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By Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from Kazakhstan
A very important question for all players is whether they should attend the opening ceremony or not. If there is a choice, most of them prefer not to because they can relax in their rooms, prepare, unwind and get ready for a grueling 5-day event. And those players are right in their own way. However, those who did attend the opening ceremony at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, which is also the venue of the World Rapid and Blitz 2022, took back with them some wonderful memories. The dance and music performances were excellent, the speeches were short and the number of local fans who turned up were huge in numbers. It goes to show how popular chess is in Kazakhstan. Top four seeds in each category - Rapid and Blitz in open and women, did turn up - Carlsen, Nakamura, Lagno and Kosteniuk. The 15 minutes that Magnus spent with the crowd were truly heart-warming. If you are not yet updated with the players list, you must definitely check out this curtain raiser article.
The day started with a technical meeting | Photo: Amruta Mokal
All the important points were shown on the screen | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Coming in like a boss! The biggest attraction of the tournament - Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Amruta Mokal
GM Darmen Sadvakasov interacts with Magnus Carlsen. Darmen is the tournament director of the World Rapid and Blitz 2022. He is 5-time Kazakh champion and also a former World Junior Champion. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
A unique way to choose the colour. Two Kazakh style vessels containing one white king and one black king in each one is brought towards Magnus | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Magnus chooses the black king and hence in the world rapid 2022 he will get the black pieces in game 1 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
A shapan is brought for Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Amruta Mokal
A staple article of Kazakh clothing is the chapan or shapan, a long, loose robe. Unlike other clothing, it is not gender-specific and is worn by men and women. Chapans are made from various fabrics and are available in a range of colors (most often monochrome or dark). They are lined with a layer of wool or cotton.
Magnus is ready to wear it! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
It seems to fit him pretty well! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
You also have to wear the hat! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
And now he looks like a Kazakh local! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Hikaru is given a traditional Kazakh fur hat also known as Tymaq | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The top seed in the women's blitz Kateryna Lagno draws the white king | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The top seed in women's blitz Alexandra Kosteniuk draws the black king | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The special box for all the VIPs | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Dauren Abayev, the minister of culture and sports was present at the opening ceremony | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Erbolat Dosaev, currently the Akim (Mayor) of Almaty graced the occasion. He has been the deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan as well as the minister of finance for the country. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
FIDE President Arkadij Dvorkovich talks how the Football world cup just ended and it is now time for the chess extravaganza of World Rapid and Blitz to begin! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Small kids performed admirably at the opening ceremony | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The smiling kids lit up the entire event! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The local dances were filled with energy and colour | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The atmosphere was filled with energy | Photo: Amruta Mokal
A well-known Kazakh local music band performed as the final act of the opening ceremony | Photo: Amruta Mokal
A talented Indian youngster playing the World Rapid and Blitz for the first time in his life - Pranav V. | Photo: Sagar Shah
The opening ceremony gives a chance for players of different countries to meet and mingle with each other | Photo: Sagar Shah
Three top women players - Humpy, Saduakassova and Gunina | Photo: Sagar Shah
The FIDE delegate to the event is GM Pavel Tregubov | Photo: Sagar Shah
Always doing a wonderful job behind the camera is Amruta Mokal | Photo: Sagar Shah
On 25th of December, the Christmas Day before things start to get intense at the World Rapid and Blitz, we all decided to go for a nice lunch.
On the streets of Almaty - Padmini Rout, Anish Giri, Vidit Gujrathi and Sagar Shah
The super seven!
The only waiter at the restaurant who could speak English
Anish Giri gets his copy of ChessPa in the Chess Adventure Park for his 1.5-year-old son Michael
You can follow the LIVE commentary on FIDE's YouTube channel.
It starts at 3 p.m. local time, which is 2.30 p.m. IST
Starting rank for women's event:
| No. | Name | FideID | FED | Rtg | ||
| 1 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 4128125 | FID | 2537 | |
| 2 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | 14109336 | FID | 2531 | |
| 3 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 8603642 | CHN | 2502 | |
| 4 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 4147103 | FID | 2484 | |
| 5 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 13601903 | GEO | 2475 | |
| 6 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 5015197 | IND | 2475 | |
| 7 | GM | Koneru Humpy | 5008123 | IND | 2468 | |
| 8 | GM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 13703544 | KAZ | 2448 | |
| 9 | IM | Saduakassova Dinara | 13700090 | KAZ | 2435 | |
| 10 | IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 12512214 | IRI | 2411 |
Starting rank for the open event:
| No. | Name | FED | Rtg | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2909 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2847 |
| 3 |
|
GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2830 |
| 4 |
|
GM | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 2807 |
| 5 |
|
GM | Artemiev Vladislav | FID | 2803 |
| 6 |
|
GM | Dubov Daniil | FID | 2792 |
| 7 |
|
GM | Giri Anish | NED | 2792 |
| 8 |
|
GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | FID | 2782 |
| 9 |
|
GM | Duda Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2773 |
| 10 |
|
GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 2771 |
Start the videos and click on Maximize or YouTube to get them in full resolution.
The entire opening ceremony
The way in which Magnus Carlsen spent time with the fans after the opening ceremony was truly inspiring
Who are the Kazakh chess fans supporting for this event?
The way Carlsen and Nakamura were called up on stage was very cool to watch!
Zhansaya Abdumalik the top Kazakh female player and also the president of Kazakh chess association and the deputy mayor of Almaty speaks about the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd.
He is one of the strongest youngsters in the world of chess. Alexey Sarana speaks about how it is a confusing time for chess players - whether to focus on classical, rapid or blitz.
