The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE recognized tournaments annually naming a world rapid champion of their own. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. FIDE also holds the Women's World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship. The current rapid world champion is grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Anastasia Bodnaruk from Russia is the current women's rapid world champion. Carlsen has won the event a record five times.
Time controls
editThe concept of rapid chess (then called "active chess") made its debut at a 1987 FIDE Congress meeting in Seville, Spain. During the World Active Chess Championship the following year, time controls were set at 30 minutes per player per game.[1] In 1993, following his split from FIDE, world champion Garry Kasparov organized a slightly quicker version of active chess, dubbing it "rapid chess". The Professional Chess Association, Kasparov's answer to FIDE, subsequently organized two Grand Prix cycles of rapid chess before folding in 1996. Under rapid chess time controls, each player was allowed 25 minutes with an additional 10 seconds after each move.[2] FIDE would re-use these time controls and the "rapid chess" moniker for the 2003 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship, held in Cap d'Agde. During the World Cup 2013, these time controls were also used for the rapid tiebreak stages.
In 2012, FIDE inaugurated the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. The current time controls for the rapid championship are set at 15 minutes per player, with a 10-second increment.[3]
FIDE-recognized events
editPrior to 2012, FIDE sporadically sanctioned a world rapid chess championship. The first official high-profile rapid match took place in 1987, when then-world champion Garry Kasparov defeated Nigel Short in the "London Docklands Speed Chess Challenge" at the London Hippodrome. Kasparov won the match with 4 wins, two losses, and no draws in six games.[4]
1988 World Active Chess Championship
editIn 1988, FIDE organized the inaugural World Active Chess Championship, a 61-player rapid chess tournament in Mazatlan, Mexico hosted by the Mazatlan Hoteliers Association. Notable participants included:[5]
- Anatoly Karpov (URS), 2715
- Rafael Vaganian (URS), 2625
- Yasser Seirawan (USA), 2595
- Jaan Ehlvest (URS), 2585
- Bent Larsen (DEN), 2570
- Vladimir Tukmakov (URS), 2570
- Maxim Dlugy (USA), 2550
- Viktor Gavrikov (URS), 2545
- Lev Alburt (USA), 2535
- Walter Browne (USA), 2530
- Roman Dzindzichashvili (ISR), 2530
- Nana Ioseliani (URS), 2455
- Gábor Kállai (HUN), 2450
- Sofia Polgar (HUN), 2320
The event was won by Anatoly Karpov, who edged out GM Viktor Gavrikov on tiebreak points after their 1st-place playoff ended in a 5–5 tie. Karpov was subsequently named the new "Active Chess Champion", winning a $40,000 cash prize in the process.[6] Garry Kasparov, the current world champion, declined to participate in the event and derided the concept of an active chess champion afterwards - he was quoted as saying, "Active Chess? What does that make me, the Passive World Champion?". The political controversy surrounding the event and the naming of a separate "active chess champion" led to the parallel rapid championship being dropped for future years.[7]
2001 FIDE World Cup of Rapid Chess
editIn 2001, the French Chess Federation organized the 16-player World Cup of Rapid Chess at Cannes, with support from FIDE. The tournament consisted of a round-robin stage (2 groups of eight players each), followed by a set of knockout matches to determine the winner. With the Melody Amber rapid chess tournament being held concurrently, the world's top players were split between attending both events. Nevertheless, the tournament attracted a strong field headlined by the No. 1-rated player in the world - despite the World Cup's status as an FIDE event, Kasparov's contract with the French Chess Federation led to his inclusion.[8]
- Garry Kasparov (RUS), 2849
- Michael Adams (ENG), 2746
- Alexander Morozevich (RUS), 2745
- Evgeny Bareev (RUS), 2709
- Peter Svidler (RUS), 2695
- Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB), 2693
- Judit Polgár (HUN), 2676
- Ye Jiangchuan (CHN), 2671
- Mikhail Gurevich (BEL), 2663
- Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA), 2672
- Alexander Grischuk (RUS), 2663
- Joel Lautier (FRA), 2658
- Boris Gulko (USA), 2622
- Etienne Bacrot (FRA), 2618
- Christian Bauer (FRA), 2618
- Hichem Hamdouchi (MAR), 2535
In group A, Kasparov's domination of his opponents was on display: he scored 5½/7 to finish in clear 1st place, 1½ points ahead of the rest of the field. Joining him in the top 4 were Bareev, Grischuk, and Judit Polgár, who beat out Peter Svidler in tiebreaks.[9] In group B, Belgian grandmaster Mikhail Gurevich got off to a fast start with 3 wins in 4 games to finish atop the group with 5/7. Following him into the knockout stage were the two Frenchmen, Bacrot and Tkachiev, and Michael Adams.[10]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Garry Kasparov | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Vladislav Tkachiev | ½ | |||||||||||||
Garry Kasparov | 3 | |||||||||||||
Alexander Grischuk | 1 | |||||||||||||
Mikhail Gurevich | 3 | |||||||||||||
Alexander Grischuk | 4 | |||||||||||||
Garry Kasparov | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Evgeny Bareev | ½ | |||||||||||||
Michael Adams | ½ | |||||||||||||
Judit Polgár | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Judit Polgár | ½ | |||||||||||||
Evgeny Bareev | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Etienne Bacrot | ½ | |||||||||||||
Evgeny Bareev | 1½ |
Kasparov defeated Bareev in Game 2 of the final match to win the tournament. In the endgame, Kasparov and Bareev were left with a seemingly closed position - four pawns and a King apiece. However, the position of Kasparov's king gave him a slight advantage, and with only two seconds left on his clock, Bareev could not find the drawing line and was forced to resign.[11]
Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Garry Kasparov (RUS) | 2849 | ½ | 1 | 1½ |
Evgeny Bareev (RUS) | 2709 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2003
editLooking to revive the World Rapid Chess Championship, FIDE gave official "world title" recognition to the 2003 rapid chess tournament held in Cap d'Agde, France. Hosted by the Caisse Centrale d'Activités Sociales des Electriciens et Gaziers de France (CCAS) on the Mediterranean coast, the 2003 tournament included eleven of the world's 12 top-ranked players along with five wild-cards. With an average rating of 2726 Elo points, the 2003 event was the strongest rapid chess tournament of all time up to that point.[12] Included in the field were the reigning FIDE and Classical world chess champions, Ruslan Ponomariov and Vladimir Kramnik.
- Vladimir Kramnik (RUS), 2777
- Viswanathan Anand (IND), 2766
- Evgeny Bareev (RUS), 2739
- Alexei Shirov (ESP), 2737
- Veselin Topalov (BUL), 2735
- Alexander Grischuk (RUS), 2732
- Michael Adams (ENG), 2725
- Peter Svidler (RUS), 2723
- Peter Leko (HUN), 2722
- Judit Polgár (HUN), 2722
- Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR), 2718
- Boris Gelfand (ISR), 2703
- Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO), 2693
- Anatoly Karpov (RUS), 2693
- Joel Lautier (FRA), 2666
- Etienne Bacrot (FRA), 2664
The field was divided into two groups of eight players each, from which eight players total would progress to the knockout stages; ties in standings were resolved by a sudden-death playoff. Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, and Etienne Bacrot scored 4½/7 to progress from Group A. Taking the final spot was Veselin Topalov, who defeated Boris Gelfand in a sudden-death playoff.[13] In group B, Peter Svidler finished clear of the field with 5/7 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals; joining him were Alexander Grischuk, Viswanathan Anand, and Judit Polgar.[14]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Vladimir Kramnik | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Judit Polgár | ½ | |||||||||||||
Vladimir Kramnik | 2 | |||||||||||||
Alexander Grischuk | 0 | |||||||||||||
Etienne Bacrot | 1 | |||||||||||||
Alexander Grischuk | 3 | |||||||||||||
Vladimir Kramnik | ½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Ruslan Ponomariov | ½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 2½ | |||||||||||||
Peter Svidler | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Peter Svidler | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Veselin Topalov | ½ |
Kramnik, the reigning classical world champion and tournament's No. 1 seed, dispatched Polgár and Grischuk with little difficulty to reach the final. In the other half of the bracket, Viswanathan Anand defeated Peter Svidler in a sudden-death blitz game after three drawn games to join him. After Game 1 ended in a quiet 19-move draw, Anand chose to play for complications in Game 2 in the white side of a Sveshnikov Sicilian. Following an inaccuracy from Kramnik (17... a5? 18. Na3), Anand was able to use his two knights to infiltrate Kramnik's defence, eventually forcing a queen sac to win the game and the match.[15]
Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) | 2777 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
Viswanathan Anand (IND) | 2766 | ½ | 1 | 1½ |
World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships (since 2012)
editOn May 31, 2012, FIDE announced the inaugural World Rapid & Blitz Championships, set to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan from July 1 to 11. The 2012 tournament consisted of a qualifying round, followed by the rapid and blitz events held consecutively over 5 days. In order to promote viewership, time controls were set at 15 minutes per player, rather than the pre-2012 standard of 25 minutes. The championship was originally structured as a 16-player round-robin tournament, set to coincide with the first release of FIDE's rapid and blitz ratings in July 2012; invited were the top 10 players in the FIDE ratings list, the three medalists of the qualification competition, and three wild-card nominees by the organization committee and FIDE.[16]
The style has since been changed to a Swiss tournament with a field of over 100 grandmasters. The top three finishers in the standings are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively. Various methods of resolving ties have been used and the 2016 edition resulted in all three medallists tied on 11/15 points with the champion being determined by comparing the average rating of each player's opponents. From 2017 onwards, a tie-breaker match has been played in the event of two or more players being tied on points for first place.[17] Only two players may participate in this match, even where three or more players are tied for first place on points. This caused some controversy in the 2021 edition where four players finished at the top of the tournament each with a score of 9.5/13. A tie-break match for the gold and silver medals was held between Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Ian Nepomniachtchi due to having the highest Buchholz (Cut 1) scores of the four players. Magnus Carlsen, the defending champion, and Fabiano Caruana were therefore unable to participate in the tie-break match despite having the same score as the champion. Carlsen criticised this result as 'idiotic' and called for changes.[18]
Editions and medallists
editOpen
editWomen
editYear | Host city | Champion | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Batumi[26][27][28] | Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) | Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) | Koneru Humpy (IND) |
2013 | Not held[29] | |||
2014 | Khanty-Mansiysk[30] | Kateryna Lagno (UKR) | Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) | Olga Girya (RUS) |
2015 | Not held | |||
2016 | Doha[31][32] | Anna Muzychuk (UKR) | Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) | Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) |
2017 | Riyadh[33] | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | Lei Tingjie (CHN) | Elisabeth Pähtz (GER) |
2018 | Saint Petersburg[34] | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI) | Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) |
2019 | Moscow | Koneru Humpy (IND) | Lei Tingjie (CHN) | Ekaterina Atalik (TUR) |
2020 | Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic[24] | |||
2021 | Warsaw[35] | Alexandra Kosteniuk[n 2] (CFR) | Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) | Valentina Gunina[n 2] (CFR) |
2022 | Almaty | Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) | Savitha Shri B (IND) |
2023 | Samarkand | Anastasia Bodnaruk[n 3] (FIDE) | Koneru Humpy (IND) | Lei Tingjie (CHN) |
2024[25] | New York | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Records
editTitles (open)
editTitles won | Player | Year(s) |
---|---|---|
5 | Magnus Carlsen (NOR) | 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023 |
2 | Viswanathan Anand (IND) | 2003, 2017 |
1 | Anatoly Karpov (USSR) | 1988 |
Garry Kasparov (RUS) | 2001 | |
Sergey Karjakin (RUS) | 2012 | |
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 2013 | |
Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) | 2016 | |
Daniil Dubov (RUS) | 2018 | |
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) | 2021 |
Titles (women)
editTitles won | Player | Year(s) |
---|---|---|
2 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 2017, 2018 |
1 | Zsuzsa Polgár (HUN) | 1992 |
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) | 2012 | |
Kateryna Lagno (UKR) | 2014 | |
Anna Muzychuk (UKR) | 2016 | |
Koneru Humpy (IND) | 2019 | |
Alexandra Kosteniuk[n 2] (CFR) | 2021 | |
Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2022 | |
Anastasia Bodnaruk[n 3] (FIDE) | 2023 |
Other events
editFrankfurt/Mainz World Rapid Chess Championship
editStarting in 1994, the Chess Classic was an annual series of tournaments hosted by the Chess Tigers in Mainz, Germany. The brainchild of Hans-Walter Schmitt, the Chess Classic featured top-ranked players playing rapid and FischeRandom chess games against computers as well as each other. The main event of the classic was the Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship (formerly Fujitsu-Siemens), a tournament generally considered as the traditional rapid chess championship in the absence of an annual FIDE-recognized championship.[36][37][38] Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand holds the record for most championship wins, having won the event 11 times in 15 years.
From 1996 to 1998, the Rapid Chess Championship at Frankfurt was organized as a double-round robin, followed by a match between the 1st and 2nd-place finishers for the championship. With the addition of Karpov to the field in 1999, the format was temporarily changed to a pure round-robin, with the 1st-place finisher winning the championship. The following year the field was expanded further to include all ten of the top 10-rated Grandmasters in the world, and was dubbed a Category 21 tournament with an average Elo rating of 2767.[39]
In 2001 the event moved to Mainz, and shifted from a round-robin to a matchplay format - the defending champion Viswanathan Anand defended his title in an eight-game match against the winner of the previous year's Ordix Open, the open rapid tournament. In 2007, with Anand still the rapid champion after six successful title defenses, the event reverted to a double-round robin tournament, with the top two finishers in the semi-finals advancing to the finals.[40] In a homage to the Masters Tournament, the winner of the championship is traditionally awarded a winner's black jacket.[41]
In 2010, the event's final year, the Open GRENKE Rapid Championship featured a field of over 700 players. Shortly afterwards, the Chess Tigers withdrew financial backing for the event, due in part to the effects of the financial crisis of 2007–2008.[42]
1 Blitz tiebreaks used to settle the outcome.
2002 Eurotel World Chess Trophy
editPresented under the auspices of Online World Chess, the 2002 EuroTel Knockout Tournament was a 32-player single-elimination tournament hosted in Prague from 27 April to 5 May 2002. 14 of the world's top 15 players were in attendance, including the reigning world champion Vladimir Kramnik and the world's No. 1-ranked player Garry Kasparov. A notable omission from the field was reigning FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov. At stake was a share of the €500,000 prize fund, the largest for any chess event hosted in the Czech Republic, and the EuroTel Trophy. The finalists of the tournament were determined by a series of knock-out matches, with each match consisting of two games played at rapid time controls (25 minutes per player). Ties were broken by two blitz games, followed by a sudden-death Armageddon game.[43][44]
- Garry Kasparov (RUS), 2838
- Vladimir Kramnik (RUS), 2809
- Viswanathan Anand (IND), 2752
- Veselin Topalov (BUL), 2745
- Michael Adams (ENG), 2744
- Evgeny Bareev (RUS), 2724
- Alexander Morozevich (RUS), 2718
- Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR), 2711
- Boris Gelfand (ISR), 2710
- Peter Leko (HUN), 2707
- Alexei Shirov (ESP), 2704
- Alexander Grischuk (RUS), 2702
- Alexander Khalifman (RUS), 2698
- Anatoly Karpov (RUS), 2690
- Peter Svidler (RUS), 2688
- Judit Polgar (HUN), 2677
- Ye Jiangchuan (CHN), 2676
- Nigel Short (ENG), 2673
- Jeroen Piket (NED), 2659
- Viktor Bologan (MDA), 2652
- Ivan Sokolov (BIH), 2647
- Loek van Wely (NED), 2642
- Mikhail Gurevich (BEL), 2641
- Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA), 2633
- Yasser Seirawan (USA), 2631
- Sergei Movsesian (CZE), 2624
- Artur Jussupow (GER), 2618
- Jan Timman (NED), 2616
- Teimour Radjabov (AZE), 2610
- Vadim Milov (SUI), 2606
- Zbyněk Hráček (CZE), 2596
- Gilberto Milos (BRA), 2594
The surprise of the tournament was Anatoly Karpov, who put together an impressive run with wins against Short, Kramnik, Morozevich, and Shirov to reach the finals. In the other half of the bracket, the No. 1 seed Kasparov was upset by Vasyl Ivanchuk in a sudden-death game after the rapid and blitz games did not produce a winner; Ivanchuk would subsequently lose to Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in the semifinals, bowing out with a loss in the second blitz tiebreak game after both rapid games ended in a draw.[45]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Garry Kasparov | 2 | |||||||||||||
Vasyl Ivanchuk | 3 | |||||||||||||
Vasyl Ivanchuk | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 2½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Ivan Sokolov | ½ | |||||||||||||
Viswanathan Anand | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | ½ | |||||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | 1½ | |||||||||||||
Alexander Morozevich | ½ | |||||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | 3 | |||||||||||||
Alexei Shirov | 1 | |||||||||||||
Veselin Topalov | ½ | |||||||||||||
Alexei Shirov | 1½ |
In the final, Anand defeated Karpov in Game 1 with White to take a 1–0 lead; Anand maneuvered his light-squared bishop to slowly gain an advantage throughout the game, before 54... a5? gave the Indian a winning advantage.[46] In Game 2, Karpov pressed but was unable to crack Anand's Semi-Slav Defence, leading to a 34-move draw.[47]
Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Viswanathan Anand (IND) | 2752 | 1 | ½ | 1½ |
Anatoly Karpov (RUS) | 2690 | 0 | ½ | ½ |
ACP World Rapid Cup
editStarting in 2007, the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) sponsored an annual event billed as the ACP World Rapid Cup. The 1st edition of the event was a 16-player knockout tournament, jointly organized by the Pivdenny Bank of Ukraine and the ACP and held in Odesa, Ukraine at the Hotel Londonskaya from 4 January to 8 January 2007.[48] The brainchild of Pivdenny Bank chairman and ACP president Vadim Morokhovsky,[49] the tournament included the top finishers in each year's ACP Tour, a system in which participating players were ranked based on their performances in several chess tournaments held around the world. The remaining participants were chosen on a wild-card basis at the organizers' discretion. From 2007 to 2010, the tournament was held on an annual basis, with the 5th edition of the cup held in 2013. Despite the ACP Cup's status as a non-FIDE event, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was present at the inaugural edition of the tournament and took part in the opening ceremony.[50] A subsequent agreement between FIDE and the ACP ensured that ACP would be able to use the title "World" when promoting and referring to the tournament.
Time controls were set at 20 minutes per player, with an increment of five seconds. Each match consisted of two rapid games, with the winner progressing to the next round. Ties were resolved by two blitz games, followed by a sudden-death Armageddon game. The final match initially consisted of four rapid games, with the same tiebreaks; in 2013, the final was shortened back to two rapid games.[51]
Year | Host city | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Odesa | Peter Leko (HUN) | Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) | 2½–1½ |
2008 | Odesa | Teimour Radjabov (AZE) | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) | 2½–1½ |
2009 | Odesa | Boris Gelfand (ISR) | Peter Svidler (RUS) | 3–1 |
2010 | Odesa | Sergey Karjakin (RUS) | Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) | 3–31 |
2013 | Riga | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) | Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) | 2–21 |
1 Armageddon game used to settle the outcome.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Alireza Firouzja competed under the flag of FIDE in the 2019 tournament after the Iranian federation withdrew all Iranian players so that they would not have to face players from Israel.[23]
- ^ a b c d Nepomniachtchi, Kosteniuk and Gunina are Russians, but they competed under the Chess Federation of Russia flag, due to WADA sanctions against Russia.
- ^ a b Bodnaruk is Russian but competed under FIDE flag due to the organization's ban of the Russian and Belarusian flags as part of its response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
References
edit- ^ "A Brief History of Fast Chess". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ Wolff, Patrick (September 2001). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess. ISBN 9781101221952. Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ "Regulations for the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "The Spectator: 3 APRIL 1987, Page 52". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ "365Chess: Mazatlan rapid 1988". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Chess - NYTimes". Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
- ^ "Garry Kasparov: A History of Professional Chess". Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "TWIC 325: World Cup of Rapid Chess". Archived from the original on 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "World Cup of Rapid Chess - Group A". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "World Cup of Rapid Chess - Group B". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "TWIC 333: 2nd World Cup of Rapid Chess". Archived from the original on 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "TWIC 468: Cap d'Agde". Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "365Chess: Cap d'Agde 2003, Group A". Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ "365Chess: Cap d'Agde 2003, Group B". Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ "TWIC 469: Cap d'Agde". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Regulations for the World Rapid Chess Championship 2012" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Regulations for the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2017" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-12-29. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
- ^ "Carlsen thinks World Cup rule is 'idiotic': Lost gold in last game". Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
- ^ "The winners of FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships". Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Saudi ban on Israeli chess players underscores limits of Gulf relations". 27 December 2017. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "'I am ready to stand for my principles': Double world chess champion says she won't defend titles in Saudi Arabia because of kingdom's inequality". 27 December 2017. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ ChessBase staff (28 December 2018). "FIDE World Rapid Champions: Dubov and Ju". ChessBase. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ "Firouzja Seeks Nationality Change After World Rapid & Blitz Ban By Iranian Federation", chess.com, 25 December 2019, archived from the original on 12 February 2020, retrieved 29 December 2019
- ^ a b "World Rapid and Blitz Championship postponed to 2021". Archived from the original on 2021-12-27. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
- ^ a b "2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships To Be Held In New York". June 17, 2024.
- ^ "Women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2012". World Chess Federation. FIDE. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "Antoaneta Stefanova is Women World Rapid Champion". Chessdom. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "Stefanova and Gunina winners at World Rapid and Blitz Championships". Chessvibes. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "FIDE Archive: 2013". World Chess Federation. Archived from the original on 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ "FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2014" (PDF). FIDE. FIDE. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "FIDE "Women" World Rapid Ch. 2016 Final Ranking after 12 Rounds". Archived from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ "Double gold for Ukraine in FIDE World Rapid Championship". Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- ^ "King Salman World Rapid Championship 2017 Women". Chess-Results. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "King Salman World Rapid Championship 2018 Open". Chess-Results Server. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "World Rapid & Blitz 2021 to be held in Warsaw, Poland". World Chess Federation. FIDE. 10 December 2021. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "NYTimes.com - Anand Wins Rapid Championship at Mainz; Navara Wins Open".
- ^ "Chess.com - Aronian Wins Rapid World Championship". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Preview: Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000". Archived from the original on 2017-01-18.
- ^ "CB News: Mainz 2009 – Schmitt: 'I suffer vicariously with Anand'". Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
- ^ "Viswanathan Anand's Tournament, Match, and Exhibition Record (1983-)". Archived from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Frankfurt puts everything which has gone before in the shade". Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "CB News: Chess Classic Mainz – End of an Era". Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "The Eurotel World Chess Trophy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- ^ "TWIC 388: Eurotel KO Details". Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- ^ "TWIC 391: Eurotel KO Prague". Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- ^ "Viswanathan Anand vs Anatoly Karpov - Eurotel Trophy (2002) - Russian Game: Classical Attack. Jaenisch Variation (C42) - 1-0". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- ^ "Anatoly Karpov vs Viswanathan Anand - Eurotel Trophy (2002) - Semi-Slav Defense: Stoltz Variation (D45) - ½-½". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- ^ "First ACP World Rapid in Odessa". Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ "ChessBase News - 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa". Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ "FIDE Report - Peter Leko of Hungary wins the 1st ACP World Rapid Cup". Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ "ChessBase News - ACP 2003: Grischuk prevails". Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-01-31.