NEW YORK, January 1. /TASS/ Russian chess player Yan Nepomnyashchy and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen have shared the title at the World Blitz Chess Championship in New York. In the women's tournament Yekaterina Lagno won the bronze.
The president of the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) Andrey Filatov is proud that it was chess players that earned Russia’s first awards at international competitions in 2025.
"I hope there will be more such victories," he told TASS.
Nepomnyashchy admitted that he kept a positive attitude despite the defeats suffered in the first two games. "Of course, it wasn't easy," he told the press service of the competition afterwards. "I wasn't too pessimistic. It wasn't the best start, but whenever I get a chance, I try to use it. Anything can happen in blitz."
"For the first time in history the chess players agreed to share first place," Filatov said. "Nepomnyashchy had made a long way. He deservedly became the world blitz champion along with Carlsen. The Russian contestant was able to get back on track in the toughest situation."
The winner of the women's blitz tournament was China's Ju Wenjun, who beat her compatriot Lei Tingjie in the final. Lagno and India's Rameshbabu Vaishali won the bronze medals.
Carlsen, Dubov in focus of scandals
The tournament in New York will be remembered for a number of scandals. First, there was the incident with Carlsen, who was disqualified from the World Rapid Championship for violating the dress code - he went to play in jeans and refused to change them to classic trousers. After that the Norwegian said that he would not play any more FIDE tournaments. The organization’s president, Arkady Dvorkovich, decided to ease the dress code rules at the World Blitz Championship, after which Carlsen agreed to take part in the tournament.
Another second scandal occurred at the blitz tournament: Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov did not come out for a game against American Hans Niemann. Dubov later claimed that he had simply overslept. Dubov took tenth place at the end of the general stage and failed to qualify for the playoffs. In case of victory he could have counted on first place. Dubov's behavior was condemned around the world, including in the RCF.
"I consider Dubov's statement that he overslept to be dubious," Filatov said. "We will look into this situation. As far as I remember, there were statements from Dubov that he would not play vs Niemann and that he agreed with all the accusations that Magnus Carlsen made against the American chess player (in 2022 Niemann interrupted Carlsen's winning streak of 53 games and Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating - TASS). I admit that Dubov joined Carlsen. If that's the case, it's one situation. Dubov forgets that he represents not only himself, but also his country at the World Championship. If he really overslept, it was extremely unprofessional."
"The country, the taxpayers invested in chess players to train them, to mold them as players. Many, having achieved certain successes, forget they are not exceptional. It's our government-and taxpayer-funded chess school that shaped them and enabled them to become great chess professionals. At the World Championship chess players represent not only themselves, but also their country. If we discover that Dubov took the liberty of not showing up for the game because of some selfish reasons, then the CFR, of course, will draw conclusions," Filatov added.