MVL supreme in Corsica

The official tournament poster

It was more than a courtesy visit, the Corsican Blitz Championship did boast a prize fund of 8000 Euros, and with the world's third highest blitz rating, Maxime Vachier Lagrave could comfortably claim a degree of favoritism. That said, his compatriot and friend Etienne Bacrot came to make sure he would need to earn that top prize, and the competition enjoyed a good deal of friendly banter as well as hard fought competition.

It was a rare opportunity to play blitz face-to-face with one of the world's absolute best

The day was held with everyone in high spirits

Naturally everyone was excitied to be able to win a trophy

The event was held in the pastoral commune of Quenza in Corsica

It was a nine-round competition of five minutes plus three seconds increment. Unsurprisingly, the decisive game of the event was between the two stars, and neither was able to break the balance, leading to a draw. Since Maxime won all his other games, while Etienne conceded another draw, Maxime took the title with 8.5/9 and a 2851 performance, which was in line with his actual FIDE Blitz rating of 2854. Bacrot came in second with 8.0/9 followed by GM Mikhail Kazakov with 7.0/9, and Michael Massoni in forth with 7.0/9, who also became the Corsican Champion as a result.

Leo Battesti presents one of the prizes, while MVL and Bacrot look on. The large bag was
actually one of the special prizes, much appreciated: one of seven "Prisutti". These 7-8kg
hams are considered the very best in Corsica.

After the event, MVL gave a simul, where he won 34 of his games but lost one to Jean Liebenguth

In a jocular 'interview', MVL was quizzed on how he explained this terrible loss. He replied it was
the terrible weight of his many years (he is 24)

What are your goals for the rest of the year?

My goals are to perform well in the Grand Chess Tour (I still have St Louis and London) and qualify for the Candidates via the World Cup, which will be far from easy. All while keeping in mind to help the French team shine in the European Team Championship in Reykjavik, and perhaps do better than in 2013!

Have you finally improved in Belote?

I rarely have the chance to play belote. I play Tarot more regularly, but progress only very slowly. To each his field of expertise!

Ed: Belote and Tarot are eminently French card games, all played with great enthusiasm by the French. Tarot has the curiosity of playing with a singular deck that includes 26 extra cards: 21 trumps, a joker, and an extra face card called the knight ("cavalier"), placed between the jack and the queen. It is a strategic game played between three to five players and is great fun.

A video of the day and activities

Final standings