2017 King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 26-30 December 2017

[Jonathan Rogers]

Some sterling efforts in rd 14 there: Svidler v Nepo, and Yu v Ding !

What were the leading scores after 13?

[David Robertson]

What were the leading scores after 13?

9.5 Carlsen

9.0 Another dozen

[Jonathan Rogers]

Thanks. Er, and a list now of Carlsen's co-leaders?!

[David Robertson]

Thanks. Er, and a list now of Carlsen's co-leaders?!

Just Anand joins him on 10. Possibly Bu and Wang Hao could at a push.......but neither did.

9.5 Bu, Svidler, Fedo, Wang Hao, Nepo, Artemiev

Short - Li Chao. Great stuff going on. Nigel's having the time of his life here. Li Chao has likely aged a decade or more during the game. Draw! Remarkable

ENG; Howell 7.5; Short 7.0; McShane 6.5 going into final round

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 15 on 2017/12/28 at 19.20'
Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
1 1 GM Carlsen Magnus *) 2908 10 9 GM Grischuk Alexander 2813 5
2 68 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2654 9½ 10 GM Anand Viswanathan 2758 12
3 7 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2780 9½ 9½ GM Wang Hao 2770 9
4 8 GM Fedoseev Vladimir 2771 9½ 9½ GM Artemiev Vladislav 2687 42
5 45 GM Savchenko Boris 2685 9 9½ GM Svidler Peter 2743 18

Bu-Anand drawn in the opening.

[Tim Harding]

Grischuk beat Carlsen with Black so Magnus falls back into the pack.
Fedoseev and Nepo won their games and join Anand in tie on 10.5/15.

There is about to be a blitz play-off (3/2) but I am not sure if all three are involved because my internet went down temporarily just when the commentators were about to explain.
Vishy v Fedoseev about to start.

LATER: They just explained that Nepo' had the worst average of opponent's ratings so gets the bronze.
Two-game blitz mini-match with Armageddon to follow if scores still tied.

[Tim Harding]

Fedoseev couldn't adjust to the faster time limit, was soon one minute behind and lost on time in a terrible position.

Vishy just needs a draw with Black for a well-earned world title. He beat Carlsen yesterday and Grischuk in a crucial round 14 game today.

[Tim Harding]

Impressive Vishy. No defeats and 2-0 win in the tiebreak.

[Matt Mackenzie]

He will be even more pleased with that after his sub-par result in London.

[Jonathan Rogers]

There he goes again, with that whole being a legend thing.

[Steven DuCharme]

Impressive Vishy. No defeats and 2-0 win in the tiebreak.

I thought they agreed to a draw

[Steven DuCharme]

There he goes again, with that whole being a legend thing.

Does being a legend in one's mind count

[Tim Harding]

Impressive Vishy. No defeats and 2-0 win in the tiebreak.

I thought they agreed to a draw

Yes chess24 eventually changed the result to draw but it makes no difference (except to their rapid ratings)

[Tim Harding]

Amazing start to Blitz. Carlsen lost after replying to his opponent's illegal move.
Nonsensical rule that you can lose when your opponent made the first illegal move:

[Event "FIDE World Blitz Championship"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2017.12.29"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2986"] [BlackElo "2614"] [Annotator "Harding,Tim"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventType "blitz"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] 1. e4 c5 2. a3 Nc6 3. b4 cxb4 4. axb4 Nxb4 5. d4 d5 6. c3 Nc6 7. exd5 Qxd5 8. Na3 Bf5 9. Nb5 Rc8 10. Nxa7 Nxa7 11. Rxa7 e5 12. Nf3 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bd7 14. Nb5 Qxd1+ 15. Kxd1 Bc6 16. Bd3 Bc5 17. Re1+ Ne7 18. Ba3 Bxa3 19. Rxa3 Rd8 20. Nd4 Kd7 21. Ra7 Rhe8 22. Kc2 Kc7 23. Rb1 Rb8 24. f3 Nd5 25. Nxc6 Kxc6 26. Bb5+ Kb6 27. Rxb7+ {In this winning position for White with both players very short of time, Inarkiev replied with illegal move ...Nd5-e3+. Instead of claiming the game, Carlsen moved his King. Then Inarkiev pointed out it was illegal and arbiter ruled that Inarkiev was the winner,} 0-1

[LawrenceCooper]

Amazing start to Blitz. Carlsen lost after replying to his opponent's illegal move.
Nonsensical rule that you can lose when your opponent made the first illegal move:

[Event "FIDE World Blitz Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2017.12.29"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2986"]
[BlackElo "2614"]
[Annotator "Harding,Tim"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c5 2. a3 Nc6 3. b4 cxb4 4. axb4 Nxb4 5. d4 d5 6. c3 Nc6 7. exd5 Qxd5 8.
Na3 Bf5 9. Nb5 Rc8 10. Nxa7 Nxa7 11. Rxa7 e5 12. Nf3 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bd7 14. Nb5
Qxd1+ 15. Kxd1 Bc6 16. Bd3 Bc5 17. Re1+ Ne7 18. Ba3 Bxa3 19. Rxa3 Rd8 20. Nd4
Kd7 21. Ra7 Rhe8 22. Kc2 Kc7 23. Rb1 Rb8 24. f3 Nd5 25. Nxc6 Kxc6 26. Bb5+ Kb6
27. Rxb7+ {In this winning position for White with both players very short of
time, Inarkiev replied with illegal move ...Nd5-e3+. Instead of claiming the
game, Carlsen moved his King. Then Inarkiev pointed out it was illegal and
arbiter ruled that Inarkiev was the winner,} 0-1

One of the more annoying things about this ruling is that encourages every player about to resign to play an illegal move first on the off chance the opponent doesn't claim it