Kateryna Lagno Heads the Race at World Women's Blitz Championship

Magnus Carlsen leads the open event.

The King Salman World Blitz Championships started in the VIP zone of the Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow on December 29. 12 and 9 rounds were played in the open and women's event respectively. 

The Russian footballer Evgeni Aldonin made the first symbolic move in game Nakamura vs. Bosiocic. 

The world champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) took the lead in the open event with 10 points out of 12. Maxim Matlakov (Russia) is half a point behind. Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi (both from Russia) have scored 9 points. 

Kateryna Lagno leads the race in the women's event: the Russian grandmaster hasn't lost a single game and has got 8 points out of 9. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daria Charochkina, and Alina Kashlinskaya (all from Russia) and Humpy Koneru (India) are trailing by 1 point.

The final blitz games will take place on December 30. There are 9 rounds to be played in the open section and 8 in the women's. The rounds will start at 2 PM. 


The prize fund is 1 million dollars.


The tournament is held with support of Gazprom and General Sports Authority.  

General partner is Saudi Chess Federation. 

Title sponsor of FIDE Women's Rapid and Blitz Championships is Total. 

CFR General Sponsor is PhosAgro. 

Partner is SILA International Lawyers.

Official water is Aquanika.


Official website