World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2015
The 2015 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Berlin took place from October 10th to 14th. Almost all of the world's chess players were present, including defending champion Magnus Carlsen as the reigning world champion in these two disciplines and in classical chess . Carlsen was able to defend his title as rapid chess world champion in front of Jan Nepomnjaschtschi and Teimour Radjabov . Alexander Grischuk became world champion in blitz chess ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vladimir Kramnik .
Organizational framework
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After the end of the Chess Classic 2010, which until then had determined the world rapid chess champion, and a one-year break, the world rapid and blitz chess championships have been held as a double event since 2012 under the direction of the World Chess Federation ( FIDE ). After Astana (2012), Khanty-Mansiysk (2013) and Dubai (2014), the two world championships for 2015 were awarded to Berlin. However, that did not happen until the end of August this year, which has met with criticism in terms of generating public attention, organization and sponsorship in the chess scene. A total of $ 400,000 in prize money was up for grabs.
The festival halls of the former Bolle dairy in Moabiter Spreebogen, which had been appropriately prepared for the event, served as the venue. The journalist Ulrich Stock attests “a wonderful atmosphere. A high, wide room. Raw, reddish brickwork, the niches primed purple by the lighting control. Neon chandeliers in the height and ceiling spotlights ensure a pleasant, even brightness. ”The stick, despite the lack of signage, impressed positively at these world championships, especially compared to last year's World Championships in classic chess in Sochi , where they played in front of an almost empty hall has been. In Berlin, in addition to a game room that could hold a large number of spectators, there was also an intensively visited area in which Jan Gustafsson commented live on the large-scale projected events on the boards.
(each with black: front left Peter Svidler ; front right Boris Gelfand )
Four top boards for the players who were straight ahead in the respective competition were lifted out for tables on a podium at the head end of the gaming room; they were given the latest nameplates and the corresponding national flags for each round. Board No. 1, however, was reserved for the defending champion Magnus Carlsen, regardless of the current position in the tournament, because Norwegian television had its cameras permanently installed here for continuous live reporting. All other tables and chessboards were also numbered and were filled for each round according to the current position and allocation according to the Swiss system . With 130 grandmasters, according to Der Spiegel , it was the best-manned World Cup with a shorter reflection period in chess history. In the Rapid Chess World Cup, each player had 15 minutes to think about each game and was given an additional 10 seconds for each move. The time bonus per move is intended to prevent someone in a balanced or profitable position from losing in the end simply by exceeding the time limit - an innovation proposed by the late Bobby Fischer . Fischer's opponent in the "Match of the Century" 1972, Boris Spasski , had traveled to Berlin as a spectator and took part in the press conference at the beginning of the tournament.
Course and results of the rapid chess world championships
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To determine the rapid world champion, 158 participants played five rounds per day on the first three days of the event, for a total of 15. The sole lead on the first day of the tournament was taken by Sergei Karjakin , who won four of his five games in a draw , followed with 4.5 points of 16 players with four points, including next to Magnus Carlsen Péter Lékó and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi. The second day showed that the big names of the chess world could only partially assert themselves in this strong field. Boris Gelfand reached 12th place with 7 points after 10 games, Karjakin was now 18th with 6.5 points, Viswanathan Anand was 63rd with 5.5 points, Lékó was 73rd with 5 points. Meanwhile Carlsen and Sergei Zhigalko shared the lead with 8 points each, followed by Ihor Kowalenko , Vladimir Kramnik and Vassily Ivanchuk with 7.5 points each.
At the beginning of the third day, Carlsen prevailed in the 11th round with the black stones against Zhigalko, who had also lost a game until then, took the sole lead and expanded it in the 12th game after an exciting course against Ivanchuk. After that, three draws were enough for Magnus Carlsen to defend his title, including one against Vladimir Kramnik, who next to Carlsen was the only one who did not lose a rapid game, but had to be content with sixth place after five wins (compared to eight for Carlsen). The best German participant was Georg Meier with six wins and a total of 8.5 points in 46th place. With 11.5 points from 15 games, the old and new world champion remained a whole point ahead of his pursuers, who came in tied with 10.5 points, runner-up world champion Jan Nepomnjaschtschi, third-placed Teimour Radjabov and Leinier Domínguez Pérez as fourth, who like Carlsen from the the last five games each had scored 3.5 points.
Course and results of the world championship in blitz chess
On two days, October 13th and 14th, the world blitz chess champion was determined in a total of 21 rounds. 188 participants took part in this competition. Each player had 3 minutes to think about each game and an additional 2 seconds for each move. The first 11 rounds took place every half hour on October 13, the remaining 10 rounds the day after.
Halfway through the first day, Magnus Carlsen reached the top of the field tied with Tigran L. Petrosjan when he defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the white stones in the 6th round. After he had defeated Petrosjan in the 7th round, while Carlsen had drawn against Levon Aronjan , the course was set for a neck-and-neck race between Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen that lasted until the end of the day. On this fourth day of competition, Carlsen lost the 11th and last game of the day with the white pieces against Karjakin, while Vachier-Lagrave drew with black against Radjabov and now took the lead with 9.5 points ahead of Carlsen with 9 as well as Karjakin and Domínguez with 8.5 points each. Aronjan, Radjabov and Kramnik followed on ranks five to seven with 8 points each. At this point in time, Alexander Grischuk was in 19th place with 7.5 points, followed by Boris Gelfand , Evgeny Tomashevsky , Peter Svidler , Peter Lékó and Vladimir Onischuk with equal points .
In the 12th Blitz at the beginning of the final day, Grischuk lost his opening match with the white pieces against Radjabov, while Vachier-Lagrave (against Domínguez) and Carlsen (against Kramnik) each drew with black. From the remaining nine lossless games, however, Grischuk got 8 points by winning seven games, including those against Carlsen, Karjakin and most recently against Gelfand. With 7 points from ten games, Kramnik alone remained without defeat on the 2nd day of the World Blitz Championship and thus laid the foundation for his bronze medal. Vachier-Lagrave, who with 13.5 points despite his defeat in the 18th round with the white stones against Yuri Vovk (at the end ninth in the overall standings) still in front of him and Kramnik and Grischuk with 13 points each, also lost the Follow-up game in the 19th round against Invanchuk and finally won the silver medal with 15 points. Carlsen, who had lost the 13th game with Black against Radjabov and the 15th against Grischuk and the 20th against Invanchuk with the white pieces, had to be modest as the defending champion with the 6th place. The best of 33 German participants was again Georg Meier with nine games won and a total of 11.5 points in 68th place. Alexander Grischuk won his third title as world champion in blitz chess with 15.5 points when Ivanchuk and Kramnik (who like Vachier-Lagrave got a total of 15 points) drew after his victory against Gelfand in the last of the 21 rounds.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b chp / sid: Magnus Carlsen wins Rapid World Championship - unbeaten in 15 games. In: Spiegel Online . October 13, 2015, accessed May 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Ulrich Stock: Chess World Championship: There is a chess people, here it is. In: Zeit Online. October 11, 2015, accessed November 17, 2015 .
- ↑ Ulrich Stock: Rapid World Championship: Matt instead of Mett. In: Zeit Online. October 12, 2015, accessed November 17, 2015 .
- ↑ Ulrich Stock: Magnus Carlsen: The master of the frown. In: Zeit Online. October 13, 2015, accessed November 17, 2015 .
- ↑ Carlsen wins the Rapid World Championship. In: sueddeutsche.de. October 12, 2015, accessed August 13, 2018 .
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b - ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Carlsen misses the chess triple
- ↑ World champion Magnus Carlsen is dethroned
Web links
- Results of the rapid chess world championships at chess-results.com
- Results of the world championship blitz chess at chess-results.com