11/19/2009 – It was a spectacular event, a three-day frenzy of blitz chess, with World Champion Anand finishing three full points ahead of the field – and one Magnus Carlsen, 18-year-old youth from Norway, three points ahead of him. Oh the excitement! We brought you the results and games of the third and final day. Here now is a photo report by Misha Savinov.
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World
Blitz Championship – final pictorial report
This event was held on November 16, 17 and 18 in the showroom of the Red Square
mall GUM. Time controls were three minutes for the whole game + two seconds
increment per move. The event was a 22-player double round-robin, i.e. it had
a total of 42 rounds, which were played on three consecutive days. The participants
include the players from the Tal Memorial, plus twelve invitees. The average
rating was 2718 – quite remarkable for an evernt with so many players.
Not in form: Levon Aronian, who is feeling a bit sick
Alexander Morozevich watches Grischuk-Aronian, which is ten seconds away
from the draw
Morozevich vs Kramnik, always a crowd pleaser
Peter Svidler, who ended up in fifth place
Vishy Anand patiently waits for his next customer...
... who is Sergey Karjakin, with whom Anand drew in round 35
Why didn't I think of simply going after your king with my king?
Anatoly Karpov was in third place after the first day but finished sixteenth
in the end
He did beat his round 37 opponent Judit Polgar, who finished nineteenth
A disappointed Vassily Ivanchuk, who failed to score 50%
One of the most active photographers: Maria Fominykh
Crowds gather as Boris Gelfand struggles in vein to convert an extra piece
against Magnus Carlsen
Of supreme interest: Anand vs Carlsen. The Norwegian won both their encounters.
Magnus pondering 30...Rxe3! in their round 38 game
This is known as an "Epaulette mate". It is most painful. 0-1.
Felt pen 7: updating the table in the Blitz World Championship
It's over: Magnus is the 2009 Blitz World Champion
The new champion must talk to Moscow TV
The winners at the closing ceremony: Sergey Karjakin (Bronze), Vishy Anand
(Silver),
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (Natural Gas and Oil), Magnus Carlsen (Gold)
Chief organiser Alexander Bakh, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and arbiter
Bolat Assanov (background)
Vladimir Kramnik: "Soon people will consider this year's Tal Memorial as
one of the strongest tournaments in the history of chess, like AVRO-tournament
and Zurich 1953". Right: Alexander Bakh.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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World
Blitz Championship – final pictorial report
