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World
blitz and rapid chess championshipThe Official World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships are being held from July 1-11, 2012, in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. It is worth noting that the Rapid Chess Championship is a first in the history of FIDE! The top ten players of the current FIDE rating list have the right to take part in the championships. The total prize fund is US $400,000.
Qualifiers are held prior to the finals, with chess players from all over the world getting a chance to advance to the main event. The only requirement for participants was that their international ratings should be not less than 2300. Three winners of the qualifiers take part in the finals and be able to win prizes. Four Kazakhstani grandmasters have been nominated to the finals: Murtas Kazhgaleyev and Anuar Ismagambetov in rapid chess, and Pavel Kotsur and Rinat Dzhumabayev in blitz.
Apart from the chess battles, the guests in Astana are able to attend festive events, enjoy the hospitability of Kazakhstanis, familiarize with the modern metropolis – new capital city of Kazakhstan.
| July 1, Sun. | Arrival of participants in Astana | |
| July 2, Mon. | 13:30 | Opening ceremony; Rapid qualifiers – five rounds |
| July 3, Tues. | 15:00 | Rapid qualifiers – four rounds |
| July 4, Wed. | 15:00 | Blitz qualifiers – 11 x 2 rounds |
| July 5, Thurs. | 17:00 | Opening ceremony |
| July 6, Fri. | 15:00 | Rapid Chess Championship 1 – 5 rounds |
| July 7, Sat. | 15:00 | Rapid Chess Championship 6 – 10 rounds |
| July 8, Sun. | 15:00 | Rapid Chess Championship 11 – 15 rounds |
| July 9, Mon. | 15:00 | World Blitz Chess Championship rounds 1 – 15 |
| July 10, Tues. | 15:00 | World Blitz rounds 16–30; closing ceremony |
| July 11, Wed. | Departure of participants |
The World Rapid Chess Championship will be played in three days as a round-robin event with five rounds per day. Time controls are 15 minutes for all moves plus 10 seconds increment per move. The World Blitz is a sixteen-player double round robin with 15 rounds per day. The time control is three minutes + two seconds increment per move. These are the participants
| Rapid Chess Championship | Blitz Chess Championship | |||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2837 | Magnus Carlsen | 2835 | |
| Teimour Radjabov | 2788 | Teimour Radjabov | 2784 | |
| Sergey Karjakin | 2779 | Sergey Karjakin | 2779 | |
| Alexander Morozevich | 2770 | Alexander Morozevich | 2769 | |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | 2769 | Vassily Ivanchuk | 2764 | |
| Alexander Grischuk | 2763 | Alexander Grischuk | 2761 | |
| Veselin Topalov | 2752 | Veselin Topalov | 2752 | |
| Peter Svidler | 2749 | Peter Svidler | 2741 | |
| Boris Gelfand | 2738 | Boris Gelfand | 2727 | |
| Viktor Bologan | 2732 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2726 | |
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2726 | Dmitry Andreikin | 2700 | |
| Alexey Dreev | 2677 | Le Quang Liem | 2693 | |
| Igor Kurnosov | 2663 | Nikolai Chadaev | 2605 | |
| Vladislav Tkachiev | 2644 | Darmen Sadvakasov | 2629 | |
| Murtas Kazhgaleyev | 2589 | Rinat Jumabayev | 2556 | |
| Anuar Ismagambetov | 2471 | Pavel Kotsur | 2548 | |
Tiebreak rules for first place: (a) results between the players involved; (b) number of wins; (c) Sonneborn-Berger score; (d) Sudden death game: 5 min vs 4 min.
The rapid chess qualifier under way
Nikolai Chadaev, rated 2605, qualified for the blitz
FM Rauan Mankeyev of Kazakhstan, rated 2333, did not qualify
Dinara Saduakassova, 2216, the only female participant, did not qualify
for the finals
Astana has been the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997, and is the country's second largest city (after Almaty, the former capital). It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though administrated separately from the province as a federal city area.
The monument and observation tower Bayterek is the most famous landmark in Astana. It is meant to embody a folktale about a mythical tree of life and a magic bird of happiness, Samruk, that has laid its egg on a poplar tree. The tower is 105m tall, the gold-mirrored egg, 22m in diameter, contains the observation deck. From there it is possible to see much of the newly built city:
Links
The games of the Finals will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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