The second day of the World Rapid Championships saw intense action, with Carlsen, Yu and Fedoseev emerging as leaders with seven points out of nine in the Open. In the Women’s event, Anastasia Bodnaruk’s stellar performance secured her the sole lead with seven out of eight points.
Four rounds were played today in both the Open and the Women’s Rapid.
In the Open tournament, Magnus Carlsen maintained his position among the leaders. Despite a strong start with a crucial win against Vidit, the Norwegian had to settle for draws in the remaining three games. He shares the lead with Yu Yangyi and Vladimir Fedoseev, all tallying seven points from nine games.
Anastasia Bodnaruk stole the day in the women’s tournament. With a score of 3.5/4 – including victories over the two frontrunners from day one, Zhu Jiner and Salimova – she emerged as the sole leader, with seven points out of eight. Bodnaruk is trailed by two players, India’s Koneru Humpy and China’s Zhai Mo, who are on 6.5/8.
The Open
The day started well for Carlsen as he scored a critical victory against India’s Vidit Santos Gujrathi. Both sides were evenly matched for the most part, but in a knight endgame, Vidit’s nerves gave way – he blundered one pawn and then another, ending completely lost. After the game, Vidit – visibly shaken – was seen standing over the board for about a minute, wandering aimlessly into the distance.
Things didn’t go Carlsen’s way in the remaining three games, where he drew with Erigaisi, Yu and Keymer. While the line played against Yu was sharp, the position was always even. The only real opportunity Carlsen had was in the final game of the day against Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Magnus managed to force an endgame where his white knight was stronger than Keymer’s dark-squared bishop, but – despite being significantly better on time – the Norwegian blundered and allowed Keymer to draw.
China’s Yu Yangyi continued steadily – like Carlsen, he also scored 2.5/4, with three draws and one victory (over India’s Bharath). Yu was also lucky today, as he managed to save a lost position to Fedoseev in the ninth (last) round.
Vladimir Fedoseev joined the leaders today after having a good run – scoring three consecutive wins (against Narayanan, Gareyev and Erigaisi). In round nine, Fedoseev had a golden opportunity to defeat Yu Yangyi and emerge as the sole leader in the Open. However, he misplayed a winning endgame and allowed the Chinese GM to escape with a draw.
With a tight competition brewing, 13 players trail just half a point behind the leading trio in the Open tournament. The list includes very strong players such as Erigaisi, 2018 World Rapid winner Dubov, Vidit, Vachier-Lagrave, Radjabov, and Keymer, as well as Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov, who continued his good run from day one.
Among other heavyweights, Nepomniachtchi, Caruana and Aronian are on six points. Rapport – who had a good start on day one – finished the second day with 2/4 and has 5.5 points altogether.
With four more rounds left, the stage is set for an unpredictable and thrilling final day in the Open section.
The Women’s Tournament
The second day of the Women’s tournament saw leaders changing in the last three rounds.
The day started with a direct duel for first place between two frontrunners – Zhu Jiner and Nurgyul Salimova, in which the Chinese emerged victorious.
In the following sixth round, China’s Zhai Mo – 29th in the ranking list – stunned her compatriot Zhu Jiner with an impressive victory in the Benko and overtook the lead. It was in this round that the seasoned Indian Koneru Humpy caught up with the top group by defeating Azerbaijan’s Gunay Mammadzada.
The Women’s tournament
Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova and Zhu Jiner of China lead the pack with a maximum score of four points.
They are closely followed by a group of six unexpected contenders, with India’s Rameshbabu Vaishali as the sole top-20-rated player among them.
The first day in the Women’s Rapid saw a slow start from the reigning Rapid Champion, Tan Zhongyi, who scored her first victory only in the final, fourth round of the day, following three draws. The Women’s World Champion in classical chess, Ju Wenjun, as well as her challenger in the Match for the title earlier this year, Lei Tingjie, also underperformed, finishing the day with 2/5 out of 4.
Surprisingly, top-rated players and former Women’s World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (also the 2021 Women’s World Rapid Champion) and Mariya Muzychuk struggled with a loss at the start, ending with only 1.5 points out of four.
About the event:
The World Rapid and Blitz is one of the most exciting and most watched chess events in the world, attracting the strongest Grandmasters.
The prize fund totals one million US dollars, with $700,000 for the Open and $300,000 for the Women’s tournaments.
The event is taking place from December 25 to December 30, at the Samarkand Congress Center.
