Le Quang Liem is World Blitz Chess Champion |
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| Monday, 10 June 2013 | ||||
 Le Quang Liem (World Blitz Chess Champion'2013) vs. Shahriyar Mamedyarov (World Rapid Chess Champion'2013) Picture from the official website  This year's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships have been held in the hospitable city of Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia. The events broke the anti-record in terms of absence of key players. In fact, of the top-10 players only Alexander Grischuk showed up. For comparison, here's how last year's tournament table (by far not he strongest line-up in history) looked like. The main widely cited reason for this is schedule conflict. Some of the top GMs preferred to play in Sberbank Rapid, Leon, German Team Cup, or prepare for Tal Memorial (starts on June 12). While it sounds like bad news, there is another side of the coin. It proves that chess is developing rather rapidly, so FIDE is facing incredible competition from organizers of private tournaments. The crowns of Blitz and Rapid Chess Champions and a prize fund of $400,000 do not look that attractive to most of the top players. Indeed, some of them can expect appearance fees at super tournaments of the same level as the 1st prize at the Championships. Also, while being called the "World Champion" seems to have some bragging rights attached to it, the title is not THAT prestigious at the moment. Summarizing, if FIDE wants to attract more strong competitors next year, it will probably either have to allocate more sponsor money, or to somehow ensure that the titles/medals do offer some tangible benefits. Or, even better, implement both ideas.  Teimour Radjabov was one of the elite players who has publicly expressed his opinion about the tournament. You can view his interesting commentaries on Twitter (June 7 and on) Unlike in the Rapid tournament where Nepomniatchi scored 9/10 during the first two days and finished at second place in the end (Mamedyarov - 11.5, Nepomniatchi - 11, Grischuk - 10.5), in blitz Le Quang Liem has been leading rather convincingly. An additional surprise was his compatriot's performance: Nguyen Ngoc Truon Son has affected the final standings a lot and has taken the 5th place.  1. Le Quang Liem, VIE - 20.5/30
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 10 June 2013 ) | ||||
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