Vaishali Dominates Day 1 of World Blitz Chess Championships 2024

The opening day of the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championships 2024 saw mixed results for Indian players. Rameshbabu Vaishali excelled in the women’s section, leading the standings after day one. However, no Indian male players managed to advance to the knockout stages on Monday in New York.

The Open section is poised for an exciting conclusion, featuring a top 8 lineup of chess heavyweights including Ian Nepomniachtchi, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Wesley So. Notably, Carlsen has returned to competition after withdrawing from the Rapid World Championships due to a dress code violation.

In the women’s division, Vaishali has a chance to become India’s third world champion in 2024. The 23-year-old went undefeated in her 11 rounds, scoring 9.5/11 points. She will face Zhu Jiner in the quarterfinals, with a potential semifinal match against classical world champion Ju Wenjun.

The blitz format sees the top 8 players after 11 rounds advance to a knockout stage. While Vaishali’s impressive day one performance doesn’t carry over, it should provide a significant confidence boost.

Unfortunately, other Indian players faced disappointment. Recent Rapid World Champion Humpy Koneru narrowly missed qualification, finishing ninth. In the Open section, Praggnanandhaa was the top Indian performer, placing 23rd with 8.5/13 points.

The Open section’s top 8 was determined by tiebreaks among players with 9 points. Notable absentee Hikaru Nakamura missed the cut despite being a top blitz player globally.

The tournament concludes on January 1st with quarterfinals starting at 12:30 AM, followed by semifinals and the final. Chess enthusiasts can follow the action via the official FIDE YouTube channel livestream.