12/28/2019 – Magnus Carlsen and Humpy Koneru were crowned 2019 World Rapid Champions in Moscow. Carlsen all but secured first place with a round to spare, and then confirmed it with a 22-move draw against Hikaru Nakamura. Humpy, on the other hand, caught up with Lei Tingjie in the final round after the latter lost against Ekaterina Atalik — the Indian star would then go on to beat Lei in the Armageddon phase of tiebreaks. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Firouzja gets silver
The Rapid World Championships finished on Saturday in Moscow. In the open section, Magnus Carlsen, the perennial favourite, got clear first place with an astounding 11½/15 score. Three players finished a full point behind, with 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja getting the silver medal and Hikaru Nakamura taking the bronze. Vladislav Artemiev also collected 10½ points, but was left out of the podium.
This is Carlsen's 11th WC title in 10 years: Classical: 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 Blitz: 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018 Rapid: 2014, 2015 and 2019#rapidchess
Among the women, Lei Tingjie reached the final round a half point ahead of her compatriot Tan Zhongyi and a full point ahead of a five-player group. Lei Tingjie lost with Black against Ekaterina Atalik, allowing Humpy Koneru and Atalik herself to catch up on 9 out of 12 points. Although prize money was evenly distributed, a play-off took place to decide the champion between Lei Tingjie and Humpy Koneru. The Indian player lost game one, but bounced back and then won the Armageddon decider to take the title.
Replay the games with computer analysis. Full report will come up shortly.
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Alireza Firouzja becomes second Iranian sports figure in recent months to try renouncing citizenship over pressures on athletes to forego matches with Israeli competitorshttps://t.co/SyYoeDrn4M
The 16-year-old Iranian Alireza Firouzja is in Moscow, despite a general prohibition from the Iranian association, which did not want its players competing against Israelis. Iran is also regional rivals with Saudi Arabia, however they did allow three female players to participate in Moscow — there are no Israelis among the women.
Firouzja now starts under "FIDE" flag, and he is reportedly striving to join another country's chess federation. The USA and France are under discussion — Firouzja currently lives in France.
Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.
Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
No opening ceremony without a bit of music! | Foto: Eteri Kublashvili
Magnus Carlsen followed the action standing | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Because there are only 12 rounds in the women's tournament, there is no round at 16:00. Otherwise the schedule is the same for both tournaments (in UTC).
Congratulations to Carlsen and Humpy for the win and to Firouzja for being the man of the tournament! @Rambus Firouzja has not played with Izraeli players.
Rambus 12/29/2019 05:57
Congrats also to Carlsen & also to Leko for a great commentary! Also to 16-year old Firouzja. His decision to ditch his Iranian citizenship certainly paid off! Out of curiosity, did he actually play any Israelis en-route to Silver?
samitra 12/29/2019 12:41
Congrats to Carlsen and the never-say-never champion Humpy!
Kleinekraai 12/28/2019 11:37
I have to say I really appreciate the commentary by Peter Leko and Almira Skripchenko. Peter, really explains the position in a clear and logical way. Being a coach is a plus for him... Let me say dear mister Leko you have won a lifelong fan by giving great commentary
Big Alex 12/28/2019 11:14
Congrats to both champions. Humpy was brave for not trying to draw the Armageddon.
Logos 12/28/2019 11:10
Another outstanding performance by Carlsen. Congratulations Alireza! May you continue to shine.
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