Carlsen now a triple champion

World champion Magnus Carlsen has won three coveted chess titles, making him the World Champion in the classical or conventional format, as well as in the rapid and blitz formats. The difference separating the formats is the time factor. In classical chess, a player gets 90 minutes to make forty moves; in rapid chess, a player gets 25 minutes to complete his game, and for the blitz games, three minutes are allowed to conclude the game.

In his race for the rapid and blitz championships, Carlsen had to get past Hikaru Nakamura, the US and world rapid champion, and Le Quang Liem, the Vietnamese world blitz champion. Carlsen drew with Nakamura, a relatively unknown outcome in blitz games, and beat Le. Carlsen suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the Chinese phenomenon, Lu Shanglei, an unknown grandmaster. In the blitz championship, Anand drew with Carlsen but his loss to Nakamura and Kryvoruchko destroyed any chances he had of winning the tournament.

Chess games

World chess champion Magnus Carlsen smiles as he displays the two gold medals certifying him the new World Rapid and Blitz Champion. The two championships were held in Dubai recently. Carlsen is now the undisputed triple crown champion of chess, having won the conventional title in November 2013 when he defeated Vishy Anand in India.

The following games were played at the 2014 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Lapota, Georgia. The tournament is continuing and ends on July 2.

Yifan v Muminova
White: Yifan Hou
Black: Nafisa Muminova

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. O-O Bg4 8. Nc4 O-O-O 9. Qe2 Nd7 10. Be3 f6 11. a3 Nf8 12. b4 Bd4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. Rfb1 Ng6 15. h3 Nf4 16. Qd2 Nxh3+ 17. gxh3 Bxh3 18. a4 Qf7 19. Qf4 g5 20. Qh2 Be6 21. Nfd2 f5 22. b5 c5 23. b6 axb6 24. a5 f4 25. axb6 cxb6 26. Nd6+ Rxd6 27. Ra8+ Kc7 28. Rxh8 Rd7 29. Qh6 Qe7 30. Nc4 1-0.

Lu v Carlsen

White: Lu Shanglei
Black: Magnus Carlsen

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 d6 5. Na4 Be6 6. Ne2 Qd7 7. h3 Nge7 8. d3 O-O-O 9. Nxc5 dxc5 10. Be3 b6 11. f4 f5 12. Qd2 fxe4 13. dxe4 Qe8 14. Qc3 Nd4 15. Bxd4 cxd4 16. Qa3 Bc4 17. Bf3 Nc6 18. O-O-O exf4 19. gxf4 Bxe2 20. Bxe2 Qxe4 21. Bf3 Qxf4+ 22. Kb1 Ne5 23. Qa6+ Kd7 24. Bg2 Rhe8 25. Rhe1 Ke6 26. Qxa7 Re7 27. Re4 Qf2 28. Rde1 Kf7 29. Rf1 Qf6 30. Rxf6+ gxf6 31. Re1 d3 32. cxd3 Rxd3 33. Qa4 Red7 34. a3 Rd2 35. Bc6 R7d4 36. Qb3+ Ke7 37. Qg3 Kd6 38. Be4 b5 39. Bxh7 b4 40. axb4 Rxb4 41. Qc3 Rbd4 42. Bc2 c5 43. Rc1 Nc4 44. Qg3+ Kc6 45. Ba4+ Kd5 46. Bb3 Rxb2+ 47. Ka1 Rbd2 48. Rxc4 Rxc4 49. Qf3+ Ke5 50. Bxc4 Rd4 51. Qe3+ Re4 52. Qxc5+ Kf4 53. Bd3 Re5 54. Qf2+ 1-0

Muzychuk v Kosteniuk
White: Anna Muzychuk
Black: Alexandra Kosteniuk

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bg4 12. Rb1 Nd7 13. h3 Bh5 14. Rxb7 Nb6 15. Ba6 Qf6 16. c4 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qxd4 18. g3 Qc5 19. Rd1 Qa5 20. Rxd6 Qxa6 21. Rc7 Qxa2 22. Rcxc6 Rae8 23. Rd1 Re6 24. Rxe6 fxe6 25. Qe3 e5 26. c5 Nc4 27. Qe1 Qc2 28. c6 Nb6 29. Ba3 Rc8 30. Rc1 Qa4 31. Qc3 Kf7 32. Bb2 Qb5 33. c7 Qd5 34. Qb4 Na8 35. Qg4 Rxc7 36. Qf5+ Ke8 37. Re1 Re7 38. Ba3 Qd7 39. Qxh7 Qd2 40. Qh5+ g6 41. Qxg6+ Kd7 42. Qb1 1-0.

Zhao v Yifan
White: Zhao Xue
Black: Yifan Hou

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. a3 Nc6 5. Rb1 d6 6. b4 b6 7. e3 Bxc3 8. dxc3 Bf5 9. Ra1 Nf6 10. Be2 Qd7 11. O-O h6 12. Bd2 e5 13. Be1 e4 14. Nd2 Ne5 15. f3 exf3 16. Bxf3 Rd8
17. Bh4 g5 18. Bg3 O-O 19. Bd5 Rde8 20. e4 Nxd5 21. cxd5 Bg6 22. Rf6 Qe7 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Qf3 cxb4 25. axb4 Rc8 26. Rf1 Qxc3 27. Qxc3 Rxc3 28. Rxd6 Rd3 29. Rf2 Rc8 30. e5 Rc1+ 31. Nf1 Re1 32. e6 Rxe6 33. Rxe6 fxe6 34. dxe6 Rd1 35. Rf6 Kg7 36. Rf3 Rb1 37. Ra3 a6 38. e7 Kf7 39. Re3 Ke8 40. Kf2 Rxb4 41. Ng3 Rf4+ 42. Ke1 Rf7 0-1.

Here is Carlsen’s loss to the surprise Chinese grandmaster, Lu Shanglei at the World Blitz Championship.

Lu v Carlsen

White: Lu Shanglei
Black: Magnus Carlsen

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