Speed Chess Championship 2024
Magnus Carlsen obtains 23½-7½ victory

With a crushing 23½-7½ victory over Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen became the winner of the 2024 Speed Chess Championship. This is Carlsen's fourth SCC title, as only he and Hikaru Nakamura have ever won the tournament organised by chess.com. Carlsen outscored Firouzja in all 3 sections of the final match, which took place on Sunday at Espot in Paris.
A fourth Speed Chess Championship title for Carlsen
Only 2 players have ever won the Speed Chess Championship: Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. At this year's edition, which had an in-person final stage in Paris, Carlsen grabbed his fourth SCC title - Nakamura has collected 5 so far - by beating Alireza Firouzja in the final match. Nakamura had secured third place on Saturday.
Firouzja came from showing remarkable chess in the previous rounds, but was outplayed by Carlsen from start to finish. As it is well-known, blitz and bullet chess are all about form, and the former world champion simply had a great day on Sunday. The Norwegian has shown once and again that he has the uncanny ability of (very frequently) performing at his best in the deciding rounds of top events - and this was no exception.
Carlsen got a 3-point lead in the 5-minute section, widened the gap to 9 points in the following 3-minute section and saw his opponent collapsing in the bullet. As noted by commentator Daniel Naroditsky, though, Firouzja is certainly capable of taking down his famed opponent in fast-paced events, as he had shocked the chess world by beating Carlsen in chess24's Banter Blitz Cup back in 2020 - when Firouzja was only 16 years old! Soon after losing the match, Firouzja shared on X, referring to the World Rapid and Blitz Championships that are set to take place in New York at the end of the year: it all, indeed, had to do with speed, as an ecstatic Carlsen himself explained in the post-match interview with the chess.com team: What I was most happy about my performance today was that I was thinking a lot clearer with little time. On a lot of days, I'm just guessing when there's little time, and Alireza is usually a lot better than I am in those situations.

Sinquefield Cup 2024
Alireza Firouzja conquers Saint Louis, again!

A draw against R. Praggnanandhaa was all Alireza Firouzja needed to take first place at the Sinquefield Cup - and he safely kept the balance until getting the required half point after 47 moves. Firouzja had secured overall victory in the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare. The eventful final round saw Fabiano Caruana (who grabbed second place), Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave collecting full points.
Alireza Firouzja made his first trip to Saint Louis only 2 years ago. In a memorable showing, the youngster (who was already representing France at that point) collected back-to-back victories at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament and the Sinquefield Cup. The 3-week performance allowed the then 19-year-old to also win the Grand Chess Tour, which meant an extra $100,000 in prize money. Firouzja climbed to 4th place in the next official FIDE ranking (October 2022), with a 2785 Elo rating to his name.
Now, at 21, Firouzja repeated the feat, winning both tournaments in Saint Louis and grabbing first place at the yearly GCT series. In 2022, he had finished the Sinquefield Cup with 5/8 points - that was the infamous edition which saw Magnus Carlsen withdrawing from the tournament after losing to Hans Niemann - and had to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in playoffs to claim the title. This time around, he finished undefeated with 6/9 points to become the outright winner.
For his efforts in the GCT series, Firouzja received $323,750 in prize money, as besides his victories in Saint Louis he grabbed shared second place both at the Superbet Classic in Romania and the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz in Croatia. Second and third place went to Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, both in the series and in the Sinquefield Cup.
While Firouzja safely obtained the draw he needed to secure outright victory in his game against R. Praggnanandhaa, the final round of the event featured 3 interesting battles, all of which ended with decisive results - D. Gukesh and Wesley So signed a 35-move draw in a game that was evaluated as close to equal throughout. Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave and Abdusattorov ended the event with victories.
The first one to secure a full point on Wednesday was Abdusattorov, who took advantage of Ian Nepomniachtchi's overly optimistic play to get a 27-move win with the black pieces. The Uzbek ace finished the event with a +1 score, as he recovered from his round-3 loss against Caruana with wins over Ding and Nepo in rounds 7 and 9 respectively.
Later on, MVL joined Abdusattorov in third place by defeating Ding while marshalling the white pieces. The world champion found himself down on the clock in a complex middlegame arising from a Ruy Lopez, lost the thread on move 26 and blundered decisively on move 30. Remarkably, MVL's win put an end to a 25-game streak of draws. A good omen going into the Chess Olympiad in Budapest?
The last game to finish in the round (and the event) was Caruana's victory over Anish Giri. Caruana, who entered the event as the top seed and defending champion, suffered a loss against Firouzja in the inaugural round. However, wins over Abdusattorov, Nepomniachtchi and now Giri allowed him to finish in clear second place both in the Sinquefield Cup and the Grand Chess Tour.

British Championship 2024
Jones beats Howell to claims third British title

Gawain Jones defeated David Howell in a hard-fought series of rapid and blitz tiebreakers to win the 110th edition of the British Championship in Hull. After drawing their classical encounter, the contenders for the title traded wins in the first set of rapid tiebreakers, which meant the Championship would be decided in blitz - Jones drew with black and won with white to claim his third British title.
Gawain Jones and David Howell played five games on Sunday. The two 2600+ rated players reached the final round of the British Championship tied for first place, and signed a 60-move draw in their classical encounter. The one player who could have caught up with them, Mattew Wadsworth, drew Richard Palliser with black in merely 16 moves, which meant Jones and Howell would decide the winner of the Championship in a rapid tiebreaker.
Howell got the white pieces in the first 20-minute game and scored a fine 52-move victory after outplaying his opponent in a tricky endgame. Jones bounced right back, though, as he made the most of a tactical mistake by his opponent in the middlegame - at that point, Howell was in the driver's seat, in fact.
Two blitz games followed (5 minutes plus 3-second increments). Jones held a 43-move draw with black and then obtained a clear victory with white to grab the title. This is the third time Jones wins the British Championship, as he had won the event back in 2012 and 2017.

Royal escapes with a draw, becomes youngest-ever British GM
While Jones and Howell played the tense draw that led to the tiebreakers, Shreyas Royal was suffering with black against defending champion Michael Adams. The 15-year-old needed a half point to finally get his third GM norm - after having failed to obtain it by very small margins no fewer than five times. And he was in deep trouble on the board.

British Women's Championship 2024
Yao and Kanyamarala shared victory

The British Women's Championship saw Lan Yao and Trisha Kanyamarala obtaining a shared victory, as they both scored 5 points in the 9-round Swiss open. Lan led the field until round 8, when she was defeated by Lawrence Trent - which allowed Kanyamarala to catch her in the standings with a win over Ronit Sachdeva.
Both Lan and Kanyamarala scored full points on Sunday to remain tied atop the standings among the women's players, and were thus declared co-champions. For Lan, this is the third victory in a row at the British Women's Championship

Tata Steel Masters 2024
Wei Yi brilliantly wins Tata Steel in blitz playoff

It was a thrilling event from start to finish. The final round of the Tata Steel Masters saw four co-leaders grabbing wins to set up a four-way blitz playoff. Wei Yi, Gukesh D., Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov played the knockout tiebreaker, which saw 24-year-old Wei claiming overall victory after showcasing his well-known tactical sharpness in the deciding stage. Meanwhile, Leon Luke Mendonca took clear first place in the Challengers after beating Divya Deshmukh with the white pieces.
A long time coming
In March 2013, almost exactly ten years ago, Wei Yi became the fourth youngest-ever grandmaster in the world after scoring a 7½/10 score at the Reykjavík Open, where he defeated, among others, a 22-year-old Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. That same year, in November, he became the youngest player to ever surpass the 2600-rating mark (a record that has been broken since), after knocking out Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexei Shirov in the first two rounds of the FIDE World Cup. Wei was 14 at the time.
The prodigy’s deep chess understanding and incredible tactical eye prompted pundits to often refer to him as Magnus Carlsen’s biggest threat for the coming years. Up to August 2017, Wei continued his quick ascent, as he reached his peak rating of 2753 shortly after winning his third consecutive Chinese Chess Championship. At that point, the rating growth stopped, though. Since the second semester of 2017 until the end of 2023, Wei’s rating never fell below 2700, but he seemed to had hit a wall just when he was about to become a fixture in the elite circuit. The Chinese talent never quite modified his attacking style to obtain better results in strong tournaments, while some of his younger colleagues — e.g. Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdusattorov or Gukesh — surpassed him in the world ranking and collected triumphs in top-notch events.
Now, at 24 (still very young), the man from Yancheng has collected the biggest victory of his career at the Tata Steel Masters. His 8½/13 performance also gained him 14.8 rating points, which means he has joined the world’s top-10 in the live ratings list and achieved a new peak rating of 2755 — just two points higher than his rating in August 2017.
An exciting penultimate round saw Vidit Gujrathi beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov to create a climactic scenario for Sunday — five players entered the final round sharing first place, while Praggnanandhaa and Alireza Firouzja (who stood a half point back) still had theoretical chances to win the event.
Only in one of the seven games two of the co-leaders were paired up against each other (Wei v. Vidit), while the three remaining co-leaders were set to face players with scores below 50%.
At the end of the day, all three players facing contenders out of contention for tournament victory scored full points, while Wei defeated Vidit in the marquee matchup of the round. Thus, four players ended tied for first place, each with 8½/13 points in the final standings.
Following an unpleasant controversy in the 2021 edition of the Tata Steel Masters, the organizers created a new tiebreak system, which considered the players’ fatigue after 13 rounds of classical games. As per the new rules, the four players tied for first went on to fight in a blitz knockout (semifinals and finals) with sudden-death games in case of a tie.

London Chess Classic
Michael Adams first Englishman to win

Michael Adams became the first Englishman to win the London Chess Classic. At 52, the former World Championship candidate described this victory as “the best ever” in his career. In the final round, Adams drew Shreyas Royal with black, which meant Royal finished with 4/9 points, the score he needed to collect a second GM norm. The one decisive result of the day saw Hans Niemann beating Gukesh. Amin Tabatabaei, who signed a draw with Jules Moussard, got sole second place.
Malcolm Pein, the organizer of the London Chess Classic, confessed that he “couldn’t have asked for more” from the thirteenth edition of the now traditional tournament. Besides English legend Michael Adams clinching the title and English rising star Shreyas Royal collecting his second GM norm at 14 years of age, the tournament was one of the most entertaining classical-chess events of the year.
While a lot of the attention throughout the round-robin went to the race for the Candidates, 52-year-old Adams quietly showcased his class to get a plus-three, undefeated score that granted him outright victory. The man from Truro beat Amin Tabatabaei, Mateusz Bartel and Jules Moussard on his way to what he described as “probably my best result ever”.
Adams explained that his biggest successes came when he was in his prime as a player, while this triumph, obtained at 52 years of age, feels entirely different. To get the title, he outscored the likes of Gukesh and Hans Niemann, two of the strongest and most ambitious juniors in the world. Not to mention the ever-dangerous Amin Tabatabaei and Nikita Vitiugov. A few of the many professional achievements of Adams’ include: Reaching the final of the 2004 FIDE World Championship knockout, where he lost to Rustam Kasimdzhanov in tiebreaks.
Winning the 2013 Dortmund super-tournament with a 7/9 score and a 2925 TPR. Adams outscored Fabiano Caruana (rated 2796) and ‘Mr. Dortmund’ Vladimir Kramnik (2784).
Being an 8-time British champion, having won the title for the first time in 1989 and for the last time this year in Leicester!
Fittingly, Adams became the first English player to win the London Chess Classic.

Saint Louis Sinquefield Cup 2023
Caruana wins Sinquefield Cup for a third time

With a final-round win over Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana secured tournament victory at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. This was Caruana’s third victory in this event, as he had previously won it in 2014 (when he famously grabbed seven wins in a row) and in 2018. Sole second place went to Leinier Dominguez, who drew Levon Aronian with the black pieces on Thursday.
Despite having collected success after success during an illustrious, lengthy chess career, Fabiano Caruana confessed that he was very nervous during his final-round Sinquefield Cup game against RIchard Rapport. The 30-year-old scored a convincing win to claim his third victory in this event. In the Sinquefield Cup, he had previously stunned the chess world by winning seven games in a row in 2014 and tied for first with Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian in 2018.
Caruana is having a great year, with classical wins at the Superbet tournament in Romania and at the U.S. Championship, not to mention his strong showing at the FIDE World Cup, where he secured third place to get a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
The string of good results allowed the Italo-American grandmaster to again cross the 2800 mark in the ratings list, as he now stands in the clear second spot ‘only’ 26 points behind the virtually unreachable Carlsen — notably, though, Hikaru Nakamura now stands 16 points behind Caruana, while world champion Ding Liren stands 8 points further back.
The tournament winner noted that this was his last classical tournament of the year. Caruana will not participate in the 2024 edition of the Tata Steel Masters, but will make his way to the Weissenhaus Resort in Germany to face Carlsen & co. at the recently announced Freestyle Challenge, a chess960 tournament set to take place in February.
Caruana’s strong showing in the 2023 Grand Chess Tour gained him US$ 310,000 in prize money, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So — placed second and third respectively — obtaining less than half that amount for their (still strong) performances. In sole second place finished Leinier Dominguez, who was undefeated throughout the event and grabbed wins over Anish Giri and Richard Rapport. The Cuban-born grandmaster gained 11.2 rating points in Saint Louis, which allowed him to climb to seventh place in the live ratings list (overtaking an out-of-form Alireza Firouzja).
Dominguez thus found himself unexpectedly in the fight to reach the Candidates by rating. However, he is still 1 point behind So, and is forced to play one more tournament in December to become eligible in the rating race. Moreover, the GM now representing the United States needs to play outside the U.S. after FIDE published a clarification regarding the World Championship cycle regulations. The last-minute announcement was harshly criticized by former Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar.
Nonetheless, a level-headed Dominguez told Anastasiya Karlovich after drawing Levon Aronian in the final round that he will look for ways to make the most of this unexpected opportunity as “it’s not every day that you get a chance to fight for a place in the Candidates”.

Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2023
Fabiano Caruana beats MVL

Fabiano Caruana became the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz champion after a dramatic final day of blitz, which came down to a winner-take-all last round game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana ended with 21/36 points, Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 20.5, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Le Quang Liem tied for third place with 20 points each. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
Fabiano Caruana became the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz champion after a dramatic final day of blitz, which came down to a winner-take-all last round game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana ended with 21/36 points, Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 20.5, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Le Quang Liem tied for third place with 20 points each.
The Day 4 leader, MVL, struggled on the final day, losing his first two games to Liem and Nepomniachtchi before stabilizing with a much-needed win over Firouzja: Vachier-Lagrave would go on to score five draws and a loss to So, but would still have chances in the very last game against Caruana. Fabi's road to the top was also rocky, after starting the day with 5.5/7 which included three straight wins over Nepo, Firouzja, and Giri, he flagged in a rook and bishop vs. rook ending against Robson in the penultimate round.
Heading into the final round, Caruana was ahead of MVL by half a point, and faced him with the White pieces. MVL played excellently in a Semi-Slav to achieve a winning endgame, but blundered his advantage in a single move, allowing Caruana to save the game and clinch the tournament.
Finishing in a tie for third place were Nepomniachtchi and Liem, each with different paths. Nepo was close to the lead for most of the day, but never managed to pull ahead, losing his chances after a penultimate round collapse against Firouzja.

AI Cup Final
MVL beats Carlsen twice, wins AI Cup

With a remarkable performance, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave got to beat Magnus Carlsen in two consecutive matches to win the AI Cup, the sixth and final ‘regular’ event of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket.
Magnus Carlsen has shown incredible results throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour (and since the start of the era of online, elite tournaments during the pandemic). Out of the six ‘regular’ events, he played in five, won three, and his worst performance was a third place in the Chessable Masters. Now, in the AI Cup, he seemed headed to yet another victory. To reach Friday’s Grand Final, the Norwegian beat none other than Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, scoring 4 wins, 7 draws and a single loss. In fact, after beating Nakamura in the first round, Carlsen had this to say when asked about who he considered to be his biggest rivals:
Given his track record, both in over-the-board chess and especially in the online tours, this is surely a fair assessment.
Beating Nepo in the second round only made Carlsen more of a favourite, but the fact that he needed Armageddon to beat MVL in his third match of the event showed that the Frenchman was in excellent shape. Losing to Carlsen sent MVL to the losers’ bracket, where it was his turn to beat Nepo, who came from obtaining a remarkable victory at the strong Levitov Chess Week tournament (which was played over the board, but also with a rapid time control). Thus, the French grandmaster gained the right to a rematch against Carlsen — to win the event, though, he would need to beat the former world champion twice in a row.
In the Grand Final, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score. Then, in the Grand Final Reset, a 2-0 victory gave allowed the French star to grab the title. Carlsen later noted: That was a fair outcome. [...] There was never really any reason for [MVL] all of a sudden to be falling off — this is the level he’s always been capable of playing at. Thanks to this win, Vachier-Lagrave qualified to the series’ finals, set to be played in Toronto in December. Carlsen, of course, had already qualified, as he ended in clear first place with a massive advantage over second-placed Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Vladimir Fedoseev beat Vladislav Artemiev to win Division II, while Sam Sevian beat Rauf Mamedov to win Division III.

Armageddon Grand Finale
Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins final

Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda emerged victorious in the thrilling 2023 Armageddon Championship Series, clinching a remarkable €80,000 prize. Wesley So secured the runner-up position with a commendable €20,000 prize. This championship marks a significant milestone in the world of chess, highlighting the growing importance of short-form chess formats and broadcasting innovations.
Armageddon Championship series winner: Duda’s chess brilliance led to his well-deserved championship win, solidifying his position as a formidable chess player on the global stage. He managed to perform the best under enormous pressure.
Diverse competitors: The grand finale featured a star-studded lineup of chess talents, including Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Gukesh D, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Humpy Koneru, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Richard Rapport. Their intense battles captivated audiences worldwide, with huge interest coming from India, the Philippines, Germany, and the US.
Global broadcast: The 2023 Armageddon Championship Series became one of the year's most-watched chess events, reaching audiences through 18 online and TV platforms. Major networks like CNBC, BeIN Sports, Channel 4, and FOX Australia brought the excitement of chess to a global audience.
Modern presentation: World Chess, the event’s organizing body, unveiled a custom-made studio that redefines chess aesthetics. This innovative approach emphasizes chess as a dynamic, contemporary, and electrifying spectacle, setting the stage for the future of the game. The broadcast featured the players’ heart rates, one of the most talked-about features in the series.
The Armageddon format has injected a new dimension of excitement into chess. It challenges players to balance strategy and speed, making it a true test of skill under pressure. This groundbreaking format has captured the imagination of chess enthusiasts worldwide, reinvigorating the game for modern audiences.
Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess, commented: "The Armageddon Championship Series has not only increased engagement but also brought a fresh perspective to chess. We anticipate the next season, where top-tier players will once again go head-to-head in this dynamic format. We also feel that the event is a sandbox of chess innovations, and we will continue adding features that make chess a spectator sport".
Andrey Insarov, Chief Executive Officer at it.com Domains, expressed his enthusiasm regarding the recently concluded Armageddon Championship Series 2023: "We are delighted to have witnessed the remarkable fusion of intelligence and skill in the Armageddon Series. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the deserving winner for their truly outstanding performance. It was an incredible spectacle! At it.com Domains, we are genuinely excited about our meaningful partnership with World Chess and our role in supporting this prestigious sport".

Magnus Carlsen has won it all. The world number one beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in tiebreaks to win the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career. After his victory, the Norwegian noted that he will not attempt to recover the World Championship title unless there is a major change in the format, especially regarding the shortening of time controls. Meanwhile, third seed Fabiano Caruana beat Nijat Abasov in the match for third place to secure a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
There is no hiding the fact that a new generation of elite chess players is slowly taking over the sport. In the final of the FIDE World Cup, Magnus Carlsen, who was born in 1990 and obtained his GM title in 2004, defeated a player born in 2005 — the talented and ever-humble Praggnanandhaa.
Also known as Pragg, the youngster from Chennai had a remarkable showing in Baku, as he knocked out both Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana (seeded second and third respectively) before reaching the final against Carlsen. For his efforts, the prodigy gained 20.2 rating points in classical chess, thus climbing to the 20th spot in the live ratings list.
Pragg also climbed to the 3rd spot among the juniors (under-20 players), as he now stands only behind Alireza Firouzja and Dommaraju Gukesh. The top-3 are joined by yet three more prodigies who have already crossed the 2700 rating barrier. Or as Carlsen put it in an interview conducted by the chess24 commentary team: I think this generation of players born 1990-94 really have dominated for a long time, and finally now with these youngsters born 2003 and after, we have a generation that’s worthy of succeeding us when the time comes — the time could be fairly soon!
It will certainly be exciting for chess fans to see this story unfolding as time goes by. Will it be Firouzja who goes on to dominate? Or will it be one of the three Indians — Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun Erigaisi? Perhaps Nodirbek Abdusattorov, or the steady climber Vincent Keymer...
For now, however, the likes of Carlsen, Caruana, Nakamura and world champion Ding Liren are still going strong! The 32-year-old has won it all, as the World Cup was the one big trophy missing in his cabinet. Besides beating formidable opponents in five World Championship matches, Carlsen won the Rapid and Blitz Championships multiple times and has accumulated no fewer than eight triumphs at the traditional Tata Steel Masters in Wjik aan Zee.
Of course, what most fans were wondering after this victory was whether Carlsen is planning to fight to regain the World Championship title by playing the Candidates. In line with previous comments on the subject, the Norwegian asserted: The one non-negotiable point for me, if I ever were to play the World Championship again, is that there would have to be more games and shorter time controls. [...] With the classical time control, I think there is just no way.
If that is the case, Nijat Abasov will get an invitation to the 2024 Candidates Tournament, which already has Ian Nepomniachtchi, Praggnanandhaa and Caruana in the list of participants. The remaining contenders will be decided by rating, according to the FIDE Circuit ranking and in the FIDE Grand Swiss.

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