentioned that 14-year-old Nihal Sarin of India played an excellent tournament, finishing shared 12th with 11.5 points as the 139th seed! It looks like knows how to handle knights, just like Anand:
Nihal Sarin did very well at the world blitz. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
2018 World Blitz | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | 2939 | 17,0 | 2962 | 256,0 | 264,0 | 14,6 | |
| 2 | 32 | GM | Duda Jan-Krzysztof | 2694 | 16,5 | 2930 | 257,0 | 265,0 | 123,6 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2889 | 14,5 | 2845 | 260,5 | 270,0 | -17,0 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Aronian Levon | 2858 | 14,0 | 2833 | 260,0 | 268,5 | -10,0 | |
| 5 | 11 | GM | Svidler Peter | 2770 | 14,0 | 2831 | 264,5 | 274,0 | 35,0 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | 2846 | 14,0 | 2817 | 254,0 | 262,5 | -11,8 | |
| 7 | 12 | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2759 | 14,0 | 2800 | 255,5 | 265,0 | 22,8 | |
| 8 | 9 | GM | Andreikin Dmitry | 2777 | 13,5 | 2799 | 258,5 | 268,5 | 15,8 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | 2825 | 13,5 | 2796 | 257,5 | 266,0 | -10,2 | |
| 10 | 14 | GM | Giri Anish | 2751 | 13,5 | 2779 | 254,5 | 264,0 | 19,4 | |
| 11 | 139 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2506 | 13,5 | 2777 | 246,0 | 255,5 | 151,6 | |
| 12 | 52 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2653 | 13,5 | 2760 | 255,5 | 265,0 | 63,8 | |
| 13 | 13 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 | 13,5 | 2754 | 249,5 | 259,5 | 3,0 | |
| 14 | 31 | GM | Vitiugov Nikita | 2696 | 13,5 | 2743 | 249,5 | 257,5 | 28,8 | |
| 15 | 18 | GM | Dubov Daniil | 2743 | 13,5 | 2706 | 231,5 | 241,0 | -16,6 | |
| 16 | 15 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2750 | 13,5 | 2674 | 228,5 | 238,0 | -34,8 | |
| 17 | 36 | GM | Korobov Anton | 2677 | 13,0 | 2743 | 232,5 | 240,0 | 37,4 | |
| 18 | 22 | GM | Gelfand Boris | 2722 | 13,0 | 2728 | 248,0 | 257,5 | 5,8 | |
| 19 | 39 | GM | Dreev Aleksey | 2675 | 13,0 | 2703 | 237,5 | 245,5 | 18,8 | |
| 20 | 38 | GM | Adly Ahmed | 2675 | 13,0 | 2702 | 239,0 | 247,0 | 17,6 |
(Full final standings here.)
Very satisfied with my visit to St.Petersburg and a surprisingly decent result. My congratulations to Magnus Carlsen and Daniil Dubov for their triple crown!
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) December 30, 2018
In the women's section Kateryna Lagno and the revelation of the two tournaments, IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, shared the lead after the first day, with three Chinese players half a point behind: Ju Wenjun, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi.
Four wins and four draws was just enough for Lagno to finish half a point ahead of Khademalsharieh, who started with a loss against Lei but still managed to score 5.5/8 and claim her second silver medal of the week. The 21-year-old will thus take home $60,000 in total!
A week with a silver lining for Sarasadat Khademalsharieh. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Her rook endgame in the last round was a nervous affair:
Lagno scored her biggest wins in the first two rounds of the day. She defeated the last two classical world champions, Tan and Ju. For starters, Lagno seems to know how to handle the Pirc:
Lagno vs Tan Zhongyi. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Lagno was fortunate enough to also get the white pieces against Ju, and she managed to take revenge for her loss in the rapid (and in Khanty-Mansiysk?).
Like Carlsen, the 29-year-old Russian lady remained undefeated throughout the tournament and also showed "nice and dynamic chess" here:
Lagno playing her 30th move vs Ju Wenjun. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Lagno won her second blitz title, after the first in 2010. "For me it’s interesting that I didn’t lose a single game. It’s probably the first time in my life in a blitz tournament," she said.
Kateryna Lagno. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Tan Zhongyi made it to a small but questionable list; she is now the second former world women's champion who failed to checkmate with knight and bishop (after Anna Ushenina at the 2013 Women's Grand Prix in Geneva). However, Tan at least has the excuse that it's not easy if you start with about 10 seconds on the clock, and only two extra per move.
As the defending player did not claim the draw after 50 moves or beyond, the arbiter interfered when more than 75 moves had been made according to the FIDE Laws of Chess, paragraph 9.6.2.
On a more positive note, the women's tournament saw another revelation. 12-year-old WCM(!) Leya Garifullina, 93rd seed, surprised everyone by finishing in eighth place with a splendid score of 11/17.
Among her victims were Lela IM Javakhishvili, Elisabeth Paehtz, Harika Dronavalli and Pia Cramling, and she drew e.g. Lei Tingjie, Lagno and Ju Wenjun!
Leya Garifullina is already the U-14 world blitz champion but her result in St. Petersburg is truly amazing. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Garifullina lives in Yekaterinburg where she studies at Anatoly Karpov's chess school; her coach is GM Andrey Shariyazdanov. She considered her game against Harika her best:
Harika resigns her game with Garifullina. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
2018 Women World Blitz | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | 2560 | 13,5 | 2616 | 174,0 | 181,5 | 27,0 | |
| 2 | 25 | IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 2377 | 13,0 | 2562 | 171,0 | 178,5 | 84,0 | |
| 3 | 12 | GM | Lei Tingjie | 2458 | 12,5 | 2558 | 170,5 | 177,5 | 44,2 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Gunina Valentina | 2489 | 12,0 | 2490 | 166,5 | 174,0 | 7,8 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 2494 | 11,5 | 2479 | 164,0 | 172,0 | -3,6 | |
| 6 | 14 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2422 | 11,5 | 2463 | 160,5 | 167,5 | 19,4 | |
| 7 | 15 | GM | Ushenina Anna | 2419 | 11,5 | 2442 | 174,0 | 181,5 | 13,6 | |
| 8 | 93 | WCM | Garifullina Leya | 2120 | 11,0 | 2519 | 170,0 | 176,5 | 164,6 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2558 | 11,0 | 2500 | 172,5 | 180,0 | -21,6 | |
| 10 | 52 | WGM | Mamedjarova Zeinab | 2271 | 11,0 | 2494 | 166,0 | 171,0 | 97,8 | |
| 11 | 40 | IM | Gaponenko Inna | 2314 | 11,0 | 2480 | 159,5 | 165,5 | 75,0 | |
| 12 | 3 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2559 | 11,0 | 2413 | 159,0 | 166,5 | -55,4 | |
| 13 | 7 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2496 | 11,0 | 2398 | 156,5 | 164,0 | -37,4 | |
| 14 | 29 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2366 | 11,0 | 2393 | 158,5 | 165,0 | 14,8 | |
| 15 | 122 | WFM | Munkhzul Turmunkh | 1936 | 11,0 | 2390 | 146,5 | 154,0 | 165,2 | |
| 16 | 28 | IM | Bodnaruk Anastasia | 2366 | 10,5 | 2501 | 166,5 | 173,0 | 62,6 | |
| 17 | 36 | IM | Arabidze Meri | 2323 | 10,5 | 2447 | 153,5 | 159,0 | 58,2 | |
| 18 | 16 | IM | Galliamova Alisa | 2417 | 10,5 | 2403 | 155,0 | 162,0 | -2,8 | |
| 19 | 62 | WIM | Shuvalova Polina | 2226 | 10,5 | 2402 | 148,0 | 153,5 | 78,0 | |
| 20 | 11 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2475 | 10,5 | 2393 | 162,5 | 171,5 | -31,4 |
(Full final standings here.)
Replay the broadcast of the last day.
Carlsen giving interviews... | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
...and autographs. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
After the tournament ended Nihal Sarin and Alireza Firouzja played some bullet(!), with Andrew Tan and Parham Maghsoodloo waiting to go next and Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami kibitzing. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Khademalsharieh (silver), Ju Wenjun (gold), Goryachkina (bronze), winners of the women's world rapid. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Mamedyarov (silver), Dubov (gold), Nakamura (bronze), winners of the world rapid. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Kateryna Lagno receiving the world blitz trophy. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Duda, Carlsen and Nakamura, the winners of the blitz. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
A quick joke among Dubov and Carlsen on stage. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
One more title for Carlsen before the end of the year. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Yury Solomatin contributed to this report.
Earlier reports:
- Artemiev, Carlsen Lead World Blitz Chess Championship
- Daniil Dubov, Ju Wenjun Win World Rapid Chess Championships
- World Rapid Chess Championship Day 2: 7-Way Tie; Anand, Carlsen Close Behind
- Carlsen Loses 2 Games At World Rapid Chess Championship Day 1
- World Rapid, Blitz Chess Championships Officially Opened; Carlsen To Start With Black
- Carlsen, Anand To Defend Rapid, Blitz Titles In St. Petersburg
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.”
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