Carlsen Beats World Rapid Chess Champion, Leads With Fedoseev, Van Foreest, Erigaisi

GMs Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Fedoseev, Jorden van Foreest, and Arjun Erigaisi share the lead after an action-packed first day of the 2022 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship.

After five rounds the leaders dropped only half a point each having fended off several challengers, including GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who couldn't repeat his famous 2021 upset over Carlsen when they faced in round four.

GM Valentina Gunina was the standout in the women's section with a perfect 4/4 and is being tailed by a chasing pack of five players which includes Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi and former Women's Rapid Chess Champion GM Humpy Koneru.

The 2022 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship will continue with rounds six through nine on Tuesday, December 27, starting at 1 a.m. PT / 10:00 CET.

The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships are among the most popular events in the FIDE calendar and the fast-paced tournament has become a great source of entertainment for chess enthusiasts to bridge the gap between Christmas and New Year.

“Welcome to Kazakhstan”: The World Rapid and Blitz Championships officially opened in Almaty. #RapidBlitz

Read all about the opening ceremony in the report by Milan Dinic: https://t.co/mk5MVUSmAu

📷: David Llada pic.twitter.com/9VjRrOAKa4

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 25, 2022

In the heart of Almaty, Kazakhstan lies the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, the venue which will play host to this year's championships. The city will be hoping to give a home-ground advantage to IM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who will vie to defend her women's world blitz chess champion title.

The open event is filled with an illustrious group of the world's top players and some of the key contenders heading into the first day were reigning champion Abdusattorov, Carlsen, GM Hikaru Nakamura, World Blitz Chess Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and world championship challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Despite the consistency of these players, the world's rapid and blitz championships are notorious for producing unexpected winners, largely due to the volatility of results in short-time controls, as well as the impact of momentum. Sharp tactics are often enough to win games as demonstrated by GM Surya Ganguly as early as round one.

Seven of the top 10 seeds managed to win their first-round encounters though it was not smooth sailing for Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave, or GM Alexander Grischuk, who each drew against their lower-rated first-round opponents.

Carlsen got off to a flying 3/3 start, dispatching Chessbrah's GM Eric Hansen en route to his perfect score. The Norwegian superstar was left staring down the barrel of a potential defeat after finding himself in a worse position against GM Evgeny Tomashevsky in round three although he rallied to enter a drawn, albeit imbalanced endgame. In classic Carlsen style, he was able to squeeze blood from the stone and capture the full point with an array of flashy endgame tactics.

The reigning classical world champion has long shown his intent to capture the world rapid and blitz titles after disappointing results in last year's events. Speaking to Chess.com in last week's "State of Chess 2022" Carlsen indicated that he does not have "a lot of ambitions about what to accomplish," however clarified this, stating: "I love the game, I love playing, so that's all the ambition I need, and that's why I'm going to continue competing in the events I enjoy."

Last year's winner Abdusattorov, whose home country of Uzbekistan shares its largest border with Kazakhstan, clearly felt comfortable in his bid to go back-to-back, also scoring 3/3 to kick off the day. The fourth round saw the world rapid champion paired with Carlsen in a rematch of their round-10 game from 2021 (which the world number-one spectacularly lost). However, this year Carlsen was able to complete his redemption ark, bowling over Abdusattorov in a barnstorming game.

This crucial matchup was the deserved winner of our Game of the Day and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

Several other key matchups took place in the fourth round, with GM Anish Giri's showdown with GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda arguably the most notable. A near-faultless draw left the pair on 3.5/4, so far mirroring the Polish GM's performance from the 2021 edition.

In a clear sign that the future of Indian chess has arrived, rapid virtuosos Nihal Sarin and Erigaisi also found themselves on a healthy 3/3. Erigaisi went one step further to defeat GM Richard Rapport with the white pieces in the following game and propelled himself into equal first alongside Carlsen and Van Foreest.

With a dream round-five opponent, none other than the world champion, Erigaisi did well not to reflect on his drubbing at the hands of the legend at the Julius Baer Generation Cup in September where he humbly proclaimed: "It's just evident that Magnus is the better [player]."

Fortunately for the Indian prodigy, his play against Carlsen was more like a game between two equals and the drawn game was a fitting result. Erigaisi did have a few small chances throughout the game but eventually decided that an unbeaten day having already played the world's best player would leave him in good stead.

Fedoseev was the only player on 3.5/4 who managed to win his game and join the leading trio after the first day. The Russian blitzer will take on Erigaisi in round six while Carlsen will try his luck against the Dutch number-two player, van Foreest. 

2022 World Rapid Championship | Round 5 Standings (Top 20)

(Full standings here.)

All World Rapid Chess Championship Games

Contrasting the open event, the women's section was full of round-one upsets that opened up the field. Second-seed GM Kateryna Lagno was the highest-rated casualty who fell at the hands of 2238-rated IM Olga Badelka with the white pieces. 

The defending rapid champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and last year's blitz champion, Assaubayeva, were also held to draws in round one. 

Rounds two and three were more stable for the favorites at the top and although draws were aplenty, three GMs, Nino Batsiahvili, Gunina, and Elina Danielian, managed to keep perfect scores heading into the fourth.

A sole leader emerged in the fourth round after Gunina was able to capitalize on a blunder from Batsiashvili on move 16. Danielian almost kept pace but was held to a draw after poking and prodding out of a successful French Defense against Kosteniuk. Interestingly, the Armenian GM could have pressed in a more-than-comfortable endgame had she not chosen to repeat moves.

As the women's event is two rounds fewer than the open, just four rounds were played on the opening day. Thus, Gunina will head into day two with a half-point lead over five chasers. 

2022 Women's World Rapid Championship | Round 4 Standings (Top 20) 

(Full standings here.)

All Women's World Rapid Chess Championship Games

The 2022 FIDE World Rapid Championship is an elite over-the-board event featuring the best speed chess players in the world. Masters and national champions from around the globe gather to compete in a Swiss tournament for their share of the $350,000 prize fund.

Classical world champion Carlsen, followed by speed chess legends Nakamura, Duda, and Vachier-Lagrave head the field and will be challenged by numerous other 2700+ players. 

Previous coverage

• Carlsen, Nakamura Among Participants At World Rapid & Blitz