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GM Magnus Carlsen scored six consecutive wins in rounds 14-19 setting the tone of the second and final day at the 2023 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship. It helped him capture the lead and win his seventh title after draws in the final two rounds with a score of 16 points after 21 games. He has thus won double gold at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after his win in the 2023 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship a couple of days ago.

Carlsen's competition seemed to slow down in the final two rounds, as GMs Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev also scored draws in the final two games, settling in for the second and third places with 15.5 and 15 points respectively.

GM Valentina Gunina seemed to lose steam compared to day one in the middle rounds of the day in the Women's tournament, which made the championship a well-contested affair on the final day. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk gave her a run for the title, but Gunina powered on with extra effort in the final two rounds to defeat heavyweights GMs Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk and capture the title with a score of 14 points after 17 rounds. Kosteniuk finished a close second on 13.5, while GM Zhu Jiner finished third on 12.5 points.

The second day started with a few of the heavyweights climbing back to the top boards of the tournament. Among them, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave created the biggest of the bangs when he defeated Carlsen, fresh off the blocks in the very first game of the day. Vachier-Lagrave showcased one of his strongest skills, his endgame play, to defeat probably the best-ever endgame player in the history of the gameand that with an exchange sacrifice.

And showing that even the mighty need their own ways of coping with setbacks, Carlsen needed a break to deal with it too.

Along with Vachier-Lagrave, another heavyweight to climb back to the top boards was GM Levon Aronian who blazed a trail with a six-win streak in rounds 10-15. However, it ended suddenly with an unexpected mishap on the top board in the 16th round.

Still to his credit, Aronian climbed back in the standings to set up the final round clash against Carlsen on the top board, which ended in a draw.

Second-seeded GM Fabiano Caruana was another to stage an impressive comeback, after his brutal no-draw first day of eight wins and four losses. He almost made it for a fight for the medalsexcept for an unfortunate loss against Dubov.

In the women's section, it was GM Koneru Humpy who made the best comeback of the day, scoring six points out of seven games in rounds 9-15. But among them was a crucial game against Gunina, where Humpy missed a smooth win.

White's63.Rf3?? is a blunder, and Humpy could have won here easily with 63...Qg1+ when the next 64...Qg4+ picks up the white rook. The game ended in a draw in 114 moves. Humpy's Waterloo was against Kosteniuk in the 16th and penultimate round, when she lost a 219-move (!) marathon.

After his loss against Vachier-Lagrave in the 13th round and a stroll by the lake, Carlsen returned to the tournament hall to start a six-game winning streak. The most beautiful among them was his short tactical delight against GM Alexey Sarana. The tactical melee starting with12.Rxb7 and followed up with15.Nxe6 created an aesthetically beautiful attack. Though Carlsen didn't continue the game optimally, he was rewarded with a blunder in the final seconds.

Carlsen's tearing six-game streak concluded with his hitting a score of 15 points in 19 games, ending as the sole leader. This elicited quite a valid reaction on X.

Another remarkable story involves Dubov, who refused to be bogged down by the happenings of the previous day and scored a heavy 6.5 points in 8 games to reach 14.5 points and second place just behind Carlsen. Apart from the above win against Caruana, Dubov's other brilliance was against GM Yu Yangyi.

Strangely, Dubov didn't attempt to fight for the title in the final two rounds, preferring two quick draws against GMs Baadur Jobava and Dmitry Andreikin. He finished second with 15.5 points. Theoretically, his score can be equal to Carlsen's if one discounts the half-point penalty from the previous day.

Artemiev finished a creditable third with 15 points. He benefitted from the above oversight by Aronian in addition to his simple but beautiful win against GM Peter Svidler.

Dubov's partner-in-mishap from the previous day, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, suffered an unusual oversight in the last round, much to the shock of the commenting GM Viswanathan Anand. It was hilarious to hear the former world champion shout, "Bishop d8, bishop d8..." a total of six times, before bellowing, "Ian! Bishop d8." Sometimes, commentating can be stressful too.

The much-expected quest to the Candidates 2024 through the FIDE circuit by performing well at this tournament did not end in any success for GM Anish Giri or GM Arjun Erigaisi. This means that GM Gukesh Dommaraju is now confirmed to take the seat, joining fellow Indian GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabuand Vidit Gujrathi.

2023 World Blitz Championship | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full standings here.)

Leading the tournament with 9.5 after the first 10 rounds, Gunina had established a two-point lead over the trailing pack of players that included Kosteniuk. However, scoring just 2.5 points in the next five games to reach 12 points shrunk her lead to just half a point after the 15th round. Gunina had also tasted her only defeat of the tournament in the 15th round against Zhu. Kosteniuk had scored four points in these five games.

However, Gunina's wins over Ju and Anna Muzychuk in the final two rounds settled the title in her favor, the latter being singled out for praise by commentator GM Peter Leko: "Gunina is playing a positional masterpiece in the last round." Our Game of the Day has been analyzed by GM Dejan Bojkov below.

What does the title mean for the champion? Gunina admitted: "When you put me on a chessboard and you tell me to train or play, I feel much better because I don't think about my illness and how hard it is.... Again, I need to mention how proud I am of myself; it is really hard."

2023 Women's World Blitz Championship | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full standings here.)

The FIDE World Blitz Championship was an over-the-board event to determine the FIDE World Blitz open and women's champions. The event ran December 29-30 with a $500,000 prize fund.

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Carlsen Wins 7th World Blitz Chess Title - Chess.com

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