Fressinet and Lahno Win the World Mind Games Rapids
Laurent Fressinet and Kateryna Lahno won the rapid sections of the SportAccord Mind Games.
French GM Laurent Fressinet took the gold medal with 5½ points on superior tie-breaks from Hikaru Nakamura, who finished with a silver. Alexander Grischuk got the bronze on tie-breaks from Ding Liren. The rapid time control was 20 minutes plus a 10 second increment.
FIDE President Kirsan Illyumzhinov making the ceremonial first move
.
The final standings in the Mind Games Rapid event
| # | Name | Fed | Elo* |
Pts |
| 1 | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2700 | 5½ |
| 2 | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2760 | 5½ |
| 3 | Grischuk Alexander | RUS | 2771 | 4½ |
| 4 | Ding Liren | CHN | 2669 | 4½ |
| 5 | Morozevich Alexander | RUS | 2725 | 4 |
| 6 | Radjabov Teimour | AZE | 2755 | 4 |
| 7 | Kamsky Gata | USA | 2762 | 3½ |
| 8 | Leko Peter | HUN | 2732 | 3½ |
| 9 | Jobava Baadur | GEO | 2711 | 3½ |
| 10 | Wang Hao | CHN | 2691 | 3½ |
| 11 | Giri Anish | NED | 2720 | 3 |
| 12 | Karjakin Sergey | RUS | 2830 | 3 |
| 13 | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2815 | 2½ |
| 14 | Ivanchuk Vassily | UKR | 2744 | 2 |
| 15 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2760 | 2 |
| 16 | Bologan Viktor | MDA | 2693 | 1½ |
.
Sergey Karjakin made a poor start, losing to Peter Leko in the first round
.
.
Vassily Ivanchuk also started badly and couldn't recover
.
.
The 3rd round showdown between Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky ended in victory for Naka
.
.
Hikaru Nakamura's loss to Laurent Fressinet proved crucial
.
.
Laurent Fressinet sealed victory by beating Sergey Karjakin in the final round
.
.
The women's rapid competition was even closer, with four players finishing on 5/7 points. The Ukrainian GM Kateryna Lahno won the gold medal on superior tie-breaks, with Hou Yifan in silver medal position and Humpy Koneru taking bronze. Anna Muychuk was the unlucky 4th placed player, missing out on a medal.
The final standings in the Women's Mind Games Rapid event
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Lahno Kateryna | UKR | 2592 | 5 |
| 2 | Yifan Hou | CHN | 2606 | 5 |
| 3 | Koneru Humpy | IND | 2606 | 5 |
| 4 | Muzychuk Anna | SLO | 2577 | 5 |
| 5 | Paehtz Elisabeth | GER | 2478 | 4½ |
| 6 | Kosteniuk Alexandra | RUS | 2572 | 4 |
| 7 | Stefanova Antoaneta | BUL | 2580 | 4 |
| 8 | Danielian Elina | ARM | 2450 | 3½ |
| 9 | Socko Monika | POL | 2440 | 3½ |
| 10 | Zhao Xue | CHN | 2511 | 3 |
| 11 | Cramling Pia | SWE | 2546 | 3 |
| 12 | Cmilyte Viktorija | LTU | 2462 | 2½ |
| 13 | Zhu Chen | QAT | 2489 | 2½ |
| 14 | Zatonskih Anna | USA | 2504 | 2½ |
| 15 | Harika Dronavalli | IND | 2529 | 2 |
| 16 | Khotenashvili Bela | GEO | 2405 | 1 |
.
Kateryna Lahno took advantage of Antoaneta Stefanova's blunder in the last round to claim Gold
.
.
Hou Yifan took the silver medal
.
.
Bronze medallist Konery Humpy
.
.
| CHESS SCHEDULE | ||||||
| Wednesday | 12th December 2012 | OPENING CEREMONY | ||||
| Thursday | 13th December 2012 | Rest Day | ||||
| Friday | 14th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 1-3 | Rapid Chess | |||
| Saturday | 15th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 4-7 | Rapid Chess | |||
| Sunday | 16th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 1-15 | Blitz Chess | |||
| Monday | 17th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 16-30 | Blitz Chess | |||
| Tuesday | 18th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 1-4 | Blindfold Chess | |||
| Wednesday | 19th December 2012 | 15:00 - Rounds 5-7 | Blindfold Chess | |||
| Thursday | 20th December 2012 | DEPARTURE |
.
Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich for the official website. Games via TWIC and the official website.
* Rapid ratings used where available.
