Magnus Carlsen wins 2015 FIDE World Rapid Championship

Magnus Carlsen convincingly won the 2015 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship by concluding the event with 11,5/15 points, a full point ahead of the nearest followers.

Carlsen retained the title that he won in in 2014 in Dubai, UAE.

In the final third day of competition Carlsen started with two wins, against Zhigalko and Ivanchuk respectively, to secure a firm lead ahead of the rest of the field. With three draws in the final rounds he maintained the gap and brought the trophy home.

On the shared second place are Ian Nepomniachtchi, Teimour Radjabov and Leinier Dominguez with 10,5 points each. After breaking the tie Nepomniachtchi is awarded with the silver medal, while Radjabov claimed the bronze.

In the final press conference Magnus Carlsen said: "It is important not to let the results affect you too much and you shouldn't be afraid of draws when you play in a tournament of 15 rounds.", and added, "There were many games which could have gone either way for me, but I always had a little more time and a little bit of control of position."

Carlsen also thanked the organizers and the spectators for filling up the playing venue to the capacity.

Ian Nepomniachtchi said: "Sharing second place in such a tournament is always a success." On the question who can challenge Carlsen in the Blitz Championship, Nepomnichtchi joked - "Guess who."

The 2015 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship was held from 10-12th October at the Bolle Meierei in Berlin, Germany, with 158 world's top players competing for the prestigious title and 200,000 USD prize fund.

Full set of results / Photo gallery / Replay games / Confessions

Coming up next is the 2015 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship on 13-14th October from 14:00 local time.

The World Chess Rapid and Blitz Championship that takes place in Berlin from October 9 to October 14, 2015, is available to watch online at WorldChess.com, the official broadcaster site.

Day 2

The 2015 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship continued today at the Bolle Meierei in Berlin, Germany, with rounds 6-10 in schedule.

The defending champion Magnus Carlsen and GM Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus maintained the pace from the first day, scoring 4,0/5 points each, to emerge co-leaders on 8,0 points.

Carlsen started the day by saving a completely lost position against Daniil Dubov. This lifted his spirits and he went on to defeat Grandmasters Wojtaszek, Guseinov and Radjabov, conceding only one draw to Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Zhigalko in his turn scored victories against Gelfand, Bocharov and Nepomniachtchi, while splitting the points with Leko and Kryvoruchko. In the next 11th round the two leaders are paired to play each other.

On the shared third place are Igor Kovalenko, Vladimir Kramnik and Vassily Ivanchuk with 7,5 points each.

The overnight leader and 2015 FIDE World Cup winner Sergey Karjakin slipped down in the standings after two losses and is now on 6,5 points.

Full set of results / Photo gallery / Replay games / Confessions

The final and decisive 5 rounds are played on Monday from 14:00 local time.

Round 10 results

Round 9 results

Round 8 results

Round 7 results

Round 6 results

Day 1

The 2015 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship started today at the Bolle Meierei in Berlin, Germany, with 158 world's top players competing for the prestigious title and 200,000 USD prize fund.

At the beginning of the first round the honorary move was made by the former FIDE President GM Fridrik Olafsson, in the presence of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the German Chess Federation Herbert Bastian, and FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg.

After the first day and five rounds of play Sergey Karjakin from Russia, fresh winner of the 2015 FIDE World Cup in Baku, emerged sole leader with 4,5/5 points. He conceded only one draw, to GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko.

At the final press conference of the FIDE World Cup Karjakin said that he was uncertain if he will play in Berlin, due to fatigue. Obviously the numerous quick-play tie-breaks in Baku were good practice for the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships.

Karjakin is followed by as many as 16 players scoring 4,0 points each. Among them is the defending champion Magnus Carlsen who made two draws, against Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and, again, Yuriy Kryvoruchko.

Full set of results / Photo gallery / Replay games / Confessions

The games take place daily from 14:00 local time.

Round 5 results

Round 4 results

Round 3 results

Round 2 results

Round 1 results

Opening ceremony

The players, official and guests were greeted by the President of German Chess Federation and FIDE Vice President Herbert Bastian, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and President of World Chess by Agon Limited Ilya Merenzon.

Ilya Merenzon invited World Champion Magnus Carlsen to share his impressions about the movie "Pawn Sacrifice", which was having the European Premiere tonight at the opening of the Championship. Magnus Carlsen, who had seen the movie in Saint Louis, said that he liked "Pawn Sacrifice" both as a movies fan and as a chess player.

The honor to perform the drawing of lots was reserved for the special guest, the former World Champion Boris Spassky. With the help of Frank Neumann, media officer of German Chess Federation, Boris Spassky drew black pawns for both rapid and blitz events. This means that the top seeded player will be black in round one of both events.

The games will take place at the Bolle Meierei daily from 14:00 local time.

Official website