Arjun and Praggnanandhaa set to battle Carlsen and co. at World Rapid and Blitz 2024
The World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 will take place from 26th to 28th, 30th and 31st December 2024. The reigning and defending champions - Magnus Carlsen (NOR), IM Anastasia Bodnaruk and GM Valentina Gunina return to defend their World Rapid and Blitz titles. Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja will be seen in action after skipping last year. Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, Sandipan Chanda, Aravindh Chithambaram, Harsha Bharathakoti, Pranav V, Diptayan Ghosh, Karthik Venkataraman, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali R, Vantika Agrawal, Sahithi Varshini M, Padmini Rout and Priyanka Nutakki are the 17 Indians in the fray. Five rounds of Rapid in the Open and four in the Women will be played on 26th December 2024. Round 1 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 27th December 12:30 a.m. IST. Photo: FIDE
17 Indians are slated to take part
The field is quite strong as many current and former World Champions in Rapid and Blitz are taking part. The top players in the Open section apart from the defending champion are - Fabiano Caruana (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Wei Yi (CHN), Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian (USA), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL), Wesley So (USA), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE), Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Grischuk and Le Quang Liem (VIE). Among the Women - Wenjun Ju (CHN), Tingjie Lei (CHN), Zhongyi Tan (CHN), Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI), Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ), Nana Dzagnidze (GEO), Kateryna Lagno, Koneru Humpy, Mariya Muzychuk (UKR), Harika Dronavalli and Anna Muzychuk (UKR).
Format
The format for the Rapid event remains unchanged. There will be 13 rounds for the Open event and 11 for Women. Time control: 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment. However, for Blitz as announced earlier, Stage 1 will have the same number of rounds for Open and Women as Rapid. The top eight players of each section will advance to Stage 2 which will be played in a Knockout format having Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals.
The Wall Street Gambit
Between the FIDE Rapid and the Blitz Championships, on December 29, FIDE and the sponsor Freedom Holding are organizing the Wall Street Gambit conference, which will explore the links between chess and finance.
Chess grandees Magnus Carlsen, Vishwanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana will join leading figures from the financial world, including Boaz Weinstein, D. Sculley, and Kenneth Rogoff.
The day will begin with a chess tournament for the conference participants, followed by keynote speeches from some of the most influential names in chess, finance and AI, who will explore the connection between the black-and-white game and investing.
D. Sculley, CEO of Kaggle, will deliver a keynote titled “Predicting in the Face of Incomplete Knowledge: Chess, Finance, and Other Challenges for AI.” Kenneth Rogoff, the former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund and chess grandmaster, will speak on the topic “Chess, AI, and Economics”.
ICCchessclub.com is sponsoring the event and various players. One of them is WGM Priyanka Nutakki.
Video Gallery
Tickets
The ticket sales are divided into phases. Prices will increase as the event draws closer. A limited number of tickets will be available during each sales phase.
A variety of ticket options are available:
- Single Round Tickets: Starting from $60
- Day Passes: Starting from $220
- Exclusive Hospitality & VIP Packages (Day and Multi-Day Passes): Starting from $625
Important: Unfortunately, children under 6 years old are not allowed.
Buy tickets here.
Watch World Rapid Open and Women 2024 Live
Indian players in Rapid Open
| No. | Name | FideID | FED | Rtg | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 35009192 | IND | 2694 | Rapid - Open |
| 17 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 25059530 | IND | 2688 | Rapid - Open |
| 58 | GM | Sadhwani Raunak | 35093487 | IND | 2591 | Rapid - Open |
| 60 | GM | Chanda Sandipan | 5004225 | IND | 2585 | Rapid - Open |
| 78 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 5072786 | IND | 2546 | Rapid - Open |
| 94 | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti | 5078776 | IND | 2516 | Rapid - Open |
| 103 | GM | Pranav V | 25060783 | IND | 2497 | Rapid - Open |
| 122 | GM | Ghosh Diptayan | 5045207 | IND | 2455 | Rapid - Open |
| 141 | GM | Karthik Venkataraman | 25006479 | IND | 2411 | Rapid - Open |
Indian players in Rapid Women
| 10 | GM | Koneru Humpy | 5008123 | IND | 2431 | Rapid - Women |
| 12 | GM | Dronavalli Harika | 5015197 | IND | 2416 | Rapid - Women |
| 18 | IM | Divya Deshmukh | 35006916 | IND | 2393 | Rapid - Women |
| 28 | GM | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 5091756 | IND | 2355 | Rapid - Women |
| 31 | IM | Vantika Agrawal | 25050389 | IND | 2352 | Rapid - Women |
| 37 | FM | Sahithi Varshini M | 45095248 | IND | 2329 | Rapid - Women |
| 61 | IM | Padmini Rout | 5029295 | IND | 2267 | Rapid - Women |
| 64 | WGM | Priyanka Nutakki | 25049615 | IND | 2256 | Rapid - Women |
Links
|
Exciting format changes announced for World Blitz Championships 2024
@ 06/09/2024 by ChessBase India (en) |
|
FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2024: Making history on Wall Street
@ 01/09/2024 by ChessBase India (en) |
|
FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 come to New York
@ 07/07/2024 by ChessBase India (en) |