2024 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships: Day One Highlights

The 2024 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships kicked off in New York City with some surprising results. World #1 Magnus Carlsen, the defending Rapid champion, had a disappointing start, scoring just 2.5 points out of 5 rounds.

Over 300 top players are competing in the open and women’s divisions of this prestigious short-format chess tournament. While recently crowned classical champion D. Gukesh is absent, there is still strong Indian representation.

The first day saw impressive performances from young players. 18-year-old Volodar Murzin and 15-year-old Alice Lee emerged as early leaders in the open and women’s sections respectively.

Murzin scored 4.5/5, sharing the lead with Shant Sargsyan, Leinier Dominguez Perez, and Daniel Naroditsky. His wins included a victory over Fabiano Caruana.

India’s top performers were Arjun Erigaisi and Raunak Sadhwani, both scoring 4/5. Arjun, who recently reached the elite 2800 ELO rating, continued his strong form despite one loss. Raunak impressed with a win over Alireza Firouzja.

In the women’s event, Harika Dronavalli led the Indian contingent with 3.5/4, placing fourth overall. Vaishali R. scored 3 points, while former world champion Koneru Humpy tallied 2.5.

The biggest story was Carlsen’s subpar performance, which he called “very, very poor.” The Norwegian grandmaster will look to rebound in the remaining rounds.

The rapid portion continues for two more days, followed by the blitz event on December 31 and January 1. Chess fans can follow the action live on FIDE’s official YouTube channel.