Daniil Dubov, Ju Wenjun Win World Rapid Chess Championships
With an undefeated score of 11/15, Daniil Dubov won the $60,000 first prize at the World Rapid Championship in St. Petersburg. With 10/12 Ju Wenjun also remained undefeated, retained her world rapid title and earned $40,000.
"Sometimes you play well and you win thanks to it, but sometimes you can just be lucky. I think the latter thing is more about me in the tournament. It was not that I was playing very well actually," said a modest Dubov after he won the biggest prize of his career.
This success came only a few days after Dubov's grandfather had passed away.
Well-known arbiter and mathematician Eduard Dubov tragically passed away in Moscow at the age of 80. Honorary member of FIDE, author of Soviet rating system, Dubov made a significant contribution to the development of chess in Russia and abroad. Our deepest condolences... pic.twitter.com/zNeLy7Hqjm
— FIDE (@FIDE_chess) December 24, 2018
Asked about this by the Norwegian channel NRK, Dubov said: "My family obviously supported me and we had a short talk; everybody told me I have to go and play. I did it. I can't say it affected me dramatically. It wasn't like I was in my hotel room crying; not the case."
It was also revealed today that Dubov had been part of Carlsen's team for preparing for the 2018 world championship match. "I was in his team, so probably he gave me too many lessons!" Dubov said.
Dubov interviewed after his victory. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Dubov's day started with a white game against his "boss." At that point, it seemed that Carlsen needed to score 4.5/5 on the last day to win the tournament, and perhaps because of that, and the fact that his opponent knows everything about his openings, he chose the Stonewall Dutch. Dubov held a slight edge and the point was split on move 26.
Dubov was one of Carlsen's seconds this year. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
In this round Yu Yangyi defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi, and suddenly the Chinese GM was the sole leader.
Yu Yangyi did quite well, but the tournament lasted a few rounds too long for him. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
In round 11, Dubov played what he called "an important game" for the tournament. He was under slight pressure against Ukrainian GM Anton Korobov, and never was close to winning chances until his opponent suddenly blundered.
Korobov-Dubov, an unexpected and important win. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
In the same round Carlsen was paired against Vishy Anand, who drew the game without getting into trouble. Not an ideal result for either player, although other top boards also saw many draws.
Chess in Russia is like magic at the Hogwarts School. pic.twitter.com/601XNTaPay
— Olimpiu G. Urcan (@olimpiuurcan) December 28, 2018
The Iranian rising star Alireza Firouzja tactically outwitted Peter Svidler:
Firouzja interviewed after the game.
Carlsen kept his slim chances alive with a crushing win with Black against Grigoriy Oparin, who efficiently ruined his position completely in just a few moves.
Oparin-Carlsen. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Wang Hao found a great save in his game with Firouzja that he seemed destined to lose:
A wild game in this round was Nepomniachtchi vs Salem Saleh, who walked with his king through a minefield but somehow avoided any explosions.
Salem Saleh had a steel king in this game. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
In the penultimate round, Dubov scored another important win, as Black against Wang. It was unexpected how quickly the white king became a target.
Wang Hao-Dubov. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Dubov was the sole leader after this win, because co-leader Yu was beaten by Hikaru Nakamura. The second seed of the tournament had dropped some half-points here and there and seemed out of contention, but with the many draws among the top boards he suddenly had chances again.
Using the Scandinavian with 3...Qd8, Nakamura managed to slowly outplay his opponent in the endgame:
Hikaru Nakamura suddenly played for the medals again. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
And Carlsen? Well, he was also still there, half a point behind Dubov, after a similar endgame grind against Dmitry Andreikin.
Carlsen drinking water from his sponsor Isklar. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Those were two great efforts from Carlsen and Nakamura; games worthy of a champion. However, they were paired against each other in the final round, played a very solid game, drew and thus spoiled their chances as Dubov had drawn as well, relatively quickly against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
A spectators' view of the last round. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
The last player who could still catch Dubov was Vladislav Artemiev, but he also drew his game with Sergey Karjakin in a final round that was thus somewhat anticlimactic. Dubov got the full, sole first prize of $60,000.
On tiebreak, which was performance rating, Mamedyarov took silver and Nakamura bronze. Artemiev and Carlsen just missed out on the medals. This group of four shared prizes and got $36,250 each.
Daniil Dubov interviewed as the new world rapid champion. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Before finishing the world rapid coverage, one game needs to be shown, which somehow escaped our attention yesterday. The flamboyant grandmaster Timur Gareyev played the Grob against Jan-Krzysztof Duda and got a winning position with it, but at some point the tables turned in a truly wild affair:
2018 World Rapid | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 25 | GM | Dubov Daniil | 2723 | 11,0 | 2860 | 132,5 | 140,5 | 55,8 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2786 | 10,5 | 2846 | 131,5 | 138,5 | 24,0 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2844 | 10,5 | 2833 | 125,5 | 131,0 | -1,4 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | 2812 | 10,5 | 2828 | 131,5 | 139,0 | 9,0 | |
| 5 | 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | 2903 | 10,5 | 2779 | 121,5 | 127,0 | -34,4 | |
| 6 | 169 | GM | Firouzja Alireza | 2412 | 10,0 | 2848 | 130,0 | 136,0 | 157,4 | |
| 7 | 11 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2758 | 10,0 | 2820 | 132,0 | 138,5 | 26,4 | |
| 8 | 16 | GM | Giri Anish | 2739 | 10,0 | 2815 | 129,5 | 135,5 | 30,2 | |
| 9 | 8 | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2774 | 10,0 | 2794 | 126,5 | 133,5 | 6,8 | |
| 10 | 43 | GM | Petrosian Tigran L. | 2676 | 10,0 | 2791 | 125,0 | 132,0 | 44,8 | |
| 11 | 15 | GM | Korobov Anton | 2740 | 10,0 | 2780 | 132,0 | 139,0 | 19,0 | |
| 12 | 35 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2690 | 10,0 | 2765 | 124,5 | 132,0 | 31,6 | |
| 13 | 38 | GM | Duda Jan-Krzysztof | 2683 | 10,0 | 2759 | 117,5 | 124,0 | 32,6 | |
| 14 | 29 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | 2708 | 10,0 | 2750 | 124,0 | 130,0 | 17,6 | |
| 15 | 19 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2732 | 10,0 | 2746 | 122,0 | 129,5 | 5,6 | |
| 16 | 21 | GM | Jakovenko Dmitry | 2731 | 10,0 | 2731 | 114,0 | 119,0 | -0,4 | |
| 17 | 59 | GM | Ponkratov Pavel | 2650 | 10,0 | 2679 | 112,5 | 118,0 | 14,4 | |
| 18 | 22 | GM | Andreikin Dmitry | 2725 | 9,5 | 2801 | 134,0 | 139,5 | 33,6 | |
| 19 | 7 | GM | Wang Hao | 2782 | 9,5 | 2772 | 130,0 | 136,0 | -0,6 | |
| 20 | 40 | GM | Zubov Alexander | 2681 | 9,5 | 2770 | 124,0 | 129,5 | 39,0 |
(Full final standings here.)
Congratulations to Daniil Dubov, well deserved! As for me, I can only hope that this day has accumulated all imaginable bad luck for years 🤷🏻♂️
— Yan Nepomniachtchi (@lachesisq) December 28, 2018
Ju Wenjun convincingly won the women's tournament, albeit with maybe some scary moments in the very last round. She finished a full point ahead of IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina.
"I played very good on the first and the second day. That made me more confident," said Ju. "I also want to thank Ni Hua coming her and helping me."
Ju Wenjun interviewed after her victory.
In today's first round, round nine of the tournament, Ju faced Kateryna Lagno in what was a repeat of the final of the knockout world championship in November. In a Pirc (by transposition) Lagno fell for a known trick and was already lost before the game had really started.
Ju vs Lagno, a repeat of Khanty-Mansiysk. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
After a good win vs Goryachkina in round 10, Ju was a point ahead of Khademalsharieh and offered a draw on move seven in their mutual game. It was accepted, and so Ju only needed a draw in the last game.
Considering the strong chess she had shown, nobody expected this to be a problem for the Chinese grandmaster, but in fact for the first time in the tournament she got in a lot of trouble. Luckily for her, Zhansaya Abdumalik let her advantage slip away and then immediately offered a draw.
Ju Wenjun retained her classical world title, and now also her world rapid title. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
2018 Women World Rapid | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2584 | 10,0 | 2708 | 88,0 | 92,5 | 34,4 | |
| 2 | 25 | IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 2402 | 9,0 | 2585 | 83,0 | 87,0 | 58,4 | |
| 3 | 11 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2477 | 9,0 | 2563 | 84,0 | 89,0 | 27,2 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2595 | 8,5 | 2577 | 83,5 | 89,5 | -3,0 | |
| 5 | 16 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 2442 | 8,5 | 2565 | 85,0 | 89,0 | 39,8 | |
| 6 | 15 | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 2444 | 8,5 | 2533 | 86,0 | 90,5 | 28,8 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | 2539 | 8,5 | 2488 | 79,0 | 83,0 | -10,6 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | Lei Tingjie | 2545 | 8,5 | 2472 | 77,0 | 82,0 | -16,8 | |
| 9 | 17 | IM | Bodnaruk Anastasia | 2442 | 8,5 | 2459 | 67,5 | 72,5 | 6,4 | |
| 10 | 30 | IM | Saduakassova Dinara | 2381 | 8,0 | 2555 | 86,5 | 92,5 | 56,2 | |
| 11 | 8 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2493 | 8,0 | 2547 | 90,5 | 97,0 | 17,8 | |
| 12 | 26 | GM | Gunina Valentina | 2396 | 8,0 | 2505 | 82,0 | 86,5 | 37,8 | |
| 13 | 18 | IM | Arabidze Meri | 2431 | 8,0 | 2440 | 75,5 | 80,5 | 3,4 | |
| 14 | 9 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2484 | 8,0 | 2398 | 70,5 | 75,5 | -23,0 | |
| 15 | 24 | WIM | Shuvalova Polina | 2411 | 8,0 | 2334 | 69,5 | 74,5 | -21,8 | |
| 16 | 40 | IM | Gaponenko Inna | 2320 | 8,0 | 2297 | 72,5 | 76,0 | -1,4 | |
| 17 | 95 | FM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2153 | 7,5 | 2524 | 90,5 | 97,5 | 108,2 | |
| 18 | 29 | IM | Mammadova Gulnar | 2382 | 7,5 | 2492 | 83,0 | 89,0 | 35,6 | |
| 19 | 10 | GM | Koneru Humpy | 2479 | 7,5 | 2455 | 80,0 | 85,0 | -7,2 | |
| 20 | 4 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2540 | 7,5 | 2442 | 80,0 | 85,5 | -28,4 |
(Full final standings here.)
Replay the broadcast of the third day.
Yury Solomatin contributed to this report.
Earlier reports:
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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