Blitz Championship in Berlin: Errors and emotions

The six days of the World Chess Rapid and Blitz Championship in Berlin were intense. For players, organizers, and spectators. A lot of people wanted to see the grandmasters in action - live or on the internet.

Vladimir Kramnik (here against Aronian) finished third.

During the first three days of the event Magnus Carlsen defended his rapid title convincingly, and on the first day of the blitz tournament he also played well. However, during the second day of the blitz tournament he was off form. He did not win one of his first five games while losing twice. The Norwegian TV Station NRK showed a video of Carlsen's emotional reactions to his losses.

See the video at NRK...

Like so many other chessplayers Magnus Carlsen simply does not like to lose. However, he recovered quickly, and when he is a good mood he allows spectators to photograph him or he signs autographs. Iepe Rubingh, creator of chessboxing, visited the WCC, maybe because he hoped to recruit new participants for his matches. On his facebook account he posted the following picture:

Photo: Iepe Rubingh (left) on facebook

His comment:

On day two of the blitz Carlsen made too many mistakes and suffered too many losses. On twitter he commented the loss of his blitz title:

The few top players who were not in Berlin followed the event on the internet.

Hikaru Nakamura also congratulated.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also started well. On day one he had lost only against Magnus Carlsen but he still managed to lead the field after the first day. However, he stumbled on the finishing line, losing two games in a row, thus allowing Grischuk to pass him.

Gawain Jones was happy to have the chance to play against many strong opponents:
 

Garry Kasparov also spent the weekend in Berlin but he did not play in the World Championship. He presented his new book "Winter is coming". But of course he followed the tournament.

The prize-giving ceremony

Tournament director Klaus Deventer

Host Herbert Bastian (on the right), Ilya Merenzon (left), and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (center)

Carlsen receives the gold medal for his success in rapid chess. Photo: Agon (Nailya Bikmurzina)

In the back: Teimour Radjabov (winning the bronze medal in rapid chess) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (winning silver in rapid chess).

Recovered from his losses on day two of the blitz tournament: Magnus Carlsen

The World Champion addresses the public.

Gold for Alexander Grischuk

The three winners of the Blitz World Championship: Alexander Grischuk (center: gold), Vladimir Kramnik (left: bronze) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (right: silver)

Mate, mate, mate!

The modern computer world is without mercy. Previously, people played blitz and one game was immediately forgotten when the next began. Mistakes? Of course you make mistakes when playing blitz. But who analyses blitz games? Previously only the very best blitz games were recorded and found their way into the databases. But in Berlin the electronic boards recorded all games from the Blitz World Championship and saved them in a database. Ready to be "analysed" ruthlessly, assisted by the computer, of course.

Both sides play for mate. But Black's chances are more real:

In a complicated position both sides have chances. In the end White has the better of it:

Korobov sacrifices a rook but overlooks a defense. But an exchange he gradually manages to reach a winning position:

A game of chess that looks like a game of Go. White dominates the whole board:

Michael Richter, grandmaster from Berlin, overlooks a little finesse in a good position:

In this example it is a knight which manages to mate the opponent:

A combination that mirrors a famous combination by Lasker. However, some questions were neither asked nor answered:

Mind the back rank:

Here the back rank is protected but not particularly well:

Carlsen mates his sparring partner:

And here Carlsen is mated:

Vassily Ivanchuk during the prize-giving ceremony. He won no medal.

A clash of generations. The new Junior World Champion wipes his opponent off the board.

Photos: Pascal Simon