2023-12-31 11:04:40
From December 26 to 30, Samarkand (Uzbekistan) hosted the World Chess Championship in the “rapid” and “blitz” disciplines (games with limited time to think about moves). The total prize pool of the tournament was 1 million dollars.
The competition was held in the traditional Swiss system, where participants are faced with opponents who are close to them in the current standings.
The rapid was timed at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds for each move, starting with the first. In blitz, 3 minutes were given per game with an addition of 2 seconds for each turn.
The Norwegian, the main favorite of the tournament, won the men’s event in both disciplines Magnus Carlsen. Now he is a 7-time world champion in blitz chess and a 5-time rapid champion. Among women, the Russians became the strongest: in the rapid – Anastasia Badnarukin flash — Valentina Gunina.
Representatives of Belarus were also present at the tournament. True, due to the complicity of the Lukashenka regime in the war on the side of Russia against Ukraine, Belarusian chess players had to perform under the flag of the International Chess Federation in a neutral status, writes by.tribuna.com.
The 17-year-old became the best among Belarusians in both disciplines Denis Lazavik. He finished 31st in the rapid. In the blitz, Lazavik entered the top 10, taking 8th place.
Signatory of the letter for fair elections in Belarus Vladislav Kovalev in rapid took only 88th place, in blitz he has 78th result.
Telling about the Belarusians who took part in the world championship in Samarkand, for some reason “Pressball” decided not to mention Kovalev, notes “Tribune”. The once main Belarusian newspaper about sports has completely come under the control of the Belarusian Football Federation and has stopped writing sharp critical articles for which it was famous, as well as for its impartiality.
The newspaper has previously ignored athletes who spoke out against violence and fraud.
However, ordinary Belarusians did not forget about Kovalev, “Tribune” notes. Two weeks before the tournament, with the support of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund, a collection of $1,600 was announced to help Kovalev prepare for the championship. This money was collected for sodni.
Perhaps the most memorable match in Samarkand was the match between the Russian grandmasters — Danila Dubov against Jan Nepomniaschay. In blitz, they played a game that ended in a draw after the 12th move. Such a result would have guaranteed the leadership of both chess players at the end of the first day of play, but the main arbiter of the tournament intervened: he considered the match to be consensual and annulled the result of the game, and awarded a penalty to the Russians. They received 0 points instead of the proper 0.5. At the same time, the consensual nature of the party was obvious: the Russians only played horses.
Names of chess pieces in Belarusian
By the way, Nepomnyashchi has previously openly condemned Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.
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