Dubov Daniil (RUS, 2723 rapid rtg) and Ju Wenjun (CHN, 2584 rapid rtg) became the World Rapid Chess Champions 2018 after Winning the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2018 in open and women section, respectively.
The Open section of FIDE World Rapid Championship 2018 participated more than 200 players coming from 40 federations. Among the top seeders were 5 players rated over 2800, together with reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2903 rapid rtg), and many others world known top chess Grandmaster took part in the competition.
After 15 played rounds, Dubov Daniil emerged as the sole Winner with score of 11 points without loosing a game. Four players tied in the second position: Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE, 2786 rapid rtg), Nakamura Hikaru (USA, 2844 rapid rtg), Artemiev Vladislav (RUS, 2812 rapid rtg) and Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2903 rapid rtg). According to the tiebreaks Mamedyarov took silver, Nakamura got bronze medal, European Blitz Chess Champion 2018 Artemiev Vladislav ended on the 4th place and Magnus Carlsen finished 5th.
12 rounds were played in Women’s section where 124 players from 25 countries participated. After great fights reigning World Women’s Chess Champion, Ju Wenjun (CHN, 2584 rapid rtg) became the sole Winner of the event with score of 10 points and a full point ahead of the runner-ups: Khademalsharieh Sarasadat (IRI, 2402 rapid rtg) and Goryachkina Aleksandra (RUS, 2477 rapid rtg), who tied for the rest two medals. Khademalsharieh Sarasadat eventually ended on the 2nd place, thanks to the better tiebreaks, while Goryachkina Aleksandra finished with bronze medal.
Final rankings- Women’s section
FIDE World Rapid&Blitz Chess Championships 2018 takes place from 25th December-30th December in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Rapid Championship was played on 27th and 28th December. The event continues today with World Blitz Chess Championship with start of the first round at 15:00 (local time). Live broadcast of the top boards can be followed through the official website of the Championship.
Official Website of the Championship
Photographs by: Lennart Ootes
