Volodar Murzin – World Rapid Champion!
Alexander Grischuk finished second while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Kateryna Lagno came 3-rd
Photo by FIDE press office.
World Rapid Championships ended in a total triumph for the Russian players. It turned out to be a sensation for everyone to see on top of the list Volodar Murzin, an ex-student of gymnasium named after E.M. Primakov and representing the Moscow Region, who has just turned 18. He scored 10 points in 13 games without a mere defeat. Following him were Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi who both scored 9.5 points and finished 2-nd and 3-rd accordingly. Another regional grandmaster Ivan Zemlyanskii showed a decent result, scored 7 points and managed to defeat several strong grandmasters rated over 2600 including Wesley So.
The women’s tournament was dominated by Humpy Koneru from India who became champion for the second time in her chess career. The silver medal was won by the reigning “classical” World Champion Ju Wenjun. Kateryna Lagno finished 3-rd.
The World Championship was also marked by a huge scandal: multiple World Champion Magnus Carlsen was disqualified being accused of violating a dress code rule (he came wearing jeans). He also decided not to play the blitz tournament.
Sunday December 29 is a day-off while the World Blitz Championships will start on December 30.