DrUzbek Noderbek Abdul Sattar cheated all the candidates and thrillingly crowned himself the new world champion in speed chess. The 17-year-old only won the play-off round on Tuesday night in Warsaw. Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who led the field for a long time after two weeks of defending his title in classic chess, finished only third.
“It’s a big win, but I’ll play better,” the teenager from Uzbekistan declared on Norwegian radio NRK. In the end, Abdul Sattar got the best rating out of the four players who scored 9.5 points in 13 rounds.
‘Absolutely stupid rule’
In the event of a tie, the regulations stipulated that the first two would play. As third place on equal points, Carlsen was the first favorite out of the race – then spoke of a “totally foolish rule”. Abdul Sattar triumphed in the jump in front of the loser in the World Cup Classic, Russia’s Jan Nepomengashchi. Speed chess is played for 15 minutes per player plus ten seconds per move.
Russian Alexandra Kostinguk won the women’s category. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Blitz World Chess Championship in Warsaw is followed by three minutes of basic thinking time plus seconds per move. The total prize money for all four competitions is $1 million.