World Rapid Chess Championship Day 2: 7-Way Tie; Anand, Carlsen Close Behind
After the second day of the World Rapid Championship in St. Petersburg, seven players are tied for first place. Despite losing one more game, Magnus Carlsen is among the players trailing by half a point together with e.g. reigning champion Vishy Anand.
"One point behind? It's so undeserved that it's not even funny," said Carlsen to the Norwegian TV channel NRK after the ninth round, when he heard that he was only a point behind the leaders. A round later, it was only half a point.
As always, Carlsen was the first to admit that he hasn't been playing well—on day two as well.
Magnus Carlsen interviewed by NRK. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
After a smooth win against Ivan Salgado Lopez, Carlsen returned to the struggling form he showed on Wednesday and lost to the 35-year-old GM Alexander Zubov of Ukraine.
Zubov told Chess.com that this is the strongest tournament in his career. He didn't set himself any objectives here and only wishes to "have some fun."
About the game, he said that when the players exchanged the first couple of rooks, he knew that his position was good but not better and he was ready to repeat moves. Carlsen avoided repetitions looking for chances and eventually spoiled his position:
Eteri Kublashvili interviewed Carlsen after the first game of the second day, which he won.
In round eight Carlsen needed some endgame magic to convert the full point. The 22-year-old GM Nikita Petrov from Moscow put up a good fight and was super close to a draw.
Asked how it feels to press "blood out of the stone", he grins: "I would've liked to do it against somewhat stronger players!" #WRBC2018
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 27, 2018
The start of Carlsen vs Petrov. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
And what happened to Carlsen in the next round was just absolutely crazy. Against the strong Armenian grandmaster Hrant Melkumyan, he lost an exchange and was just lost. This would basically have meant the end for Carlsen's tournament, but his opponent allowed him to come back and reach a drawn rook endgame, and then Carlsen even won it. If he ends up winning the tournament, this was a serious Houdini act!
So I get to my hotel in Tenerife order a drink sit down and the guy next to me is looking at his phone yup it’s Magnus’s game on Sesse and he’s listening to NRK #WRBC2018 @TarjeiJS #norwegianseverywhere
— Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) December 27, 2018
Carlsen then scored an easy win against Farrukh Amonatov, and was very fortunate to see the four leaders draw their games: Yu-Artemiev and Wang Hao-Nepomniachtchi. As a result, Carlsen is just half a point behind, in a group with e.g. Anish Giri, Vishy Anand and Boris Gelfand.
It is the sign of a truly great player when he can play like total crap (by his lofty standards) and still be only half a point off the lead, with five games remaining. @MagnusCarlsen
— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) December 27, 2018
The second seed Hikaru Nakamura is half a point further behind, as he lost a second game today. It was Tigran Petrosian who started with 1.g3, played a King's Indian Attack and didn't have much after the opening but then won as Nakamura forgot about a certain tactic.
Tigran Petrosian. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
The fun didn't last long for the Armenian player, as Giri scored a nice win against Petrosian in round seven. The Pirc has seen better days.
Anish Giri. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
After the game, which was the same round when Carlsen lost, Giri was interviewed. "Whenever Magnus is doing very badly, I am kind of his spokesperson.," Giri said. "I'm his spokesperson when he loses, as if I'm kind of responsible for it!"
The Dutchman continued: "He shouldn't be kidding around. I know his opponent, Zubov, he is a beast at speed chess. Magnus has probably underestimated his opponent, as usual."
The interview with Giri.
Anand, the reigning world rapid champion, is on seven points with just one loss. He won an instructive game in round six against 19-year-old IM Semen Khanin of Russia, showing what can happen in the Giuoco Pianissimo (which does mean "very quiet play"!) when Black can castle queenside and open the g-file.
Vishy Anand, last year's winner of the world rapid. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Meanwhile, there was a nice pairing in round seven for the older chess fans among us: Gata Kamsky vs Alexei Shirov. The two have played each other more than 30 times in their career (first in 1986!) with a better score for Shirov, but Kamsky showed that he is still a fierce force in rapid, especially with his non-theoretical repertoire:
Gata Kamsky, still a force to be reckoned with. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
After eight rounds, Dmitry Andreikin of Russia and Anton Korobov of Ukraine were sharing the lead, but both of them lost in round nine. As said, the top boards drew in the final round which allowed Carlsen to come to half a point while Russians Andreikin, Daniil Dubov and Alexander Matlakov won their games to catch the leaders.
Andreikin did so with a wonderful attack against Peter Svidler, finished off with a brilliant queen sacrifice combination that ended with a silent rook move:
Svidler himself was impressed as well, and later tweeted about it:
Judging by the amount of love my moment of admiration for Dmitry's combination is getting, I should be getting mated, spectacularly, in the center of the board more often.
— Peter Svidler (@polborta) December 27, 2018
Seriously though - that final position is fabulous, have a look if you haven't yet
Svidler-Andreikin. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Anand finished his day with a good win against GM Vladimir Potkin:
2018 World Rapid | Round 10 Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 9 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | 2771 | 7,5 | 2902 | 61,0 | 67,0 | 33,8 | |
| 2 | 22 | GM | Andreikin Dmitry | 2725 | 7,5 | 2873 | 60,0 | 63,5 | 39,6 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | Wang Hao | 2782 | 7,5 | 2870 | 57,5 | 62,0 | 21,8 | |
| 4 | 11 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2758 | 7,5 | 2864 | 58,5 | 62,0 | 28,4 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | 2812 | 7,5 | 2843 | 58,0 | 63,5 | 9,2 | |
| 6 | 25 | GM | Dubov Daniil | 2723 | 7,5 | 2819 | 56,5 | 61,5 | 24,8 | |
| 7 | 35 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2690 | 7,5 | 2779 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 23,4 | |
| 8 | 49 | GM | Timofeev Artyom | 2668 | 7,0 | 2829 | 59,5 | 64,0 | 44,6 | |
| 9 | 16 | GM | Giri Anish | 2739 | 7,0 | 2819 | 56,0 | 60,5 | 21,4 | |
| 10 | 15 | GM | Korobov Anton | 2740 | 7,0 | 2801 | 58,0 | 62,0 | 18,2 | |
| 11 | 28 | GM | Gelfand Boris | 2715 | 7,0 | 2800 | 55,0 | 59,0 | 22,6 | |
| 12 | 31 | GM | Oparin Grigoriy | 2701 | 7,0 | 2790 | 54,0 | 58,0 | 24,6 | |
| 13 | 29 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | 2708 | 7,0 | 2746 | 53,0 | 56,5 | 11,2 | |
| 14 | 39 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2682 | 7,0 | 2746 | 52,0 | 56,0 | 18,4 | |
| 15 | 24 | GM | Anand Viswanathan | 2723 | 7,0 | 2740 | 55,0 | 60,0 | 5,6 | |
| 16 | 51 | GM | Saric Ivan | 2661 | 7,0 | 2728 | 52,0 | 56,5 | 20,6 | |
| 17 | 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | 2903 | 7,0 | 2722 | 48,0 | 51,0 | -33,4 | |
| 18 | 169 | GM | Firouzja Alireza | 2412 | 6,5 | 2824 | 59,5 | 64,0 | 100,4 | |
| 19 | 6 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2786 | 6,5 | 2805 | 60,0 | 64,5 | 5,6 | |
| 20 | 40 | GM | Zubov Alexander | 2681 | 6,5 | 2786 | 56,0 | 59,5 | 29,0 |
(Full standings here.)
Ju Wenjun continues to lead the women's section. With four rounds to go, the 27-year-old Chinese player is half a point ahead of eight players, including the Muzychuk sisters, Tan Zhongyi and Kateryna Lagno, the 2018 world championship finalist.
Kateryna Lagno received flowers for her birthday.| Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Ju defeated an important rival at the start of the day: the 2016 rapid and blitz champion Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, who was worse, fought back but then erred in a rook endgame:
After draws with Tan (her opponent earlier this year in their title match) and Mariya Muzychuk, Ju then defeated compatriot Zhao Xue:
Ju Wenjun vs Zhao Xue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Former classical world champion and 2012 world rapid champion Antoaneta Stefanova was the victim of a checkmate on the board against Tan:
2018 Women World Rapid | Round 8 Standings (Top 20)
| Rk. | SNo | Fed | Title | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2584 | 7,0 | 2756 | 38,5 | 42,0 | 27,2 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2493 | 6,5 | 2651 | 39,0 | 43,0 | 30,8 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2595 | 6,0 | 2605 | 39,0 | 43,5 | 3,8 | |
| 4 | 16 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 2442 | 6,0 | 2605 | 36,0 | 38,0 | 33,8 | |
| 5 | 95 | FM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2153 | 6,0 | 2597 | 38,0 | 42,5 | 88,8 | |
| 6 | 25 | IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 2402 | 6,0 | 2533 | 34,0 | 36,5 | 28,2 | |
| 7 | 15 | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 2444 | 6,0 | 2529 | 39,0 | 42,5 | 18,0 | |
| 8 | 11 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2477 | 6,0 | 2522 | 37,5 | 41,0 | 10,0 | |
| 9 | 5 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | 2539 | 6,0 | 2503 | 35,5 | 38,0 | -4,8 | |
| 10 | 30 | IM | Saduakassova Dinara | 2381 | 5,5 | 2540 | 38,0 | 41,5 | 34,6 | |
| 11 | 14 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2466 | 5,5 | 2513 | 34,0 | 37,5 | 10,2 | |
| 12 | 26 | GM | Gunina Valentina | 2396 | 5,5 | 2511 | 35,5 | 38,0 | 26,8 | |
| 13 | 29 | IM | Mammadova Gulnar | 2382 | 5,5 | 2506 | 36,0 | 39,5 | 27,6 | |
| 14 | 10 | GM | Koneru Humpy | 2479 | 5,5 | 2481 | 35,0 | 37,0 | 0,8 | |
| 15 | 4 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2540 | 5,5 | 2460 | 34,0 | 37,5 | -14,0 | |
| 16 | 20 | GM | Khotenashvili Bela | 2428 | 5,5 | 2459 | 32,0 | 35,0 | 10,4 | |
| 17 | 34 | IM | Galliamova Alisa | 2363 | 5,5 | 2454 | 34,5 | 38,0 | 22,4 | |
| 18 | 3 | GM | Lei Tingjie | 2545 | 5,5 | 2450 | 33,5 | 36,0 | -15,8 | |
| 19 | 56 | WGM | Nguyen Thi Mai Hung | 2268 | 5,5 | 2426 | 29,5 | 32,5 | 35,6 | |
| 20 | 46 | WGM | Bivol Alina | 2314 | 5,5 | 2421 | 33,0 | 35,5 | 23,6 |
(Full standings here.)
Replay the broadcast of the second day.
The playing hall seen from the far end of the stage. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Some biological weapons are allowed. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Karjakin and Shirov chatting. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Carlsen, with his father, giving autographs. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
The youngest fans often prefer to play themselves. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
A side view of the top boards. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Zubov-Carlsen as seen from the spectators' area. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Andrew Tang and his family. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Ivan Cheparinov, Paco Vallejo, David Anton and Ivan Salgado in between rounds. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/FIDE.
Commentators Evgeny Miroshnichenko and Peter Leko. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.
Yury Solomatin contributed to this report.
Earlier reports:
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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