World Blitz 2023 Day 1: Carlsen, MVL, Nihal and Arjun in a six-pack lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/12/2023

Nihal Sarin drew his first-ever rated game against Magnus Carlsen (NOR) in Round 11 of World Blitz 2023. The teenager played really well to share the point with the defending champion. Currently, Vladislav Artemiev, Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Nihal, Arjun Erigaisi and Alexander Riazantsev are six players at 9/12. They are followed by seven players at 8.5/12 each. Chief Arbiter IA Ivan Syrovy (SVK) decided to award 0 (zero) points to both Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi for their draw against each other. A clock malfunction claim caused the delay the start of round seven for an hour. The last nine rounds in Open and eight rounds of Blitz in Women's event will start today at 2 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

An unprecedented 0-0 to Dubov and Nepomniachtchi

It is difficult to recall when was the last time a result on the board was overturned by the Chief Arbiter and give 0 (zero) points to both. Moreover, a lot of fun draws are seen in online events. However, at a World Championship event, this might be the first time, only one knight was moved around the board for 12 moves. Nepomniachtchi dubbed it as 'The Dance of the Knights'. GM Valentina Gunina has taken a staggering 1.5 points lead over the others 8.5/9. GM Harika Dronavalli is the sole Indian closest to the chase 7/9, followed by IM Divya Deshmukh and WGM Priyanka Nutakki at 6/9 each.

Nihal Sarin made a great start in the Blitz event

Nihal Sarin: "It was my first time playing Magnus OTB, so I was very much looking forward to it." | Video: FIDE

Round 1-5 Open: Praggnanandhaa and Artemiev coleader

R Praggnanandhaa (2665) and Vladislav Artemiev (2799) became coleaders after the first five rounds. They faced each other in Round 6 where Artemiev prevailed, to gain sole lead 6/6.

IA FI IO Husan Turdialiev, Tournament Director of World Blitz 2023 Open and Women made the inaugural first move on Magnus Carlsen (NOR) and Sergey Grigoriants' (HUN) board

Magnus Carlsen doesn't forgive a piece blunder - Carlsen vs Grigoriants, Round 1 | Video: ChessBase India

When you Refuse Magnus Carlsen's Draw Offer - Carlsen vs Vakhidov, Round 2 | Video: ChessBase India

Magnus Carlsen's opponent sacrifices a rook - Tsaruk vs Carlsen , Round 3 | Video: ChessBase India

Magnus Carlsen - Conrad Holt, Round 4 | Video: ChessBase India

Round 1-5 Women: Sarayu stuns Zhongyi Tan

GM Koneru Humpy (2452) started with a loss against WGM Jennifer Yu (USA, 2497). FM Sahithi Varshini (2189) stunned GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2447) in the first round. Her sister, GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) also suffered a loss against WGM Savitha Shri B (2183).

FM Sahithi Varshini M - GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 1-0

GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) - WGM Savitha Shri B: 0-1

In Round 2, WGM Rakshitta Ravi (2225) won against GM Vaishali R (2410).

WGM Rakshitta Ravi - GM Vaishali R: 1-0 | Photo: FIDE/Anastasia Korolkova

In Round 3, Sahithi defeated IM Meri Arabidze (GEO, 2416) once again after beating her in the Rapid event. Rakshitta got the better of GM Elina Danielian (ARM, 2352) in the fourth round. Sarayu Velpula (1747) scored a huge upset over former women's world champion - GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2519).

Round 6-12 Open: Nihal draws against Carlsen in their very first over-the-board game

In Round 6, GM Andrew Hong (USA, 2460) about his clock malfunction against GM Yangyi Yu (CHN, 2762). Check out the official statement by below about the incident:

The curious case of flag fall | Video: ChessBase India

The reigning four-time Women's World Champion - GM Wenjun Ju (CHN) voluntarily decided to help her countrymate GM Yangyi Yu with the translation for his statement on the incident to FIDE Technical Delegate/Chairman Chairman of the Appeals Committee - GM Pavel Tregubov (FRA)

Vladislav Artemiev defeated R Praggnanandhaa to gain sole lead 6/6. In the following round, Artemiev drew against Magnus Carlsen (NOR) to maintain his lead 6.5/7. The sudden one-hour break due to decision of the appeal cost the momentum for a lot players. Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, all three lost their games. GM Bharath Subramaniyam H (2435) defeated GM Raunak Sadhwani (2668).

R Praggnanandhaa vs Daniil Dubov, Round 7 | Video: ChessBase India

In Round 8, Nihal Sarin (2689) drew against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2748). Bharath defeated GM Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2707). Praggnanandhaa bounced back with a victory against GM Hans Niemann (USA, 2614). Aravindh drew against Vidit.

Bharath got an opportunity to play against the world no.1. However, Carlsen won that game and joined the lead with Artemiev 7.5/9 each.

Magnus Carlsen vs Bharath Subramaniyam H, Round 9 | Video: ChessBase India

Daniil Dubov vs Vladislav Artemiev, Round 9 | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal Sarin (2689) outplayed Vladislav Artemiev (2799) in the rook and knight endgame in Round 10. Magnus drew against Dubov. Thus, Nihal and Nepomniachtchi joined Magnus and Dubov in the lead.

Nihal drew his first-ever over-the-board game against Magnus Carlsen. He really played well.

Magnus Carlsen - Nihal Sarin, Round 11 | Video: ChessBase India

Dubov and Nepomniachtchi had 12-move short draw.

Weirdest game by two super GMs - Dubov vs Nepo | Video: ChessBase India

Check the decision of the Chief Arbiter on the game

Ian Nepomniachtchi tweeted the following musical piece:

Prokofiev - Dance of the Knights | Video: bachkwt

He later made another tweet: 0,5 points from Gryffindor

In Round 12, both Arjun and Nihal made short draws against Artemiev and Dubov respectively. It is understandable that they both were tired and wanted to finish the day without suffering an unnecessary loss.

Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Magnus Carlsen | Video: ChessBase India

Round 6-9 Women: Valentina Gunina takes a massive lead

GM Valetina Gunina (2348) defeated GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2455) to emerge sole leader 6/6. In Round 7, GM Harika Dronavalli defeated WIM Umida Omonova (UZB, 2304) to maintain her pursuit. WGM Rakshitta Ravi (2225) drew against GM Koneru Humpy (2452). Harika drew with Gunina in Round 8. Harika finished the day with a draw against GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2475) in a FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 Quarterfinals rematch. IM Divya Deshmukh (2315) drew against the reigning and defending, two-time women's world blitz champion - IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2476). WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2224) defeated IM Sara Khadem (ESP, 2395).

For more Round 1, 2, 3-6, 7-9 and 10-12 photos, please click at the respective links.

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Watch World Rapid Open and Women 2023

Live Commentary of Day 4 by GM Viswanathan Anand and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich from 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST | Video: FIDE

Round 12 Open results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
13	3	20	GM	Nihal Sarin	2689	9	9	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2729	14
13	10	33	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2642	8	8	GM	Yu Yangyi	2762	9
13	12	25	GM	Radjabov Teimour	2664	8	8	GM	Narayanan S L	2564	82
13	17	10	GM	Rapport Richard	2748	7½	7½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2584	62
13	19	68	IM	Terry Renato	2578	7½	7½	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2668	22
13	21	24	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2665	7½	7½	GM	Bai Jinshi	2516	109
13	25	29	GM	Gukesh D	2657	7	7	GM	Adhiban B.	2576	70
13	34	141	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2435	7	7	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2582	66
13	40	111	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2512	6½	6½	GM	Sychev Klementy	2583	64
13	52	140	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2440	6	6	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	2570	76
13	60	113	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	2499	6	6	GM	Pranesh M	2481	130
13	61	184	IM	Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadali	2214	6	5½	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2549	96
13	62	45	GM	Esipenko Andrey	2615	5½	5½	GM	Aditya Mittal	2425	144
13	79	119	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2490	5	5	IM	Seemann Jakub	2332	166
13	96	196	FM	Oro Faustino	2105	3½	3½	GM	Pranav V	2562	84

Details

Standings after Round 12

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	3	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	FID	2799	9	88,5	93,5	2687	0	1,05	10	10,5
2	1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2887	9	85	90	2636	0	-0,68	10	-6,8
3	11	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2748	9	82,5	87	2608	0	0,67	10	6,7
4	20	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2689	9	82	86	2637	0	2,00	10	20
5	14	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2729	9	80,5	86	2583	0	0,45	10	4,5
6	42	GM	Riazantsev, Alexander	FID	2621	9	78	83	2549	0	1,68	10	16,8
7	8	GM	Dubov, Daniil	FID	2763	8,5	89	95	2704	0	1,34	10	13,4
8	78	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	HUN	2569	8,5	87,5	92,5	2717	0	4,19	10	41,9
9	74	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2573	8,5	85,5	91,5	2653	0	3,36	10	33,6
10	59	GM	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2591	8,5	84,5	89	2675	0	3,47	10	34,7
11	4	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	FID	2795	8,5	83	87,5	2675	0	0,34	10	3,4
12	49	GM	Shimanov, Aleksandr	FID	2611	8,5	75	79,5	2570	0	1,61	10	16,1
13	16	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2716	8,5	71,5	75,5	2557	0	-0,26	10	-2,6
14	5	GM	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	POL	2775	8	85,5	89,5	2608	0	-0,70	10	-7
15	105	GM	Makhnev, Denis	KAZ	2528	8	84,5	90,5	2662	0	4,06	10	40,6
16	17	GM	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2707	8	83	88	2571	0	-0,33	10	-3,3
17	41	GM	Tsydypov, Zhamsaran	FID	2626	8	82	87,5	2628	0	1,59	10	15,9
18	82	GM	Narayanan, S L	IND	2564	8	80	84,5	2661	0	3,05	10	30,5
19	25	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	2664	8	78,5	82	2600	0	0,76	10	7,6
20	39	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2631	8	78	82,5	2600	0	1,20	10	12

Details

Round 13 Open pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
13	3	20	GM	Nihal Sarin	2689	9	9	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2729	14
13	10	33	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2642	8	8	GM	Yu Yangyi	2762	9
13	12	25	GM	Radjabov Teimour	2664	8	8	GM	Narayanan S L	2564	82
13	17	10	GM	Rapport Richard	2748	7½	7½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2584	62
13	19	68	IM	Terry Renato	2578	7½	7½	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2668	22
13	21	24	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2665	7½	7½	GM	Bai Jinshi	2516	109
13	25	29	GM	Gukesh D	2657	7	7	GM	Adhiban B.	2576	70
13	34	141	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2435	7	7	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2582	66
13	40	111	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2512	6½	6½	GM	Sychev Klementy	2583	64
13	52	140	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2440	6	6	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	2570	76
13	60	113	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	2499	6	6	GM	Pranesh M	2481	130
13	61	184	IM	Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadali	2214	6	5½	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2549	96
13	62	45	GM	Esipenko Andrey	2615	5½	5½	GM	Aditya Mittal	2425	144
13	79	119	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2490	5	5	IM	Seemann Jakub	2332	166
13	96	196	FM	Oro Faustino	2105	3½	3½	GM	Pranav V	2562	84

Details

Round 9 Women results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
9	2	6	GM	Goryachkina Aleksandra	2475	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2420	12
9	7	32	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2315	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Assaubayeva Bibisara	2476	5
9	9	57	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2225	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Mammadzada Gunay	2408	15
9	12	58	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	2224	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Khademalsharieh Sarasadat	2395	17
9	21	8	GM	Koneru Humpy	2452	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Buksa Nataliya	2316	31
9	25	14	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2410	4	1 - 0	4½	IM	Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel	2299	38
9	30	44	WGM	Ni Shiqun	2270	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Sahithi Varshini M	2189	68
9	31	52	IM	Mammadova Gulnar	2247	4	1 - 0	4	WGM	Savitha Shri B	2183	69
9	35	112		Velpula Sarayu	1747	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Peycheva Gergana	2216	61
9	37	84	WGM	Abdulla Khayala	2118	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Padmini Rout	2302	37
9	38	43	IM	Guichard Pauline	2281	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2154	75

Details

Standings after Round 9

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	24	GM	Gunina, Valentina	FID	2348	8,5	48,5	52	2360	0	3,85	10	38,5
2	7	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	SUI	2455	7	48	52	2309	0	0,64	10	6,4
3	12	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2420	7	46,5	50	2302	0	0,95	10	9,5
4	48	IM	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	FID	2260	7	45,5	47,5	2292	0	2,52	10	25,2
5	60	IM	Garifullina, Leya	FID	2216	7	44	46,5	2431	0	4,13	20	82,6
6	3	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	FID	2522	7	43	47	2305	0	-0,06	10	-0,6
7	15	IM	Mammadzada, Gunay	AZE	2408	6,5	46,5	50	2298	0	0,55	10	5,5
8	63	WGM	Munkhzul, Turmunkh	MGL	2211	6,5	43,5	48	2401	0	4,12	20	82,4
9	6	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2475	6,5	43	46	2289	0	-0,31	10	-3,1
10	87	WFM	Shukhman, Anna	FID	2093	6,5	42	46	2344	0	4,68	40	187,2
11	5	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2476	6	47,5	50,5	2303	0	-0,60	10	-6
12	40	IM	Narva, Mai	EST	2292	6	47	50	2363	0	1,80	20	36
13	32	WGM	Divya, Deshmukh	IND	2315	6	41,5	43	2268	0	0,59	20	11,8
14	25	IM	Munguntuul, Batkhuyag	MGL	2348	6	41	44,5	2205	0	-0,38	10	-3,8
15	36	WIM	Omonova, Umida	UZB	2304	6	41	44	2249	0	0,58	20	11,6
16	27	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	BUL	2343	6	40,5	43	2257	0	0,28	20	5,6
17	16	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	2398	6	39,5	43,5	2219	0	-0,67	10	-6,7
18	77	WIM	Mkrtchyan, Mariam	ARM	2150	6	39,5	43	2298	0	2,79	20	55,8
19	22	GM	Danielian, Elina	ARM	2352	6	39	42	2214	0	-0,27	10	-2,7
20	33	WGM	Kamalidenova, Meruert	KAZ	2314	6	39	41	2261	0	0,54	20	10,8

Details

Round 10 Women pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
10	3	7	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2455	7	7	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2420	12
10	7	9	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2447	6	6	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2315	32
10	10	23	WGM	Wagner Dinara	2350	6	6	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	2224	58
10	16	51	WIM	Nurmanova Alua	2249	5½	5½	GM	Koneru Humpy	2452	8
10	18	17	IM	Khademalsharieh Sarasadat	2395	5	5½	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2225	57
10	19	56	WGM	Hejazipour Mitra	2228	5	5	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2410	14
10	35	81	WIM	Kairbekova Amina	2131	4	4	IM	Padmini Rout	2302	37
10	39	68	FM	Sahithi Varshini M	2189	4	4	FM	Kazarian Anna-Maja	2023	101
10	40	69	WGM	Savitha Shri B	2183	4	4	WCM	Shohradova Leyla	1882	107
10	42	75	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2154	4	4		Velpula Sarayu	1747	112

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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