A retrospective of World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2023 by GM Felix Bloh

Written and annotated by: @febloh

The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship is renowned as one of the most thrilling and widely followed chess events globally, attracting the finest Grandmasters every year.

The championship unfolded at the Samarkand Congress Center, from December 25th to December 30th. Samarkand, the third largest city in Uzbekistan, is steeped deeply in history and culture. Believed to be one of the oldest cities in the world, Samarkand has been a major centre of trade and cultural exchange for over 2500 years, earning it the nickname "Crossroad of Cultures." It was a crucial stop along the ancient Silk Road, connecting East and West.

The event boasted an impressive total prize fund of one million US dollars, with $700,000 allocated to the Open category and $300,000 dedicated to the Women's section.

All annotated games at the very end of the report

Rapid

Magnus Carlsen, the world's number one chess player, has once again etched his name into the annals of chess history by successfully retaining his World Rapid Chess Championship title. This remarkable achievement marks Carlsen's fifth conquest in the realm of Rapid Chess. In the Women's section, IM/WGM Anastasia Bodnaruk has ascended to the throne as the newly crowned Women's World Rapid Chess Champion.

Open Rapid

Credits: Anastasia Korolkova/FIDE

Carlsen's triumph was nothing short of masterful, with him amassing a commanding 10 points from 13 games, including seven victories, six draws, and an unblemished record in defeats. His unwavering consistency placed him at the pinnacle of a formidable field, consisting of 150 players. Carlsen's victory not only secured his claim to the title but also earned him the prestigious first-place prize of $60,000.

After a slow start, drawing GM Nikita Petrov (MNE) in the first round, Carlsen won five consecutive games and by the conclusion of the tenth round, he stood alone atop the leaderboard, maintaining a slim half-point lead over his closest competitors. He clinched the title with a well-judged draw in the final round against the Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa.

Vladimir Fedoseev, who trailed Carlsen by a mere half-point and had a window of opportunity to catch up in the final round, chose the path of a quick draw against Dmitry Andreikin, ultimately clearing the way for Carlsen's victory.

Fedoseev versus Carlsen

You can find the detailed results here.

Women's Rapid

In the women's division, Anastasia Bodnaruk claimed her first world championship title by prevailing over India's Humpy Koneru in a tiebreaker clash, securing victory with a score of 2.5:1.5. The gold medal garnered her a substantial prize of $40,000.

With an impressive score of 8.5/11, Anastasia Bodnaruk, Lei Tingjie, and Humpy Koneru jointly occupied the top three positions after the last round. Due to better tiebreaks, Bodnaruk and Koneru proceeded to engage in a tense playoff, with Koneru emerging victorious in the first game but faltering in their subsequent encounters. After winning the second game, the tiebreaker ultimately tilted in Bodnaruk's favor, following a dramatic draw in the third game and a regrettable blunder by Koneru - induced by time constraints - in the fourth.

You can find the detailed results here.

Blitz

The 2023 World Blitz Chess Championships came to an exciting end, with Magnus Carlsen winning his seventh World Blitz title, making it his 17th (!) World Crown. In the Women's tournament, Valentina Gunina had an unstoppable run and secured her second Blitz title despite battling with lupus.

Open Blitz

Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious in the Blitz, scoring 16 points out of 21 games. Daniil Dubov secured second place with 15.5 points while Vladislav Artemiev, who led for most of the tournament, finished third not far behind with 15 points. However, Dubov's quest for the title was marred by a peculiar incident involving a "dance with the knights" (Nepo posted a link to the famous classical piece composed by Sergei Prokofiev after Day 1 of Blitz concluded https://twitter.com/lachesisq/status/1740836196358742316) with his compatriot, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Both players engaged in a game where their knights traversed the board without moving any pawns or other pieces.

After twelve moves, the knights returned to their initial positions. The game was later deemed as prearranged by the chief arbiter, leading to nullification (game being scored as 0-0 ). (Chessbase India caught this infamous encounter on tape, where one can see the players discussing their delicate plan right before the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVaNGOaWmDo If not for that incident, Dubov could have tied with Carlsen. Nevertheless, Dubov performed well on the second day, earning his well-deserved second place finish.

Retrospective note by the author: The two mentioned players played this game as a protest. Nepomniachtchi ́s full statement can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB8-RSp8hrQ

Carlsen experienced his sole defeat (of the whole tournament!) on the final day, succumbing to the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. However, Carlsen bounced back with an impressive streak of six consecutive victories. Surprisingly, he only took the lead in round 18, as Vladislav Artemiev had dominated the tournament since day one.

This victory marks a significant achievement for Carlsen, as he replicated his success from the previous edition of the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in 2022, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

You can find the detailed results here.

Women's Blitz

Credits: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Russia ́s Valentina Gunina dominated the Women's Blitz tournament, racking up 14 points from a total of 17 games. Alexandra Kosteniuk, now representing Switzerland, claimed the second spot with 13.5 points while China's Zhu Jiner secured third place with 12.5 points.
This marks Valentina Gunina's second Blitz championship victory, with her initial win dating back to 2012. Throughout each round, Gunina maintained a narrow lead, closely pursued by the former Women's World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk. A critical moment of the tournament was surely when Gunina won the direct encounter against Kosteniuk in Round 6. It is important to add that Valentina Gunina has been suffering from Lupus (an autoimmune disorder) which makes her achievement even more remarkable. She mentioned that chess acts like a distraction for her, helping to cope with her disease.

China's Zhu Jiner secured the Bronze Medal with 12.5 points, showing great fighting spirit and winning seven out of eight games during the second day of the Blitz event.

You can find the detailed results here

About the author

Felix Blohberger is an Austrian Grandmaster from Vienna, Austria. He earned the International Master title in 2018 and the Grandmaster title in 2022. He is the winner of multiple European youth events as well as Austrian Championships. His best tournament results include winning the St. Louis Spring Classic B in 2023, as well as tying for 1st with 7.0/9 in the 2021 Prague International. He is currently working as a chess coach, author and player.

Selected annotated games