“He is among several Russians who have been placed on Ukraine’s sanctions list. The total prize fund is $1 million.
As usual, the rapid event will be held first, with the 13-round Swiss Open (11 women’s) being played over three days. The snap is a 21-round (17 round for women) Swiss over two days. Time control is 15 minutes plus 10 seconds for quick time and 3 minutes plus 2 seconds for blitz. In the event of a tie, there will be a play-off for first place. Games start at 10.00 CET.”
“World Rapid & Blitz begins on the 26th as Carlsen faces a dilemma
World champion Magnus Carlsen and American teenager Hans Mok Niemann will be in the same place for the first time since the scandal that rocked the chess world in St. Louis three months ago. The Norwegian faces a dilemma if he is paired against the teen, who has filed a $100 million lawsuit over cheating allegations.
Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, finalists for the fantastic Speed Chess tournament on chess.com, are among a star-studded field competing in the World Rapid & Blitz tournament that starts in Almaty, Kazakhstan on December 26. For the seventh year since 2016, the prestigious rapid chess event will be held from December 26-30. While questions about World Rapid & Blitz’s scheduling over Christmas continue to crop up, it remains extremely popular with fans around the world, with most of the big players returning each year. Chess24 will be covering LIVE with superstar duo Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko.
Magnus Carlsen, with an incredible 7 golds (3 quick and 4 blitz), 3 silver and 2 bronze in the past 10 years, is once again the big favourite. Carlsen claimed both titles in 2014 and 2019, but posted a disappointing 12th in blitz and 3rd in sprint in Warsaw last year. The Norwegian will be especially keen to win back a world championship title or two, as he runs the risk of missing one for the first time since 2013.
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However, title chaser Carlsen will face a dilemma if he is paired against Hans Niemann, the American teenager who has filed a $100 million lawsuit against him over cheating allegations.
The two will meet face to face for the first time since the scandal, which created headlines rarely seen in the world of chess before. Carlsen resigned after one step into the Julius Baer Generation Cup and later posted a carefully worded statement where he said he “didn’t want to play against people who cheated repeatedly in the past”.
Fans are now excited about how Carlsen will handle a situation where the two are paired up in one of 34 quick and straightforward games: lose and possibly risk a world title, or ignore his stated principles and play? Niemann is only ranked 53rd in the rushing center and 39th in the blitz, but chances are the two could meet in one of the early rounds. The uproar did not appear to have affected Niemann’s playing significantly in a negative way. The 19-year-old finished second at the Chessable Sunway Sitges Open recently, behind winner Kirill Alekseenko.
For world No. 1 blitzkrieg (No. 2 after Tata Steel Chess India, according to 2700chess.com) Hikaru Nakamura, who is also sued by Neiman, only a gold medal will be accepted, since he has never been able to collect the most valuable medal in speed chess on the plank. Other stars who will be battling for the medals include Fabiano Caruana, Aleksandr Grischuk, Ian Nepomniašchy, Shakhryar Mamedyarov, Jan Krzysztof Duda and Anish Giri.
World sprint champions Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have both been confirmed and will attempt to defend their titles.
Many fans are disappointed to see the loss of teenage sensation Alireza Firouzja. The Iranian-born Frenchman finished third in the blitz last year, but it was his dominant performance in St. Louis Rapid and Blitz that propelled him to 2904 in the blitz rankings. The reasons for his absence are not known, but it appears that Firozjah is very selective about his heroics. 180 players were registered in the open, while 101 women’s players were registered.
The prestigious event returns to Kazakhstan ten years after being held in its capital Astana in 2012. It was originally scheduled to take place in the Central Asian Republic in 2021, but FIDE had to move the event at the last minute to Warsaw due to Covid restrictions.
The main sponsor of the event is investment firm Freedom Finance, founded and owned by Russian-born Kazakh financier Timur Turlov, who according to Forbes has”, “With a net worth of $2.5 billion. He is among several Russians who have been placed on Ukraine’s sanctions list. The total prize fund is $1 million.
As usual, the rapid event will be held first, with a 13-round (11 women’s) Swiss Open played over three days. The snap is a 21-round (17 round for women) Swiss over two days. The time control is 15 minutes plus 10 seconds for the fast time and 3 minutes plus 2 seconds for the blitz. In the event of a tie, there will be a play-off for first place. Games start at 10.00 CET.”
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