Groundhog Day for Carlsen and break forward for Bondaruk during the World Rapid Chess Championship in Samarkand

The final of the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2023 for men and women came to an end in Samarkand. After three days of intense games, Magnus Carlsen, a chess genius from Norway, has become the champion among males, while Anastasia Bondaruk from Russia is now a female champion.

It’s been the fifth title for the Norwegian in his career. He is also a five-time champion in classic chess and a six-time champion in blitz chess.

One of the journalists at the event was curious if Carlsen felt like a character in the Groundhog Day movie given that he won the same title in Almaty last year.

«I like this comparison… I hope to experience Groundhog Day next year once again,» Carlsen responded with a big smile on his face.

Magnus won seven match games and reached draws in six games, scoring 10 points, the highest result in the tournament’s score table. Vladimir Fedoseev, a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia, was second. According to Carlsen, Fedoseev was his fiercest opponent during the tournament.

«A game against Fedoseev was the key moment for me. He was the only player who could have beat me,» the champion said.

After this crucial match game, when the Norwegian won playing with black figures, Carlsen will receive $60,000 for first place, while Fedoseev will obtain $50,000 for second.

The third place and $40,000 in prize money will go to Yu Yangyi, a chess grandmaster from China, who scored 9 points. However, apart from him, an additional 11 chess players scored the same number of points.

Denis Makhnev, who scored eight points and was ranked 33rd among 202 chess players in the score table, has shown the best result among Kazakhstani players.

What were the results for women? Unlike male game matches, there were no obvious favorites among women. The two finalists Anastasia Bondaruk from Russia and Hampy Koneru, the 2019 rapid chess champion of 2019 from India, battled for the title in a tiebreaker.

Although Koneru won the first match game, she lost the second one. By the rules, the third match game was organized with additional time. After a draw in this game, the two chess players played a tiebreaker which Bondaruk won with a score of 2.5:1.5.

«This match game was really tough for me. Humpy Koneru played better than me, but I was faster, which is why I won the game,» Anastasia said, prizing speed as a core element of her victory.

Along with the title, she will receive $40,000 in prize money. Koneru will gain $30,000 for second place.

Lei Tingjie, a Chinese chess grandmaster, has taken third place among women and will receive $20,000 in prize money. All three female chess players scored 8.5 points out of 11 points.

Zarina Nurgaliyeva showed the best result among Kazakhstani female chess players with the 18th position (out of 117) in the tournament’s score table, followed by Bibisara Assaubayeva. Both women scored seven points.

The world rapid chess championship started on December 25 in Samarkand. The tournament’s prize fund is one million dollars with $700,000 for men ($350,000 for each category) and $300,000 for women ($150,000 for each category). Blitz chess match games are scheduled for December 29-30.

Who are the partners of the tournament? The international investment company Freedom Holding Corp., Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus provider and Chessable, a chess learning platform were the official partners of the event.

The prior world rapid and blitz chess championship was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. At the time, Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan won the 2022 FIDE World Blitz Championship.