World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2012 Begin in Astana - Magnus Carlsen Top Seed; Gelfand is Playing

The qualifiers to the World Rapid Chess Championship 2012 and World Blitz Chess Championship have begun in Astana Kazakhstan. In fact, the championships of this format of chess tournament are being held for the first time in the history of chess. The championships will be held in Astana from July 1-11. The top ten players of the current FIDE rating list were invited to take part in the event. Kazakhstan had nominated Murtas Kazhgaleyev and Anuar Ismagambetov in rapid chess and Pavel Kotsur and Rinat Dzhumabayev in blitz. Three winners of the blitz and rapid qualifiers would receive an entry into the finals. World Chess Champion India's Viswanathan Anand qualifies according to rating, but is not playing. However, his challenger, Israel's Boris Gelfand is playing.

Qualifiers by rating for finals (6-10 July)

01. Magnus Carlsen 2835
02. Teimour Radjabov 2784
03. Sergey Karjakin 2779
04. Alexander Morozevich 2769
05. Vassily Ivanchuk 2764
06. Alexander Grischuk 2761
07. Veselin Topalov 2752
08. Peter Svidler 2741
09. Boris Gelfand 2727
10. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2726

Nominee of FIDE President
Ehsan Ghaem Maghami 2578

Two players for each event are nominated by the host organisers - Kazakhstan Chess Federation

RAPID
Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 2595
Ismagambetov, Anuar 2478

BLITZ
Jumabayev, Rinat 2556
Kotsur, Pavel 2548 

Five rounds were played on the first day for the qualifying in the rapid section with GM Igor Kurnosov taking lead with 4 points. He is closely followed by GM Dmitry Andreikin, GM Alexander Moiseenko, GM Vladislav Tkachiev, GM Alexey Dreev, and GM Nikolai Chadaev who have 3.5/5. GM Kuderinov, GM Gagunashvili, GM Le Quang Liem, and GM Anton Filipov are with 3.0/5.

Here are the results of the first day of the World Rapid Blitz qualifier.

Round 1
1 Andreikin, Dmitry - Papin, Vasily 0,5-0,5
2 Neverov, Valeriy - Moiseenko, Alexander 0,5-0,5
3 Le, Quang Liem - Kuderinov, Kirill 1_0
4 Iuldaсhev, Saidali - Dreev, Alexey 0-1
5 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Khusnutdinov, Rustam 1_0
6 Rychagov, Andrey - Jumabayev, Rinat 1_0
7 Kotsur, Pavel - Mankeyev, Rauan 0,5-0,5
8 Akkozov, Berik - Kurnosov, Igor 0-1
9 Aleksandrov, Aleksei - Igambergenov, Alibek 1_0
10 Saduakassova, Dinara - Chadaev, Nikolai 0,5-0,5
11 Gagunashvili, Merab - Minko, Vladimir 1_0
12 Akhmetov, Ayan - Filippov, Anton 0-1

Round 2
1 Aleksandrov, Aleksei - Le, Quang Liem 1_0
2 Dreev, Alexey - Gagunashvili, Merab 0,5-0,5
3 Filippov, Anton - Tkachiev, Vladislav 0-1
4 Kurnosov, Igor - Rychagov, Andrey 1_0
5 Mankeyev, Rauan - Andreikin, Dmitry 0-1
6 Moiseenko, Alexander - Saduakassova, Dinara 1_0
7 Papin, Vasily - Kotsur, Pavel 0-1
8 Chadaev, Nikolai - Neverov, Valeriy 1_0
9 Jumabayev, Rinat - Akkozov, Berik 1_0
10 Kuderinov, Kirill - Igambergenov, Alibek 1_0
11 Minko, Vladimir - Iuldaсhev, Saidali 0-1
12 Khusnutdinov, Rustam - Akhmetov, Ayan 1_0

Round 3
1 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Kurnosov, Igor 0,5-0,5
2 Andreikin, Dmitry - Aleksandrov, Aleksei 1_0
3 Kotsur, Pavel - Dreev, Alexey 0-1
4 Gagunashvili, Merab - Moiseenko, Alexander 0,5-0,5
5 Le, Quang Liem - Chadaev, Nikolai 0-1
6 Rychagov, Andrey - Kuderinov, Kirill 0,5-0,5
7 Khusnutdinov, Rustam - Filippov, Anton 0,5-0,5
8 Iuldaсhev, Saidali - Jumabayev, Rinat 1_0
9 Saduakassova, Dinara - Papin, Vasily 0-1
10 Neverov, Valeriy - Mankeyev, Rauan 1_0
11 Akkozov, Berik - Minko, Vladimir 1_0
12 Igambergenov, Alibek - Akhmetov, Ayan 1_0

Round 4
1 Dreev, Alexey - Tkachiev, Vladislav 0,5-0,5
2 Chadaev, Nikolai - Andreikin, Dmitry 0,5-0,5
3 Kurnosov, Igor - Aleksandrov, Aleksei 0,5-0,5
4 Moiseenko, Alexander - Iuldaсhev, Saidali 0,5-0,5
5 Kotsur, Pavel - Gagunashvili, Merab 0-1
6 Kuderinov, Kirill - Neverov, Valeriy 1_0
7 Filippov, Anton - Rychagov, Andrey 1_0
8 Papin, Vasily - Khusnutdinov, Rustam 0,5-0,5
9 Jumabayev, Rinat - Le, Quang Liem 0-1
10 Igambergenov, Alibek - Akkozov, Berik 0,5-0,5
11 Mankeyev, Rauan - Saduakassova, Dinara 0-1
12 Akhmetov, Ayan - Minko, Vladimir 1_0

Round 5
1 Tkachiev, Vladislav Chadaev, Nikolai 0,5-0,5
2 Andreikin, Dmitry Dreev, Alexey 0,5-0,5
3 Gagunashvili, Merab Kurnosov, Igor 0-1
4 Aleksandrov, Aleksei Moiseenko, Alexander 0-1
5 Iulda?hev, Saidali Filippov, Anton 0,5-0,5
6 Khusnutdinov, Rustam Kuderinov, Kirill 0,5-0,5
7 Le, Quang Liem Papin, Vasily 1_0
8 Rychagov, Andrey Saduakassova, Dinara 1_0
9 Akkozov, Berik Kotsur, Pavel 0-1
10 Neverov, Valeriy Igambergenov, Alibek 1_0
11 Akhmetov, Ayan Jumabayev, Rinat 0-1
12 Minko, Vladimir Mankeyev, Rauan 0-1

You can watch the live broadcast of the event daily at the official website of the World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships 2012.

Posted in: astana chess,boris gelfand,magnus carlsen,world blitz chess championship,world rapid chess championship