25 December 2022

World Rapid and Blitz Championships Officially Opened in Almaty

Magnus Carlsen will have Black in the first round.

The World Rapid and Blitz Championships were officially opened in the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, Almaty, on 25 December. The organisers staged a seamless 90-minute ceremony which featured singers, dancers, two choirs and a local pop group.

The Minister of Culture and Sports Dauren Abayev read out a letter from the Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in which he expressed gratitude to FIDE for awarding Kazakhstan with the World Rapid and Blitz Championships.

A similar tone was echoed in the message of the Akim (mayor) of Almaty, Erbolat Dosaev, who also highlighted the gratitude of the local authorities for being able to host such a huge global chess event.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan on behalf of the international chess community

The final part of the ceremony was the drawing of lots. The top-rated players in each category – Kateryna Lagno (Women Blitz), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Women Rapid), Hikaru Nakamura (Open Blitz) and Magnus Carlsen (Open Rapid) – emerged on stage, which was welcomed by huge applause from the audience. In the presence of the Chief Arbiter Amir Erfan Hashemi from Iran and the heads of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, all four players drew a chess piece from a red basket presented on a platter by a woman wearing a traditional Kazakh dress. The drawing of lots for the first rounds of the rapid and blitz events was as follows:

Kateryna Lagno (Blitz) – White

Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rapid) – Black

Hikaru Nakamura (Blitz) – Black

Magnus Carlsen (Rapid) – Black.

Schedule:

26-28 December – Rapid (13 rounds in the Open Section and 11 rounds in the Women's)

29-30 December – Blitz (21 rounds in the Open Section and 17 rounds in the Women's).

The rounds will start at 12 PM (Moscow time); the games on the final day will begin at 11 AM (Moscow time).

The total prize fund is 1,000,000 USD.

Tournaments on Chess-Results

Official website