World Blitz 2022 Day 1: Nakamura takes a full point lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/12/2022

Raunak Sadhwani and Harika Dronavalli are the Indian players who had a great first day at World Blitz 2022. While Raunak scored an impressive 8.5/12, Harika made 6.5/9. She is a full point behind the leaders GM Valentina Gunina and IM Polina Shuvalova. IM Tania Sachdev and IM Padmini Rout are at 6/9 each. In the Open section, Hikaru Nakamura had a fantastic day. He scored 10/12 and currentlly he is a full point ahead of Anish Giri, Magnus Carlsen, Daniil Dubov, Haik Martirosyan and Richard Rapport. All of them are at 9/12 each. Who do you think will win World Blitz 2022 in Open and Women's section? Final day of action starts today at 1:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

Harika is now World #8 in Blitz, Arjun Erigaisi World #12

Harika Dronavalli made a great stride on the first day of World Blitz 2022 Women. She was on 6.5/8. A final round loss against the tournament leader, IM Polina Shuvalova, pushed her a back momentarily. Nevertheless, there are still eight rounds left and she can easily catch up. IM Tania Sachdev scored a huge victory over former Women's World Champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk. Harika is now World no.8 among in Women in Blitz live ratings. After a herculean display at the World Rapid 2022, Arjun Erigaisi has made a steady start 7.5/12. He is now World no.12 in the Blitz live ratings.

Will anybody be able to catch Nakamura? | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

Magnus Carlsen would certainly like to claim another World title before the year ends | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Round 1: Kovalev - Carlsen: 0-1

Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2830) played a hyperbullet match against GM Vladislav Kovalev (2556). The new World Rapid champion arrived late as he got stuck in traffic and had to rush towards his board. Despite the clock ticking down towards zero, he did not forget to shake his opponent's hands and sit down before his making first move 1...e6.

Magnus Carlsen arrives 2.30 mins late for a 3 minute game | World Blitz 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Vladislav Kovalev might have lost the game against Magnus Carlsen but he has earned a huge amount of respect from the chess universe | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Duda - Aravindh, Round 2

Position after 61.b5

GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL, 2773) had a study-like finish in the opposite color bishop endgame against GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2586). 61.b5 forced Black to take with his pawn cxb5 62.Bb4 Kf7 63.Kd7 Kf6 64.Ke8 and now Black had to move the king down the board Kf5-g4 to get a draw. 64...Ke6 had the opposite effect as Black's g7 and g6 will inevitably fall.

Aravindh Chithambaram needs to seize his opportunities more | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Round 3: Pranav - Niemann: 1-0

In the third round, GM Pranav Venkatesh (2440) defeated GM Hans Niemannn (USA, 2632) to move to 3/3.

GM Pranav Venkatesh vs GM Hans Niemannn - Round 3 | Video: ChessBase India

GM Pranav Venkatesh 6/12 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Round 4: Carlsen - Tomashevsky: 1-0

Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2830) defeated Evgeny Tomashevsky (2698) for the second time in four days. This time the color was reversed and the world no.1 opted for Anti-Berlin where he scored a fine victory. Black did not even get an opportunity to develop his queenside rook and bishop.

Nakamura - Nihal: 1-0

When it comes to over-the-board Blitz games, GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2909) showed GM Nihal Sarin (2702) that the youngster still has a lot of catching up to do.

"It's Blitz!" says Hikaru Nakamura after his game against Nihal Sarin | World Blitz 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

It is universally known that GM Hikaru Nakamura has tons of respect for GM Nihal Sarin | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Round 5: Duda - Carlsen: 0-1

Just when it seemed like Duda will be able to hold a draw against Carlsen in a rook and same color bishop endgame, the world champion tricked the current World Cup winnner.

Position after 37...Bf4

Black made a checkmate threat on the back-rank. 38.g4 is the only way to get out of this predicament. It was difficult to spot as Duda was down to his last few seconds. He played 38.Kg1 Bg3 and now White is losing the h4-pawn. 39.Rc1 gxh4 and soon White lost the g-pawn and eventually the game.

Shant - Haik: 0-1

GM Haik Martirosyan's (ARM, 2745) best win so far, has to be against his fellow countryman, GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2602). Even in a lost position, Haik did not give up hope and kept looking for opportunities to find a win and he just managed to achieve that.

Nepomniachtchi - S L Narayanan

Position after 22.Rxe5

The World Championship Challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi (2782) was in a tilt. He suffered his third consecutive loss of the day. 22.Rxe5 was a blunder and his opponent, GM S L Narayanan (2562) had no trouble punishing his mistake 22...Nxe5 23.Nxe5 Qd5 and Black won the game eventually.

Harikrishna - Svane: 1-0

Endgame expert, GM Pentala Harikrishna (2617) won a very nice Queen vs Rook, Bishop and Knight endgame against GM Fredrik Svane (GER, 2466).

Round 6: Nakamura - Caruana: 1-0

GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2909) scored a fantastic victory over GM Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2847).

Giri - Carlsen, Round 7

Position after 23...Rhb8

White needed to support his b5-bishop with 24.c4. Instead, retreating it to e2 blindsided it after 24...Rxb1 25.Rxb1 c4. Rest was a strategic masterclass by the Norwegian.

Why did Magnus Carlsen point towards Anish Giri's clock? | World Blitz 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Anish Giri: "I always want to beat Magnus but I don't get that many chances; today I had a good one" | Video: FIDE

Giri missed a good opportunity against Carlsen | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Yangyi - Nakamura

Position after 51...Rf8

The Yangyi-Nakamura had a similar finish to Giri-Carlsen. GM Yangyi Yu (CHN, 2807) made a positional mistake 52.Qd3 and let go control of the c5-g1 diagonal. 52...Qc5 53.Qd5 Qe3 54.Qc6 and White ran out of time.

What did Magnus Carlsen tell Hikaru Nakamura after their Round 8 game | Video: ChessBase India

Lazavik - Giri, Round 8

Position aftter 42...Bc5

The must-see game of Round 8 is not Carlsen-Nakamura, it is between GM Denis Lazavik (2484) and GM Anish Giri (NED, 2792). Yes, computer says Black has a substantial advantage and probably should win this. However, one must try to fathom Giri's psychological condition after losing his sole opportunity against Carlsen at this event and it was the eighth round of the day, so he was emotionally drained too. Still he managed to make a comeback by playing precisely and scoring a victory. Giri is undobutedly gritty.

Position after 79...Na8!

The Knight endgame is certainly one for the books!

Round 11: Haik - Nakamura: 0-1

Nakamura defeated Haik Martirosyan in Round 11 to gain a half point lead 9/11, over Carlsen and Fedoseev 8.5/11.

Round 12: Nakamura - Fedoseev: 1-0

Nakamura scored a victory against Fedoseev to gain a full point lead over Carlsen 10/12.

Duda - Giri

Position after 33...Qb1

Exhaustion of playing eleven high class games set in for both Anish Giri and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Giri blundered a mate in four when he played 33...Qb1. Find out the finish for White which both missed in the game.

Giri scored an important win over Duda to move to 9/12 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

"Magnus Carlsen's pajama pants were nice" - Anish Giri | Video: ChessBase India

Vahap - Raunak: 0-1

GM Raunak Sadhwani (2657) ended the day with a win over GM Vahap Sanal (TUR, 2576), taking his score to an impressive 8.5/12.

GM Raunak Sadhwani 8.5/12 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Women: Polina and Gunina leads, Harika in pursuit

GM Harika Dronavalli (2407) played steady. She suffered her only loss against one of the tournament leaders, IM Polina Shuvalova (2361).

IM Polina Shuvalova is one of the two leaders 7.5/9 | Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

GM Valentina Gunina is the other leader 7.5/9 | Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes

GM Harika Dronavalli 6.5/9

IM Padmini Rout (2298) and IM Tania Sachdev (2306) are at 6/9 each. Tania picked up one of the biggest wins of her career against the former Women's World Champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2469).

IM Tania Sachdev beat former Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in Round 5 | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Blitz Open Round 1-12 games

Replay Blitz Women Round 1-9 games

Round 12 results Blitz Open

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
12	10	80	GM	Sanal Vahap	TUR	2576	7½	0 - 1	7½	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2657	30
12	11	122	GM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	USA	2463	7½	½ - ½	7½	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2617	46
12	12	19	GM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2702	7	1 - 0	7½	GM	Quparadze Giga	GEO	2587	66
12	14	70	GM	Anton Guijarro David	ESP	2585	7	1 - 0	7	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2669	24
12	20	67	IM	Ghasi Ameet K	ENG	2587	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2750	12
12	33	101	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2530	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	ARM	2632	40
12	38	94	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	IRI	2551	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2586	68
12	44	120	GM	Svane Frederik	GER	2466	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2613	50
12	45	53	GM	Idani Pouya	IRI	2610	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Pranav V	IND	2440	125
12	51	104	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2527	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	FID	2662	28
12	52	33	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2644	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Narayanan S.L.	IND	2562	87
12	72	142	IM	Haldorsen Benjamin	NOR	2389	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2506	112
12	73	124	GM	Narayanan Srinath	IND	2459	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Harutyunyan Tigran K.	ARM	2426	133
12	75	128	GM	Sankalp Gupta	IND	2438	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Gurel Ediz	TUR	2345	149

Details

Round 13 pairings Blitz Open

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
13	5	30	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2657	8½		8½	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	FID	2782	8
13	10	59	GM	Keymer Vincent	GER	2600	8		8	GM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2702	19
13	11	46	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2617	8		8	GM	Anton Guijarro David	ESP	2585	70
13	14	12	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2750	7½		7½	GM	Sanal Vahap	TUR	2576	80
13	21	68	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2586	7		7	GM	Sarana Alexey	FID	2708	18
13	23	24	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2669	7		7	GM	Sargsyan Shant	ARM	2602	58
13	37	50	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2613	6½		6½	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2570	81
13	41	34	GM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2641	6		6	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2530	101
13	49	125	GM	Pranav V	IND	2440	6		6	GM	Kovalev Vladislav	FID	2556	91
13	62	60	GM	Yudin Sergei	FID	2599	5		5	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2527	104
13	65	112	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2506	5		5	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	ARM	2585	71
13	67	84	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	TUR	2564	5		5	GM	Sankalp Gupta	IND	2438	128
13	68	87	GM	Narayanan S.L.	IND	2562	5		5	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	FID	2391	140
13	75	139	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	AZE	2399	4½		4½	GM	Narayanan Srinath	IND	2459	124
13	77	169	FM	Sapenov Daniyal	KAZ	2060	4½		4½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	IND	2426	132

Details

Round 9 results Blitz Women

9	2	10	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2407	6½	0 - 1	6½	IM	Shuvalova Polina	FID	2361	22
9	7	17	IM	Mammadzada Gunay	AZE	2383	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2309	31
9	9	7	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2427	5	0 - 1	5	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2298	36
9	20	56	WFM	Lhotska Anna	CZE	2196	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2474	4
9	36	29	WIM	Savitha Shri B	IND	2311	3	1 - 0	3	WIM	Nasybullina Alfia	KAZ	1992	83

Details

Round 10 pairings Blitz Women

10	4	14	GM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2396	6½	6½	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2407	10
10	8	36	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2298	6	6	IM	Mammadzada Gunay	AZE	2383	17
10	10	31	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2309	6	5½	GM	Batsiashvili Nino	GEO	2365	19
10	16	4	GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2474	5	5	IM	Gvetadze Sofio	GEO	2245	49
10	28	51	WGM	Eric Jovana	SRB	2233	4½	4	WIM	Savitha Shri B	IND	2311	29

Details

Current standings of Indian players

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	Rk.	Group
12	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2750	IND	½	½	½	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	7,5	35	Open
19	GM	Nihal Sarin	2702	IND	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	8	19	Open
24	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2669	IND	1	1	½	0	½	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	7	56	Open
30	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2657	IND	1	0	1	1	½	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	8,5	9	Open
46	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2617	IND	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	8	21	Open
50	GM	Adhiban B.	2613	IND	1	0	0	0	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	1	6,5	75	Open
68	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2586	IND	1	0	0	½	½	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	7	58	Open
87	GM	Narayanan S.L.	2562	IND	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	½	½	0	0	5	123	Open
101	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2530	IND	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	76	Open
104	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2527	IND	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	½	0	1	½	0	5	135	Open
112	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2506	IND	0	1	½	0	0	1	0	1	0	½	0	1	5	131	Open
124	GM	Narayanan Srinath	2459	IND	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	½	1	½	0	½	4,5	153	Open
125	GM	Pranav V	2440	IND	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	½	0	½	6	79	Open
128	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2438	IND	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	5	130	Open
132	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2426	IND	½	0	½	½	0	1	0	½	0	1	0	½	4,5	146	Open
4	GM	Koneru Humpy	2474	IND	0	0	1	1	0	1	½	½	1				5	44	Women
10	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2407	IND	1	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	0				6,5	6	Women
29	WIM	Savitha Shri B	2311	IND	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1				4	69	Women
31	IM	Tania Sachdev	2309	IND	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	½	½				6	10	Women
36	IM	Padmini Rout	2298	IND	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1				6	19	Women

Details

Replay the Live Stream

FIDE World Blitz Round 1-12 Open and 1-9 Women - Live Commentary by GM Alexander Shabalov and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili | Video: FIDE

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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