Creative and successful: Richard Rapport

by Johannes Fischer
10/16/2025 – Richard Rapport had the best individual result at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi. Playing on board 1 for Hungary, he scored 5.5 points from 7 games and had a performance rating of 2869, the highest of all players in Batumi. In the final round, he won a nice and theoretically interesting game against Maksim Chigaev. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (Archiv)
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.
FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before. 

Rapport, born on 25 March 1996 in Szombathely, was considered a child prodigy. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of just 13 years, six months and 11 days, breaking the record set by Peter Leko and becoming the youngest Hungarian grandmaster ever.

However, it was not his early successes that made Rapport famous, but rather his unusual play and creative ideas in all phases of the game.

Tata Steel 2024 with analyses by Wei Yi, Firouzja, Giri, Pragg, Vidit and many more. Opening videos by Jan Werle, Daniel King and Mihail Marin. 11 repertoire articles from Alekhine to the King's Indian and much more.

He did not lose a single game in Batumi and, together with Peter Leko, was a mainstay of the Hungarian team. Leko, who had a long break from tournament chess, drew all his games and also remained undefeated. This consistency on the top boards helped Hungary to a shared seventh to eleventh place.

Throughout the European Team Championship Rapport showed good form and in the last round he won a fine game against Maksim Chigaev.

Maksim Chigaev at the European Championship 2024 | Photo: ECU

Chigaev used to play for Russia, but he switched to the Spanish Chess Federation after Russia invaded Ukraine. In March 2022, he was one of 44 Russian chess players to sign an open letter protesting against the invasion of Ukraine addressed to President Putin.

Links

<< Game of the Week #693: Van Wely - Kovalenko, European Team Championship 2025
Viva Las Vegas >>
Topics: European Team Championship 2025, Richard Rapport
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Euro Teams: Ukraine and Poland win again, remain on top

10/11/2025 – After six rounds of play at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, Ukraine have strengthened their position at the top of the open standings, while Poland have taken firm control of the women's competition with a commanding victory over their closest rivals. The final three rounds of the championships in Batumi will take place from Sunday to Tuesday. | Photos: European Chess Union
More...
 5

See also

Euro Teams: Serbia and Greece on 3 out of 3

10/8/2025 – After three rounds at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, clear leaders have begun to emerge in both sections. Serbia and Greece share the lead in the open event, while Poland, Bulgaria and Germany top the standings in the women's tournament, with Germany scoring an upset victory over top seeds Georgia in Tuesday's third round. | Photos: European Chess Union

Video

60m English Anti-Bayonet

King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.