World Rapid Chess begins in Dubai: Day 1 Video, Report

Hello chess blog friends, the very exciting World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2014 have begun in Dubai. Here is a cool Day 1 video by Vijay Kumar. On the first day, the first five rounds of the Rapid section were held.






A total of 113 participants from 46 countries 16th edition of the Championships. After the conclusion of five rounds on Day 1 we had Ian Nepomniachtchi, Sergey Karjakin (both from Russia) and Fabiano Caruana (Italy) in joint lead with 4. 5 points out of 5. The championship began with two major upsets in the first round itself as both Levon Aronian and defending champion Hikaru Nakamura lost to their lower-rated opponents. 

This lovely photo of the first day is by Anastasiya Karlovich. Click on photo to see the full album.

World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen made 2 draws against Gadir Guseinov and Evgeny Tomashevsky, won three games and after 5 rounds was placed half a point behind the leaders. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Laurent Fressinet, Le Quang Liem and Sergei Movsesian also had 4 out 5.

The only woman chess player in the fray, Judit Polgar began with a straight 3,5 out 4, defeating GMs Rauf Mamedov and Pentala Harikrishna. She was in shared second place after four rounds but plunged to the 10th place after losing to Karjakin in the fifth round. 

Twenty five year old Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela (2652) beat Hikaru Nakamura (2841) in 49 moves of an English Opening. Nakamura lost a Rook on the 41st move as he tried to prevent mating threats.

Then world number 2, Levon Aronian of Armenia, 32, also lost in round 1 to Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, 31, who utilised the Evans Gambit and won a Rook and pawn endgame in a marathon 69 moves. 

Find detailed reports, videos and photographs at the official website.

The FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2014 will consist of 15 rounds to be held in the first three days. Games are scheduled 3pm daily on 16th, 17th and 18th June. The Blitz championship follows with 21 rounds starting 3pm on 19th and 20th June. The total prize find of both tournaments is $400,000 with $40,000 for the winner of each championships.

The championship will be broadcast live on the tournament’s official website www.dubai2014wrb.com with online games and commentary. See the Photo Album of the first day (By Anastasija Karlovic)

In the Rapid Championship, each player will have 15 minutes + 10 seconds additional time per move, starting from move 1.

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