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FIDE World Rapid Championships 2019
December 26, 2019
I initially thought of passing up covering this tournament because of the sponsorship, the number of players and the time of the year. But, it is very attractive. Peter Leko and Almira Skripchenko are in the commentator’s chairs, Evgenyi Miroshnichenko is at the wall computer board, Carlsen, Svidler, Nakamura and Giri are playing. So are Eric Hansen, Artiom Samsonkin, Timur Gareyev and Alireza Firouzja (playing under the FIDE flag).
Venue
The FIDE Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 will be held in the VIP zone of the Grand Sports Arena at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. The Stadium and the surrounding areas were extensively renovated and upgraded with the occasion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, turning it into one of the biggest and more modern sports facilities in Europe, with a capacity of 81.000 spectators.
This is the largest sports and entertainment complex in Russia, stretching over 150 hectares. It is located in one of the most picturesque areas of Moscow, at a bend in Moskva River, in front of the Sparrow Hills ("Vorobyovy Gory") and the Neskuchny Garden.
Luzhniki Stadium lies adjacent to Moscow's Third Ring road, and it can be reached with the metro line 1 (red line), being Sportivnaya the nearest station, or alternatively Vorobyovy Gory. Both are within walking distance of the stadium. This metro line connects directly with Moscow's city center, and the ride from either Okhotny Ryad or Biblioteka should take no more than 10 minutes.
The playing venue is located in the Sector С, with the entrance from the central alley (walkway). The playing hall is a spacious and well-lit area overlooking the playing field of the main football arena.
Schedule
December 26 Rapid Day 1 Rounds 1-5
December 27 Rapid Day 2 Rounds 6-10
December 28 Rapid Day 3 Rounds 11-15
December 29 Blitz Day 1 Rounds 1-12
December 30 Blitz Day 2 Rounds 13-21
https://wrbc2019.com/info/schedule
The opening time is 15:00 Moscow time which is 7:00 AM Toronto/Montreal time
Prizes
World Rapid
1st place $60,000 US
2nd place $50,000
3rd place $40,000
etc
World Blitz
Same prize structure as above
Time Control
Rapid 15 minutes + 10 seconds
Blitz 3 minutes + 2 seconds
From chess24:
The field this year is formidable, with 158 grandmasters in the open rapid championship, including 8 of the Top 10 players. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave missed the 2018 event as he’d already booked holidays before the dates were confirmed, but is back as the no. 1 on the live rating list. The players missing from the Top 10 are, as a year ago, Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana, while other absentees include 2017 Rapid World Champion Vishy Anand as well as Wesley So, Teimour Radjabov and Wei Yi.
In the women’s section the absence of Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina stands out, but of course they have some other business to attend to – the Women’s World Championship match starts in Shanghai on 5th January.
Kramnik is back
When Vladimir Kramnik announced his retirement from chess on January 29th this year he mentioned, “I might still like to play a rapid or blitz chess tournament at times.” He has indeed made some appearances in speed chess events since, but his appearance as 16th seed in the World Blitz Championship will be his most significant yet. That means we may not have seen the last Carlsen-Kramnik duel, but we’ll have to wait until December 29-30th, since Vladimir is skipping the rapid tournament from December 26-28th.
The Candidates
In the near future Firouzja could give Maxime Vachier-Lagrave serious competition for the French no. 1 spot, with Maxime competing in Moscow shortly after his manager’s appeal for a chance at the wild card spot in the Candidates Tournament fell on deaf ears. When Magnus Carlsen was asked about that he had little comfort for Maxime:
I’m very glad that Ian Nepomniachtchi has qualified. I’m happy for him to qualify for his first Candidates and I also think that he is one of those who could make an upset and potentially win. Apart from that it’s clear that Ding and Caruana are by far the clear favourites. There are some serious underdogs that would do very well to make 50% there. If they are involved in the fight for 1st place I would be shocked.
As for Maxime, a lot of people are sad that he didn’t make it but I think in the end the facts are you have plenty of chances to qualify and ultimately not qualifying is a testament to coming up short in the critical moments, and I think he more than anybody else realises that.
All the above taken from:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/wor...arts-in-moscow
December 26, 2019
I initially thought of passing up covering this tournament because of the sponsorship, the number of players and the time of the year. But, it is very attractive. Peter Leko and Almira Skripchenko are in the commentator’s chairs, Evgenyi Miroshnichenko is at the wall computer board, Carlsen, Svidler, Nakamura and Giri are playing. So are Eric Hansen, Artiom Samsonkin, Timur Gareyev and Alireza Firouzja (playing under the FIDE flag).
Venue
The FIDE Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 will be held in the VIP zone of the Grand Sports Arena at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. The Stadium and the surrounding areas were extensively renovated and upgraded with the occasion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, turning it into one of the biggest and more modern sports facilities in Europe, with a capacity of 81.000 spectators.
This is the largest sports and entertainment complex in Russia, stretching over 150 hectares. It is located in one of the most picturesque areas of Moscow, at a bend in Moskva River, in front of the Sparrow Hills ("Vorobyovy Gory") and the Neskuchny Garden.
Luzhniki Stadium lies adjacent to Moscow's Third Ring road, and it can be reached with the metro line 1 (red line), being Sportivnaya the nearest station, or alternatively Vorobyovy Gory. Both are within walking distance of the stadium. This metro line connects directly with Moscow's city center, and the ride from either Okhotny Ryad or Biblioteka should take no more than 10 minutes.
The playing venue is located in the Sector С, with the entrance from the central alley (walkway). The playing hall is a spacious and well-lit area overlooking the playing field of the main football arena.
Schedule
December 26 Rapid Day 1 Rounds 1-5
December 27 Rapid Day 2 Rounds 6-10
December 28 Rapid Day 3 Rounds 11-15
December 29 Blitz Day 1 Rounds 1-12
December 30 Blitz Day 2 Rounds 13-21
https://wrbc2019.com/info/schedule
The opening time is 15:00 Moscow time which is 7:00 AM Toronto/Montreal time
Prizes
World Rapid
1st place $60,000 US
2nd place $50,000
3rd place $40,000
etc
World Blitz
Same prize structure as above
Time Control
Rapid 15 minutes + 10 seconds
Blitz 3 minutes + 2 seconds
From chess24:
The field this year is formidable, with 158 grandmasters in the open rapid championship, including 8 of the Top 10 players. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave missed the 2018 event as he’d already booked holidays before the dates were confirmed, but is back as the no. 1 on the live rating list. The players missing from the Top 10 are, as a year ago, Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana, while other absentees include 2017 Rapid World Champion Vishy Anand as well as Wesley So, Teimour Radjabov and Wei Yi.
In the women’s section the absence of Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina stands out, but of course they have some other business to attend to – the Women’s World Championship match starts in Shanghai on 5th January.
Kramnik is back
When Vladimir Kramnik announced his retirement from chess on January 29th this year he mentioned, “I might still like to play a rapid or blitz chess tournament at times.” He has indeed made some appearances in speed chess events since, but his appearance as 16th seed in the World Blitz Championship will be his most significant yet. That means we may not have seen the last Carlsen-Kramnik duel, but we’ll have to wait until December 29-30th, since Vladimir is skipping the rapid tournament from December 26-28th.
The Candidates
In the near future Firouzja could give Maxime Vachier-Lagrave serious competition for the French no. 1 spot, with Maxime competing in Moscow shortly after his manager’s appeal for a chance at the wild card spot in the Candidates Tournament fell on deaf ears. When Magnus Carlsen was asked about that he had little comfort for Maxime:
I’m very glad that Ian Nepomniachtchi has qualified. I’m happy for him to qualify for his first Candidates and I also think that he is one of those who could make an upset and potentially win. Apart from that it’s clear that Ding and Caruana are by far the clear favourites. There are some serious underdogs that would do very well to make 50% there. If they are involved in the fight for 1st place I would be shocked.
As for Maxime, a lot of people are sad that he didn’t make it but I think in the end the facts are you have plenty of chances to qualify and ultimately not qualifying is a testament to coming up short in the critical moments, and I think he more than anybody else realises that.
All the above taken from:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/wor...arts-in-moscow
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