World Blitz Chess Championship

The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. The current world blitz champion is the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.[1] Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan is the current women's blitz world champion. Magnus Carlsen has won the event a record six times.

Current world blitz champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway

Time controls

Starting in the early 1900s, chess clubs began to organize tournaments played at accelerated time controls; these early games usually required a set number of moves from each player within a certain time interval. One of the earliest examples was the local chess club at Hastings, England, where 10 seconds were allowed per move during a blitz tournament held after the 1904 British Chess Championship. By 1950, the time controls had changed to the more familiar 5 minutes per player (now 3 minutes), hence the "5-minute game" moniker. The term "blitz chess" would not be coined until the 1960s.[2]

FIDE-recognized events

FIDE World Blitz Championship (2006–2010)

The first blitz chess tournament to be recognized by FIDE as a "world championship" took place on 6 September 2006 in Rishon Lezion, Israel. Structured as a 16-player round-robin, the tournament featured seven of the world's top 20 Grandmasters, as well as a young Magnus Carlsen. After 15 rounds, Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler finished atop the leaderboard with 10½/15; Grischuk subsequently defeated Svidler with Black in an armageddon game to win the championship.[3] The following year, the tournament (now branded as the FIDE World Blitz Cup) was held in Moscow, Russia following the Tal Memorial tournament and was re-structured as a 20-player double-round robin with a significantly stronger field. After Ukrainian grandmaster Vasyl Ivanchuk and Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand entered the final round tied on points, Ivanchuk defeated Anand from a disadvantaged position to win the tournament with 25½/38.[4]

In 2008, the championship reverted to a 16-player round-robin. Despite a late charge from the defending champion Ivanchuk, who won seven of the final eight rounds, the tournament was won by Leinier Domínguez, a 25-year-old GM from Cuba who scored 11½/15 to edge out Ivanchuk by a half-point.[5] In 2009, the championship returned to Moscow, where the format was once again switched to a 22-player double round-robin with revised time controls of 3 minutes per player plus a 2-second increment. The event was won by the young Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen, who finished three points clear of the field with 31/42 and went 8/8 against the 2nd through 5th-place finishers.[6]

2010 would prove to be the final year of the event – hosted again in Moscow, the tournament was dubbed the VI World Blitz 2010 and held immediately after the Tal Memorial tournament. Despite losing both his final games, Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian was able to clinch the title with 24½/38, half a point ahead of Teimour Radjabov.[7] In November 2010, a nine-round Swiss tournament was scheduled for February 17, 2011, to serve as a qualifying event for the World Blitz Championship 2011; however, after no bids for the event were made the tournament was eventually cancelled.[8]

Editions and medallists
Year Host city Champion Runner-up Third place
2006Israel Rishon Lezion Alexander Grischuk (RUS) Peter Svidler (RUS) Teimour Radjabov (AZE)
2007Russia Moscow Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) Viswanathan Anand (IND) Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
2008Kazakhstan Almaty Leinier Domínguez (CUB) Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) Peter Svidler (RUS)
2009Russia Moscow Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Viswanathan Anand (IND) Sergey Karjakin (UKR)
2010Russia Moscow Levon Aronian (ARM) Teimour Radjabov (AZE) Magnus Carlsen (NOR)

World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships (since 2012)

On May 31, 2012, FIDE announced the inaugural World Rapid & Blitz Championships, set to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 1 to 11. The 2012 tournament consisted of a qualifying round, followed by the rapid and blitz events held consecutively over five days. The championship was originally structured as a 16-player round-robin tournament, set to coincide with the first release of FIDE's rapid and blitz ratings in July 2012; invited were the top 9 players in the FIDE ratings list, the defending champion Levon Aronian, the three medalists of the qualification competition, and three wild-card nominees by the organization committee and FIDE.[9] The event has since been changed to a Swiss tournament with a field of over 100 grandmasters. The top three finishers in the standings are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively; tiebreaks are determined by the average rating of opponents.[10]

The World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2020 was postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] It was planned to be held in Kazakhstan in December 2021; however, due to new regulations imposed by the Kazakh government, which would have required many participants to quarantine, the event had to be cancelled again on December 8, 2021. FIDE was considering to either hold the event in Kazakhstan in 2022, or to move it to a different host country.[12] On December 10, 2021, Warsaw, Poland was announced as the new host city, with the tournament taking place from December 25–30, 2021.[13]

Editions and medallists
Open
World Blitz Chess Championships (since 2012)
Year Host city Champion Runner-up Third place
2012Kazakhstan Astana Alexander Grischuk (RUS) Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Sergey Karjakin (RUS)
2013Russia Khanty-Mansiysk Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) Alexander Grischuk (RUS) Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR)
2014United Arab Emirates Dubai Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
2015Germany Berlin Alexander Grischuk (RUS) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)
2016Qatar Doha[14] Sergey Karjakin (RUS) Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Daniil Dubov (RUS)
2017Saudi Arabia Riyadh[15] Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Sergey Karjakin (RUS) Viswanathan Anand (IND)
2018Russia Saint Petersburg Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
2019Russia Moscow Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Hikaru Nakamura (USA) Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)
2020Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021Poland Warsaw[13] Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) Alireza Firouzja (FRA)
2022Kazakhstan Almaty Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Hikaru Nakamura (USA) Haik Martirosyan (ARM)
Most Times Champion
Times won Player Year(s)
6  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
3  Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2006, 2012, 2015
1  Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) 2007
 Leinier Domínguez (CUB) 2008
 Levon Aronian (ARM) 2010
 Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) 2013
 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2016
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2021
Women
Women's World Blitz Chess Championships (since 2012)
Year Host city Champion Runner-up Third place
2012Georgia (country) Batumi[16] Valentina Gunina (RUS) Natalia Zhukova (UKR) Anna Muzychuk (SVN)
2013Not held
2014Russia Khanty-Mansiysk[17] Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS)
2015Not held
2016Qatar Doha[18][14] Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Valentina Gunina (RUS) Kateryna Lagno (RUS)
2017Saudi Arabia Riyadh[19][15] Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) Valentina Gunina (RUS) Ju Wenjun (CHN)
2018Russia Saint Petersburg[20] Kateryna Lagno (RUS) Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRN) Lei Tingjie (CHN)
2019 Russia Moscow Kateryna Lagno (RUS) Anna Muzychuk (UKR) Tan Zhongyi (CHN)
2020Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021Poland Warsaw[13] Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) Alexandra Kosteniuk[n 1](CFR) Valentina Gunina[n 1] (CFR)
2022Kazakhstan Almaty[21] Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) Humpy Koneru (IND)FIDE Polina Shuvalova[n 2] (FIDE)

Other events

Herceg Novi Blitz Tournament of 1970

On 8 April 1970, following the USSR vs. Rest of the World 'Match of the Century' hosted in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, a blitz tournament was held in Herceg Novi, featuring many of the same participants from the match. The event was a 12-player double round-robin, with no tiebreaks and five minutes per player. Featuring four World Champions, the field was considered the strongest of any blitz tournament in modern history. Heading into the event, two-time World Champion Tigran Petrosian was considered the favorite to win the event, with Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi also enjoying favorable chances.[22]

It was American grandmaster Bobby Fischer, however, who put up a dominant performance, scoring 19/22 to win the tournament by 4½ points. Fischer scored a staggering 8½/10 against the five Soviet grandmasters in attendance, dropping only one game in the entire tournament and frequently gaining huge time advantages in each game. According to one report, Fischer spent no more than 2.5 minutes on any game.[23] At the end of the tournament, Tal – who had been whitewashed by Fischer – gave his thoughts on the American's performance.

"I don’t know what Petrosian, Korchnoi, Bronstein, and Smyslov counted on before the start of the tournament, but I expected them to be the most probable rivals for the top prizes. Fischer had until recently played fast chess none too strongly. Now much has changed: he is fine at fast chess. His playing is of the same kind as in tournament games: everything is simple, follows a single pattern, logical, and without any spectacular effects. He makes his moves quickly and practically without errors. Throughout the tournament I think he did not lose a whole set of pieces in this way. Fischer's result is very, very impressive... We had known, of course, that Fischer is one of the strongest chessplayers in the world. He can defeat Petrosyan, Korchnoi, Spassky, and Larsen. Just as they can defeat him."[24]

Rk Player Rtg Pts
1  Bobby Fischer (USA) 272019
2  Mikhail Tal (URS) 259014½
3  Viktor Korchnoi (URS) 267014
4  Tigran Petrosian (URS) 265013½
5  David Bronstein (URS) 257013
6  Vlastimil Hort (CSR) 261012
7  Milan Matulović (YUG) 256010½
8  Vasily Smyslov (URS) 26209½
9  Samuel Reshevsky (USA) 25908½
10  Wolfgang Uhlmann (GDR) 25708
11  Borislav Ivkov (YUG) 25707½
12  Predrag Ostojić (YUG) NR2

1988 World Blitz Championship

Following the Candidates' matches for the 1988 cycle, a World Blitz Championship was hosted in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, on 19 February 1988. The event was a 32-player single-elimination tournament, with pairings determined by best-of-four matches. The field was headlined by long-time rivals Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, with the former considered the favorite to win the tournament. Notable participants included:

  1.  Garry Kasparov (URS), 2750
  2.  Anatoly Karpov (URS), 2715
  3.  Mikhail Tal (URS), 2630
  4.  Rafael Vaganian (URS), 2625
  5.  Jon Speelman (ENG), 2625
  6.  Artur Yusupov (URS), 2620
  7.  Yasser Seirawan (USA), 2595
  8.  Kiril Georgiev (BUL), 2595
  9.  Valery Salov (URS), 2595
  10.  Jaan Ehlvest (URS), 2585
  11.  Kevin Spraggett (CAN), 2580
  12.  Alexander Chernin (URS), 2560
  13.  Jesús Nogueiras (CUB), 2560
  14.  Maxim Dlugy (USA), 2550
  15.  Margeir Pétursson (ISL), 2540
  16.  Michael Wilder (USA), 2535
  17.  Roman Dzindzichashvili (URS), 2530
  18.  Branko Damljanović (YUG), 2525
  19.  Helgi Ólafsson (ISL), 2510
  20.  Igor Ivanov (CAN), 2505
  21.  Aivars Gipslis (URS), 2505
  22.  Attila Grószpéter (HUN), 2495
  23.  Bogdan Lalić (YUG), 2495
  24.  Joseph Gallagher (ENG), 2480

Former world champion Anatoly Karpov fell out of contention for the championship in just the second round, after dropping his first two games against fellow Soviet grandmaster Alexander Chernin. Reigning world champion Garry Kasparov steamed ahead into the quarterfinals but lost momentum after missing an elementary mate in two against Bulgarian grandmaster Kiril Georgiev;[25] a stunned Kasparov was subsequently knocked out of the tournament. In the final, Mikhail Tal clinched the championship with a 3½–½ victory over Armenian grandmaster Rafael Vaganian.[26][27]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
         
Soviet Union Garry Kasparov 1
Bulgaria Kiril Georgiev 3
Bulgaria Kiril Georgiev 3½
Soviet Union Rafael Vaganian 4½
Soviet Union Rafael Vaganian 3
United States Michael Wilder 0
Soviet Union Rafael Vaganian ½
Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 3½
Soviet Union Jaan Ehlvest 1
Soviet Union Alexander Chernin 3
Soviet Union Alexander Chernin 1½
Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 2½
Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 3
Soviet Union Artur Jussupow 0

Mikhail Tal, the 51-year-old former World Champion, breezed through the final rounds with 5½/6. Joining him in the finals was Rafael Vaganian, who survived a controversial semifinal against Kiril Georgiev; the Armenian nearly punched his clock after making an illegal move in Game 2, an accusation that was eventually refuted after match officials resorted to a video review and found that Vaganian's hand had stopped just short of touching the clock. The final was a one-sided affair, with Tal repeatedly utilizing exchange sacrifices to find winning combinations; down 3–0 after three games, Vaganian offered his hand in the 4th game to concede the match to Tal. After the match, Tal claimed he took the event "none too seriously"; he chain-smoked throughout the tournament, and his "preparation" for the semifinal match against Chernin reportedly consisted of a double scotch.[28][29]

1988 World Blitz Championship – Final
NameRating1234Total
 Mikhail Tal (URS) 2630 1 1 1 ½ 3½
 Rafael Vaganian (URS) 2625 0 0 0 ½ ½

2000 World Blitz Chess Cup

The Plus GSM World Blitz Cup was a 367-player Swiss-system tournament held in Warsaw, Poland, on 9 January 2000. Hosted at the Warsaw Polonia Chess Club, the event consisted of 11 rounds, with each match comprising two 5-minute games for a total of 22 games per player. Indian grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, the tournament's No. 1 seed, triumphed over a strong field that included 70 Grandmasters[30] and nine of the world's top-20 ranked players with a 17½/22 score. Anand's run saw him pick up 14 wins, 7 draws, and only 1 loss, highlighted by a 43-move win with the black pieces against Anatoly Karpov.[31] The tournament's sponsor, Plus GSM, set aside a $30,500 prize fund for the event as well as Nokia mobile communicators to be given to the top four finishers and the two top Polish players.[32][33]

Karpov vs. Anand, World Blitz Cup
abcdefgh
8
c8 black rook
g8 black king
b7 black rook
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
f6 black pawn
c5 black bishop
d5 white pawn
e5 white pawn
f4 white pawn
b3 black pawn
c3 black pawn
g3 white pawn
e2 white rook
f2 white rook
g2 white king
h2 white pawn
c1 white bishop
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Final position
Rk Player Rtg Pts TB1 TB2 TB3
1  Viswanathan Anand (IND) 276917½137½166114½
2  Boris Gelfand (ISR) 269217136½166110
3  Anatoly Karpov (RUS) 269617136164114½
4  Vladimir Akopian (ARM) 266017132½160½108
5  Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) 270917132160105½
6  Michael Adams (ENG) 271517129154102½
7  Vladimir Epishin (RUS) 266717125½152½104
8  Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA) 267016½134½164107½
9  Zdenko Kožul (CRO) 259716½133160105½
10  Peter Svidler (RUS) 267216½132½162107½
11  Alexei Shirov (ESP) 275116½132½160109½
12  Andrei Shchekachev (RUS) 250916½128½157½101
13  Mikulas Manik (SVK) 246916½128156104
14  Rafael Vaganian (ARM) 261816½125½15399
15  Robert Kempiński (POL) 252816½125½149½102
16  Alexey Korotylev (RUS) 247716½122150½103
17  Kiril Georgiev (BUL) 267716134½161105
18  Aleksej Aleksandrov (BLR) 260616124152½104
19  Sergey Kasparov (BLR) 246516123150½96½
20  Paweł Blehm (POL) 249416123149101½

See also

Notes
  1. Kosteniuk and Gunina are Russian, but competed under the Chess Federation of Russia flag, due to WADA sanctions against Russia.
  2. Shuvalova is Russian but competed under FIDE flag due to the organization's ban of the Russian and Belarusian flags as part of its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References
  1. "The winners of FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships".
  2. "A Brief History of Fast Chess". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  3. "CB News: Grischuk wins FIDE World Blitz Championship". 12 September 2006.
  4. "TWIC 681: FIDE World Blitz Cup".
  5. "Dominguez-Perez wins World Blitz Championship in Almaty". 8 November 2008.
  6. "World Blitz Championship: Carlsen wins by three-point margin". 18 November 2009.
  7. "CB News: Aronian wins World Blitz Championship". 18 November 2010.
  8. "Information and Regulations of the International Chess Open Festival "AEROFLOT OPEN 2011" and the Qualification Tournament for the World Blitz Championship 2011" (PDF).
  9. "Regulations for the World Blitz Chess Championship 2012" (PDF).
  10. "Regulations for the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2015" (PDF).
  11. "World Rapid and Blitz Championship postponed to 2021".
  12. "FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships will not be held in Kazakhstan in December". FIDE. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  13. "World Rapid & Blitz 2021 to be held in Warsaw, Poland". FIDE. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  14. "The winners of FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships". Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  15. "Saudi chess tournament starts without Israeli players". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2019-08-26.
  16. georgian chess federation. "Women's World Blitz Championship 2012". Chess-Results. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. "FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship 2014" (PDF). FIDE. FIDE. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  18. chess house. "FIDE Women World Blitz Ch. 2016". Chess-Results. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  19. "King Salman World Blitz Championship 2017 Women". Chess-Results. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  20. Fedorov, Vladimir. "King Salman World Blitz Championship 2018 Women". Chess-Results. Swiss-Manager. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  21. "WOMEN BLITZ - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz 2022". FIDE. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  22. "TWIC: World Blitz Mini-Site 2009".
  23. "Chess.com – Herceg-Novi 1970".
  24. "The Chess Drum: Bobby's Blitz Chess". 16 March 2012.
  25. "Chessgames.com – Garry Kasparov vs Kiril Dimitrov Georgiev".
  26. "365Chess.com – Wch-blitz 1988".
  27. Goodman, David (February 20, 1988). "World Champion Eliminated From Blitz Chess Tournament". Associated Press. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  28. "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED – Your Move, and Make It Snappy (1988)".
  29. "21-Player Salute: Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal". Archived from the original on 2005-03-12.
  30. "Vishy Anand Strikes At Warsaw: Rapid King Also Blitz King". Archived from the original on 2001-04-24.
  31. "Chessgames.com – Anatoly Karpov vs. Viswanathan Anand, GSM World Blitz Cup 2000".
  32. "TWIC: World Blitz Cup 2000".
  33. "Plus GSM World Blitz Chess Cup – ORGANIZERS' REGULATIONS".
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