Carlsen wins his 17th world title.

Uzbekistan 's Magnus Carlsen won his seventh World Blitz Chess Championship title after scoring 16 points in 21 games on the evening of December 30th.

Two days after winning the rapid chess title, Carlsen went on to win the World Blitz Chess Championship. He finished just 0.5 points ahead of runner-up Daniil Dubov, but it was enough to secure his seventh title, following his victories in 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. "I feel relieved and exhausted," he said after the win. "I felt adrenaline coursing through my veins all day. But the other players also found it difficult, so nobody played at their best."

In the final round, Dubov was 0.5 points behind Carlsen, and proactively decided to quickly draw with his compatriot Dmitry Andreikin. Seeing the next table tied, Carlsen also immediately drew with Levon Aronian, as the red result was enough for him to finish first. In many rounds, Dubov didn't dare risk winning, as there was a high chance of losing a large amount of prize money if he lost.

Magnus Carlsen at the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from December 26th to 30th. Photo: FIDE

Had Dubov not been deducted 0.5 points for match-fixing with Ian Nepomniachtchi yesterday, he could have won the championship. He would have been tied with Carlsen in points but had a better tiebreaker record. However, in that scenario, Carlsen might have taken more risks to pull ahead of the 27-year-old.

There was also a point when Carlsen dropped one point behind the leader after losing to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the first game of the final day. However, he won six consecutive games afterward to take sole possession of the top spot. The 33-year-old received $60,000, the same prize money as in the previous rapid chess tournament. Dubov received $50,000, Artemiev finished third with 15 points, earning $40,000, and Vachier-Lagrave came in fourth with $30,000.

Carlsen has won 17 world titles in chess categories, including five standard chess tournaments, five rapid chess tournaments, and seven blitz chess tournaments. This is also the fourth time he has won both the rapid and blitz chess championships in the same year, after 2014, 2019, and 2022.

The World Blitz Chess Championship took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from December 29th to 30th, with 21 rounds of play, using the Swiss system. Each player had three minutes per game, plus two seconds after each move. In the final rounds, the two Russian players Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev closely trailed Carlsen. However, these two players did not take too many risks in their pursuit of the championship.

This is the 16th edition of the World Blitz Chess Championship, in which Carlsen has won five of the last six. Besides him, only one other player has won more than once: Alexander Grischuk, with three titles in 2006, 2012, and 2015. Vietnam's number one player, Le Quang Liem, also won the championship in 2013 when Carlsen was absent. However, Quang Liem is not participating in this year's World Championship.

Xuan Binh

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