Carlsen and Karjakin dominate Blitz World Championship

by Johannes Fischer
12/29/2016 – Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen were the two dominating players in the first 12 rounds of the World Blitz Championship in Doha. Karjakin finished the day with 10.0/12, did not suffer a single loss and defeated Carlsen in round 5. Though he lost against Karjakin, Carlsen was also in splendid shape. He finished with 10.0/12 and now shares the lead with Karjakin. Impressions, games, standings.

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Photos  Maria Emelianova (Tournament page)

The 2016 FIDE World Blitz Championship is a 21-round Swiss open with a time-limit of 3 minutes for the whole game and an increment of 2 seconds per move, starting from move one. The total prize fund is 200,000 USD of which the winner receives 40,000 USD.

After a disappointing 9.0/15 in the rapid tournament, Karjakin seemed determined to do better in blitz and began the tournament with 6.0/6. In round 5 he played against Carlsen who blundered in an equal position and lost.

Magnus Carlsen vs Sergey Karjakin

The final position of Carlsen vs Karjakin

After starting with 6.0/6 Karjakin slowed down a bit and finished day 1 with 10.0/12. He shares first place with Carlsen who recovered quickly from his loss against Karjakin. Carlsen and Karjakin are 1.5 points ahead of four players with 8.5/12 each.

Standings after 12 rounds

Rg. Name Pts  TB1 
1 Karjakin Sergey 10,0 2740
2 Carlsen Magnus 10,0 2706
3 Dubov Daniil 8,5 2740
4 Morozevich Alexander 8,5 2710
5 Bosiocic Marin 8,5 2673
6 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 8,5 2649
7 Salem A.R. Saleh 8,0 2792
8 Dominguez Perez Leinier 8,0 2705
9 Yu Yangyi 8,0 2704
10 Jobava Baadur 8,0 2682
11 Nakamura Hikaru 8,0 2661
12 Ivanchuk Vassily 8,0 2647
13 Dreev Aleksey 7,5 2712
14 Anand Viswanathan 7,5 2675
15 Nepomniachtchi Ian 7,5 2674
16 Wojtaszek Radoslaw 7,5 2672
17 Grischuk Alexander 7,5 2664
18 Radjabov Teimour 7,5 2656
19 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 7,5 2640
20 Leko Peter 7,5 2624
21 Aronian Levon 7,5 2611

... 106 players

Source: chess-results.com

Things did not go to well for reigning Blitz World Champion Alexander Grischuk:
With 7.5/12 he is place 17.

Hikaru Nakamura has 8.0/12

Alexander Morozevich did not play in the rapid tournament
but in the blitz tournament he has 8.5/12.

 Vishy Anand and Santosh Vidit have a friendliy chat after their game

Games

 

The Women's Tournament

17 rounds are played in the Women's Tournament and after 9 rounds Alexandra Kosteniuk is sole leader with 7.5/9. Anna Muzychuk, who had dominated the rapid tournament, is having more difficulties in blitz but with 6.5/9 she is only one point behind Kosteniuk.

Standings after nine rounds

Rg. Snr   Name Country Elo Pts  TB1  K rtg+/-
1 12 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2500 7,5 2476 20 48,2
2 5 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2571 7,0 2486 20 26,4
3 10 GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2501 6,5 2526 20 40,2
4 2 GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2641 6,5 2458 20 -3,0
5 1 GM Muzychuk Anna UKR 2645 6,5 2446 20 -7,0
6 6 WGM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2552 6,0 2466 20 6,4
7 9 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2502 6,0 2424 20 6,2
8 27 IM Kashlinskaya Alina RUS 2286 5,5 2455 20 56,0
9 14 IM Arabidze Meri GEO 2445 5,5 2415 20 6,8
10 21 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2371 5,0 2510 20 35,6
11 8 GM Zhao Xue CHN 2526 5,0 2455 20 -10,6
12 3 GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2605 5,0 2454 20 -27,2
13 20 IM Charochkina Daria RUS 2375 5,0 2418 20 13,2
14 15 IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2414 5,0 2353 20 -11,2

...34 players

Source: chess-results.com

Anna Muzychuk (left), who yesterday became Women's World Champion in rapid chess

Alexandra Kosteniuk leads

With 6.5/9 Harika Dronavalli is currently shared third

Games

 

The action will continue tomorrow, December 30, 3 pm local time, with the last 9 rounds of the World Blitz Championship.

Tournament page...

<< Upsets in first rounds of the Rilton Cup
Rencontrez Etienne – Le Champion >>
Topics: Bilitz World Championship, Doha, Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin
Johannes 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".
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diegoami diegoami 12/30/2016 04:57
Now I cannot see the last blitz results on the tournament page because they are covered from that stupid ads !
Rambus Rambus 12/30/2016 08:58
Where has Moro been all this while?!
KchessK KchessK 12/29/2016 09:32
Go Moro!
Igor Freiberger Igor Freiberger 12/29/2016 07:25
The new table style is very nice, much better than the previous one.
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