Chess: Carlsen targets Rapid and Blitz gold on Wall Street this weekend
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The global No 1, fresh from victory in the Champions Tour, faces elite US opposition and a star-studded field aiming to stop him from winning the titles for the third year in a row. Magnus Carlsen, the global No 1, stars on Wall Street this weekend as the Norwegian, 34, defends his World Rapid and Blitz crowns in New York against a host of ambitious US and international challengers.
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The field of 182 for the World Rapid/Blitz includes 30 Americans and the USA’s world Nos 2 and 3, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, are sure to be prominent, with France’s Alireza Firouzja, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and India’s Arjun Erigaisi leading the new generation. China has the top three seeds in the Women’s World Rapid/Blitz, which has 113 entries. The total prize fund is $1m for the open Rapid and Blitz, with $428,500 for the two women’s events.
In Thursday’s first round of the Rapid, Carlsen was held to a draw by Awonder Liang, 21, one of the best young US grandmasters, but in round two, he overwhelmed his Bosnian opponent. This will be the first time that the popular speed world championships have been staged on American soil, let alone at the epicentre of international finance. Rapid is defined as 15 minutes per player per game, plus an increment of 10 seconds a move from move one, while Blitz is three minutes per player per game, plus a two seconds per move increment.
Carlsen has already won five world rapids and seven world blitzes in his illustrious career, and captured both titles in 2022 and 2023. The list of his lifetime victories is impressively long, and underlines the task ahead for the new classical world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, as the Indian 18-year-old, who is not competing in New York, aims to match the Norwegian’s achievements.
