World champion in blitz chess

The world champion in blitz chess, Magnus Carlsen

A world champion in blitz chess was determined for the first time in 1988 in Saint John, Canada . It then won Mikhail Tal . The world chess federation FIDE only introduced world blitz chess championships in 2006. Since then they have been held annually or at least every two years. Reigning world champion is Magnus Carlsen , who won the title in December 2018. For women, the world champion in blitz chess will be determined separately. Jekaterina Lagno is currently the Blitz world champion.

History of the earlier best-manned world tournaments in blitz chess

In the history of chess there have been lightning duels and lightning tournaments that were occupied by the world's best players, so that their winners would definitely have earned the title of lightning chess world champion. Worth mentioning here are José Raúl Capablanca , Michail Tal, Bobby Fischer , Garri Kasparow and Viswanathan Anand , who won the so-called World Blitz Cup in 2000. The history of the world championships in blitz chess is preceded by the history of several world championship blitz tournaments. Some encounters are listed below:

Capablanca defeated Lasker in a lightning duel in 1914

At the beginning of the 20th century, Capablanca was regarded as a luminary in blitz chess. In games against Russian champions he won with a time handicap with only one minute to think about five minutes against his opponents. In July 1914 he won a 10-game blitz at Café Kerkau in Berlin against the then world chess champion Emanuel Lasker with 6.5: 3.5. Five seconds per move was agreed as the time to think about it. Lasker wrote that Capablanca "made almost no mistakes, even with these strict time regulations, while I often went wrong".

World Cup challenger Michail Tal Blitz tournament winner from 1959

After the candidates' tournament in Yugoslavia , the newspaper Informator held a lightning tournament in Belgrade with prizes. Michail Tal won with 18.5 points ahead of Tigran Petrosjan 18, Milan Matulović 17.5, Paul Keres 14.5, Juri Awerbach , Isaak Boleslawski and Aleksandar Matanović each 13.5. Other participants included a. Wassili Smyslow , Friðrik Ólafsson , Svetozar Gligorić , Bent Larsen and Alexander Koblenz .

Bobby Fischer with a clear lead, winner of the 1970 Blitz tournament

A blitz tournament with the world's best players in Belgrade in 1970 - taking place after the competition between the USSR and the rest of the world - was won by Bobby Fischer by a large margin. He reached 19 of 22 points and lost only one game (against Kortschnoi). Michail Tal was second with 14.5 points, Viktor Kortschnoi third with 14 points. This was followed by 4th Tigran Petrosyan: 13.5 points; 5. David Bronstein : 13 points; 6. Vlastimil Hort : 12 points; etc. Fischer scored six wins from six games against the three participating Soviet ex-world champions Smyslow, Tal and Petrosjan.

Kasparow blitz tournament winner from 1983

In a very strong, two-round blitz tournament in 1983 in Herceg Novi , Garry Kasparov clearly won with 13.5 points ahead of Viktor Korchnoi with 10.5 points. Michael Tal finished third with 9.5 points; other participants included Boris Spasski , Ljubomir Ljubojević , Bent Larsen and Jan Timman .

Kasparow Blitz tournament winner from 1987

In a very strong blitz tournament in 1987 in Brussels , Garri Kasparow won with 17 of 22 points, followed by Jan 2 Timman: 15 points; 3rd to 4th Anatoly Karpov and Ljubomir Ljubojević: 12.5 points; 5. Robert Huebner : 12 points; etc.

Michail Tal Blitz World Champion 1988

In 1988 the first official world blitz chess championship took place in Saint John, Canada . Among the 32 participants were a. also the opponents for the world championship title at the time, Kasparov and Karpov (Korchnoi was absent). It was the third world championship, in 1970 Fischer won before Tal.

The World Cup tournament was not organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE . How prestigious it was, however, testifies to the size of the first prize: 50,000 dollars . For comparison: The prize money at the first FIDE Blitz World Championship in 2006 was only $ 14,400 for the winner; since then the dollar has also depreciated drastically.

The world championship was held in a knockout system . Kasparov was eliminated in the quarterfinals. In the final, Michail Tal clearly beat Rafael Vaganian 4-0 . Tal was named the best blitz player in the world at the age of 52.

Kasparow blitz tournament winner from 1994

In May 1994 the strongest blitz tournament to date on German soil took place in Munich . In the final tournament, Garri Kasparow dominated tied with 12.5 out of 17 points and for that time sensational - Fritz 3 , a computer program . Players like Viswanathan Anand , Alexei Drejew , Nigel Short , Boris Gelfand , Kiril Georgiev and Wladimir Kramnik were left behind. Michail Tal died in 1992. In the playoff, Kasparow defeated the Fritz 3 program 4-1.

Anand World Blitz Cup winner from 2000

In January 2000, a World Blitz Cup in the Swiss system with 34 rounds was held in Warsaw . Viswanathan Anand won this tournament.

FIDE world championships in blitz chess

So far, the World Chess Federation FIDE has held the following official world championship tournaments in blitz chess.

Grishchuk World Blitz Champion 2006

From September 5th to 7th, 2006 FIDE organized its first world blitz chess championship in Rishon leTzion, Israel . Viswanathan Anand , Pjotr Swidler , Boris Gelfand , Teymur Rəcəbov , Judit Polgár , Alexander Grishchuk and Étienne Bacrot were invited . Magnus Carlsen received a wild card. A further eight participants were determined on the basis of qualifying tournaments.

At the World Cup, each of the 16 participants only had to play against each opponent once. Such a simple round-robin tournament with an even number of participants always has the disadvantage that some participants often have the color white, while others have to play one more game with the black pieces.

After completion, Alexander Grishchuk and Pjotr Swidler were tied with 10.5 points each at the top, ahead of Teymur Rəcəbov and Viswanathan Anand, who each had 10 points. Regardless of the fact that of the two best points, Grishchuk was only allowed to play seven times with the white pieces, while Swidler was allowed to play eight times with the white pieces, a play-off match was held in the format of "sudden death". Each player should be given roughly the same chance of victory: The player to whom White was drawn had a total of six minutes for the entire game (without additional time increments for each move made), while Black was only given five minutes to think about it. White still had to win, while a draw was enough for Black to win.

White fell on Grishchuk, who was disadvantaged in the round-robin tournament; he won the game and became world champion. In total, each of the two top points in the round-robin tournament had eight white and eight black. But Grishchuk earned one more point with the tiebreaker and had a total of one minute more to think about it.

Ivanchuk world champion blitz chess in 2007

On November 21st and 22nd, 2007, the second world chess championship of the World Chess Federation FIDE took place in Moscow . Overall, this is the third Blitz World Cup. It was preceded by a qualifying tournament with 64 players, which also took place in Moscow on November 19 and 20. The winner was Rustam Kasimjanov with 15 points from eleven double rounds.

Then twenty participants took part in a double round tournament to play for the world championship title: Each participant had to play once with white and once with black against each of the nineteen opponents.

Vasyl Ivanchuk won the first half of the season with 13.5 out of 19 points, just ahead of Alexander Grishchuk, who got 13 points. Viswanathan Anand reached only 11.5 points, so that his second round win with 13 points ahead of Ivanchuk (12 points) was no longer enough for the overall victory. Iwanchuk became world champion with 25.5 of 38 points ahead of Anand (24.5 points).

Domínguez World Blitz Champion 2008

The world championship blitz chess 2008 was held on November 8, 2008 in Almaty again as a simple round-robin tournament. Leinier Domínguez was unbeaten; he scored 11.5 out of 15 points, half a point more than defending champion Vasyl Ivanchuk . Both had the advantage of being able to play one game more with the white pieces than with the black pieces. Third-placed Pyotr Swidler and fourth-placed Alexander Grishchuk , on the other hand, had to compete with black once more; However, they were already well behind the top duo with 10 points each. The prize money for the winner was 64,000 Swiss francs .

Carlsen blitz chess world champion 2009

The 2009 world blitz chess championship was held from November 16 to 18 in the GUM department store in Moscow . 22 participants played a double-round tournament, so that a total of 42 games had to be played. It won Magnus Carlsen with 31 points ahead of Viswanathan Anand (28 points) and Sergei Karjakin (25 points).

Aronjan Blitz Chess World Champion 2010

As in the previous year, the 2010 world blitz chess championship was held from November 16 to 18 in the GUM department store in Moscow . 20 participants played a double-round tournament, so that a total of 38 games had to be played. It was won by the Armenian Levon Aronjan , who had meanwhile been leading with 3 points, with 24.5 points ahead of Teymur Rəcəbov (24 points) and Magnus Carlsen (23.5 points). The American Hikaru Nakamura , who is favored by many for his blitz chess successes on the Internet, only achieved fifth place with 21.5 points.

Grishchuk World Blitz Champion 2012

The 2012 World Rapid Chess Championship was held in Astana from July 9th to 10th, following the World Rapid Chess Championship, which was won by Sergei Karjakin . 13 players were set to participate, three more qualified in a preliminary tournament. The 16 participants played a double-round tournament, so that a total of 30 rounds had to be completed. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Alexander Grishchuk won with 20 points (+15 = 10 −5) ahead of Magnus Carlsen (19.5 points) and Sergei Karjakin (18.5 points). The prize fund totaled $ 240,000, of which the tournament winner received $ 40,000.

Lê Quang Liêm World Blitz Champion 2013

The world rapid chess championship 2013 was held in connection with the world rapid chess championship from June 9th to 10th in Khanty-Mansiysk . 60 players took part and played 15 rounds according to the Swiss system . In each round two games with reversed colors were played, so that a total of 30 games had to be played. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. It won Lê Quang Liêm with 20.5 points ahead of the defending champion Alexander Grishchuk, Ruslan Ponormajow and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi, who each achieved 20 points. The prize fund totaled $ 200,000, of which the tournament winner received $ 40,000.

Carlsen World Blitz Chess Champion 2014

The 2014 world blitz chess championship was held in Dubai on June 19 and 20 . 115 players took part who played 21 rounds according to the Swiss system. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Magnus Carlsen won with 17 points ahead of Jan Nepomnjaschtschi and Hikaru Nakamura, who each achieved 16 points. The defending champion Lê Quang Liêm finished fourth with 14 points.

Grishchuk World Blitz Champion 2015

This world blitz chess championship was held on October 13th and 14th as part of the world rapid and blitz chess championships 2015 in Berlin. 188 players took part who played 21 rounds according to the Swiss system. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Alexander Grishchuk won with 15.5 points ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wladimir Kramnik, who each achieved 15 points. The defending champion Magnus Carlsen finished sixth with 14 points.

Karjakin World Blitz Champion 2016

The 2016 world blitz chess championship was held in Doha on December 29th and 30th . 108 players took part and played 21 rounds according to the Swiss system. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Sergei Karjakin won it with 16.5 points ahead of Magnus Carlsen, who was tied for points. The following places were occupied by Daniil Dubow , Hikaru Nakamura and defending champion Alexander Grishchuk each with 14.5 points .

Carlsen World Blitz Chess Champion 2017

The 2017 world blitz chess championship was held in Riyadh on December 29th and 30th . 138 players took part who played 21 rounds according to the Swiss system. The thinking time was three minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Magnus Carlsen won with 16 points ahead of Sergei Karjakin and Viswanathan Anand with 14.5 points each. After the first day of competition Carlsen was two points behind Karjakin, but scored 9 out of 10 points on the second day and secured the title with one lap to go. Nana Dsagnidze won the women's World Cup, which was held at the same time, with 16.5 points.

List of world champions and world's best blitz chess players

The following list shows not only the world blitz chess champions and the world blitz cup winners, but also those who have proven to be the best blitz chess players in the world by winning a duel or blitz tournament with the best members of the world. The former are shown in bold and shaded in light gray.

event	year	place	World champion / tournament winner	Number of participants	Tournament mode
Blitz match	1914	Berlin	Cuba José Raúl Capablanca	2	Duel, 10 games
Blitz tournament	1959	Belgrade	Soviet Union 1955 Mikhail Tal		Round tournament
Blitz tournament	1970	Belgrade	United States Bobby Fischer		Round tournament
Blitz tournament	1983	Herceg Novi	Soviet Union Garri Kimowitsch Kasparov		Double-rounded
Blitz tournament	1987	Brussels	Soviet Union Garry Kasparov		Round tournament
1. Blitz World Championship	1988	Saint John (Canada)	Soviet Union Mikhail Tal	32	Knockout system
Blitz tournament	1994	Munich	Russia Garry Kasparov		Round tournament
World Blitz Cup	2000	Warsaw	India Viswanathan Anand		34 rounds Swiss system
1st FIDE World Blitz Championship	2006	Rishon LeZion (Israel)	Russia Alexander Grishchuk	16	One-round
2nd FIDE World Blitz Championship	2007	Moscow	Ukraine Vasyl Ivanchuk	20th	Double-rounded
3rd FIDE World Blitz Championship	2008	Almaty (Kazakhstan)	Cuba Leinier Domínguez	16	One-round
4th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2009	Moscow	Norway Magnus Carlsen	22nd	Double-rounded
5th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2010	Moscow	Armenia Levon Aronjan	20th	Double-rounded
6th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2012	Astana (Kazakhstan)	Russia Alexander Grishchuk	16	Double-rounded
7th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2013	Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia)	Vietnam Lê Quang Liêm	60	15 rounds Swiss system (double round)
8th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2014	Dubai (United Arab Emirates)	Norway Magnus Carlsen	115	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)
9th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2015	Berlin	Russia Alexander Grishchuk	188	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)
10th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2016	Doha (Qatar)	Russia Sergei Karjakin	108	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)
11th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2017	Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)	Norway Magnus Carlsen	138	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)
12th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2018	Saint Petersburg (Russia)	Norway Magnus Carlsen	202	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)
13th FIDE World Blitz Championship	2019	Moscow (Russia)	Norway Magnus Carlsen	206	21 rounds Swiss system (one round)