6-Win Streak Helps Carlsen To Take 7th Title; Gunina Pips Kosteniuk To The Post

[ad_1]

GM Magnus Carlsen scored six consecutive wins in rounds 14-19 setting the tone of the second and final day at the 2023 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship. It helped him capture the lead and win his seventh title after draws in the final two rounds with a score of 16 points after 21 games. He has thus won double gold at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after his win in the 2023 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship a couple of days ago.

Carlsen’s competition seemed to slow down in the final two rounds, as GMs Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev also scored draws in the final two games, settling in for the second and third places with 15.5 and 15 points respectively.

GM Valentina Gunina seemed to lose steam compared to day one in the middle rounds of the day in the Women’s tournament, which made the championship a well-contested affair on the final day. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk gave her a run for the title, but Gunina powered on with extra effort in the final two rounds to defeat heavyweights GMs Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk and capture the title with a score of 14 points after 17 rounds. Kosteniuk finished a close second on 13.5, while GM Zhu Jiner finished third on 12.5 points.

(Flash Report — full report will be published shortly)

2023 World Blitz Championship | Final Standings (Top 20)

Ranking Seed Title Name FED Rtg Pts

1 1 GM Carlsen, Magnus 2887 16

2 8 GM Dubov, Daniil 2763 15,5

3 3 GM Artemiev, Vladislav 2799 15

4 11 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2748 14,5

5 4 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2795 14

6 14 GM Erigaisi, Arjun 2729 14

7 6 GM Aronian, Levon 2772 14

8 89 GM Lazavik, Denis 2556 14

9 39 GM Indjic, Aleksandar 2631 13,5

10 5 GM Duda, Jan-Krzysztof 2775 13,5

11 10 GM Rapport, Richard 2748 13,5

12 2 GM Caruana, Fabiano 2815 13,5

13 9 GM Yu, Yangyi 2762 13,5

14 62 GM Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. 2584 13,5

15 18 GM Grischuk, Alexander 2699 13,5

16 12 GM Andreikin, Dmitry 2741 13,5

17 102 IM Makarian, Rudik 2540 13,5

18 127 GM Daneshvar, Bardiya 2483 13,5

19 59 GM Murzin, Volodar 2591 13

20 17 GM Sarana, Alexey 2707 13

(Full standings here.)

2023 FIDE Women’s World Blitz Championship

Leading the tournament with 9.5 after the first 10 rounds, Gunina had established a two-point lead over the trailing pack of players which included Kosteniuk. However, scoring just 2.5 points in the next five games to reach 12 points shrunk her lead to just half a point after the 15th round. Gunina had also tasted her only defeat of the tournament in the 15th round against Zhu. Kosteniuk had scored four points in these five games.

However, Gunina’s wins over Ju and Anna Muzychuk in the final two rounds settled the title in her favor.

2023 Women’s World Blitz Championship | Final Standings (Top 20)

Ranking. Seed Title Name FED Rtg Pts.

1 24 GM Gunina, Valentina 2348 14

2 7 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2455 13,5

3 18 GM Zhu, Jiner 2384 12,5

4 63 WGM Munkhzul, Turmunkh 2211 11,5

5 3 GM Lagno, Kateryna 2522 11,5

6 5 IM Assaubayeva, Bibisara 2476 11

7 12 GM Dronavalli, Harika 2420 11

8 33 WGM Kamalidenova, Meruert 2314 11

9 9 GM Muzychuk, Anna 2447 11

10 16 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 2398 11

11 6 GM Goryachkina, Aleksandra 2475 11

12 28 IM Shuvalova, Polina 2342 11

13 32 WGM Divya, Deshmukh 2315 11

14 2 GM Ju, Wenjun 2522 11

15 77 WIM Mkrtchyan, Mariam 2150 10,5

16 40 IM Narva, Mai 2292 10,5

17 8 GM Koneru, Humpy 2452 10,5

18 51 WIM Nurmanova, Alua 2249 10,5

19 10 GM Muzychuk, Mariya 2443 10,5

20 25 IM Munguntuul, Batkhuyag 2348 10,5

(Full standings here.)

The FIDE World Blitz Championship was an over-the-board event to determine the FIDE World Blitz open and women’s champions. The event ran December 29-30 with a $500,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage