Nepomniaschi leads World Rapid with 9.0/10

The FIDE World Rapid Championship 2013 and FIDE World Blitz Championship 2013 are being held in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) from June 06 to 10, 2013. The total prize fund of the championship is US $400,000, which also shows the high status of the tournament. The event is being held in the Ugra Chess Academy, which is located in the city center. This unique three-level building, which has no sharp edges, was designed by the famous Dutch architect Erick Van Egeraat and constructed using modern energy conserving technologies. The games will be held in the tournament hall on the first floor.

58 players from 18 countries are competing in the Fide World Rapid & Blitz Championships, including representatives from chess powers such as Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Israel, India, the United States and Armenia. There are also players from Iran, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Spain and other countries. More than thirty players are from Russia, among them the clear favorites of the tournament: the current world champion in blitz Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachi and Sergey Rublevsky. An interesting participant: the 14-year-old prodigy from Omsk, international master, chess rising star Vladislav Artemyev.

1st day review: Nepomniaschi and Dreev tied for first

The first symbolic move on the first table was made by Alexey Putin, the Vice Governor of Ugra, in the game between Alexander Grischuk, the current world champion, and Ivan Popov, the champion of Moscow 2012.

After three rounds of play on the first day of the Fide World Rapid Championship three grandmasters, Ian Nepomniaschi and Alexey Dreev from Russia, and Francisco Vallejo from Spain, were leading on field with 3.0/3 points. Nepomniaschi became the sold leader after the fourth round after his victory over Vallejo, and Dreev drew Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan. In the fifth round Nepomniaschi and Ildar Khairullin agreed to a draw on the 16th move, whild Dreev outplayed Victor Bologan from Moldavia and caught the leader.

The situation at the end of the first day was as follows: 1st-2nd Nepomniaschi (above), Dreev (both from Russia) with 4.5/5 points, 3rd-4th Mamedyarov, Khairullin, 4.0/5, 5-12 Alexander Grischuk, Dmitry Andreikin and Vladimir Potkin (all three from Russia), Victor Bologan (Moldavia), Francisco Vallejo (Spain), Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), Gata Kamsky (USA), Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan), all with 3.5/5 points.

Here are a couple of interesting game from the first day, with notes by tournament annotator and well-known chess trainer GM Efstratios Grivas from Greece.

Among the male participants there is a single female player, Kateryna Lagno from Ukraine (above), twice European champion. She made four draws but lost against Boris Grachev (Russia) in the fifth round.

Video coverage and commentary of round one

2nd day review: Yan Nepomnyaschiy is two points ahead of the nearest rivals

The second day was marked by confident play by Ian Nepomnyaschi. The Russian grandmaster scored 4.5 in five games, the same result he made during first five rounds. Therefore he is on top of the current standings, with 9.0/10 points. The closest rivals, Ildar Khayrullin (Russia) and Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), are two points behind.

Nepomnyaschi started the second day by defeating his compatriot Alexei Dreev. He continued his victorious March, outplaying Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Boris Grachev (Russia) and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam). He just lost half a point in a game against Dmitry Andreikin.

The famous Russian commentator GM Sergey Shipov said the following on the successful start of Russian player: “Ian is lucky at the tournament to have three positive factors in his favour: he is in a great shape ; his main competitors are not showing their best performance, for different reasons; and Ian found the right balance between light and deep games. This is very important in rapid chess, where you don’t have a possibility to sink into the depth of the game. He plays very quickly and thinks deeply only in critical moments." Here's a game that shows how resourceful Ian can be.

Video coverage and commentary of round two

Top standings after ten rounds

The final five rounds of the World Rapid Chess Championship will be held on Saturday, June 8 at 3 p.m. local time.

Photos by Kirill Merkuryev, Maria Emelianova

Watch the action live on video (with commentary) here