By Leon Watson

The World Blitz Championship moves to the Knockout stage on Tuesday after a nerve-shredding qualification day packed with incident, sparkling chess, and an infamous pair of jeans.

Day one saw more than 300 players in both the $450,000 Open and $200,000 Women’s tournaments cut down to the top eight in each going through to Tuesday’s quarter-finals.

In the Open, they are: Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Alireza Firouzja, Hans Niemann, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and the 18-year-old new World Rapid champion Volodar Murzin.

For the Women’s event, they are: Vaishali Rameshbabu, Lei Tigjie, Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina, Ju Wenjun, Carissa Yip, Bibisara Assaubayeva, and Zhu Jiner.

Before the start of play, all eyes were on world number-one Carlsen after his controversial decision to pull out of the World Rapid.
It followed a row with officials over his choice of trousers.

Carlsen, the reigning champion, had said he wouldn’t play the Blitz either. But after discussions with the world governing body FIDE, Norway’s six-time winner made a U-turn and decided to return.

Carlsen turned up to the venue in New York’s Wall Street as he promised on social media in a pair of the offending blue jeans, but this time with FIDE’s approval. Cries of “He’s here! He’s here!” and “Go, Magnus!” echoed through the crowd.

When the focus finally shifted to the 13-round Open, Carlsen saw his old rival Caruana make the running. The American former world title challenger tore through the field racking up seven straight wins, evoking memories of his famous 2017 streak in St Louis.

One highlight was a wild round 6 win against Arjun Erigaisi, in which both players launched hyper-aggressive attacks on opposite sides of the board. Both Caruana and Erigaisi even missed a hanging rook in the melee.

In round 7, Caruana crushed Firouzja with the black pieces right out of the opening before mating his opponent’s king on d4 to go a full point clear.

As it was seven years ago, Carlsen ended the run by holding Caruana to a draw. The American went on to secure qualification suffering his only loss in round 11 against the Russian former world title challenger Nepomniachtchi.

But despite his dominance in the first half, Caruana’s passage into the Knockout was not as comfortable as it could have been. Caruana accepted two quick draws towards the back end of the tournament which, among a rash of cautious draws elsewhere, only served to ramp up the tension.

The grudge match everyone wanted to see was Carlsen vs Niemann, and it happened in round 11. The spectacle did not disappoint and Niemann had to use all his defensive skills to hang onto a draw. Both went level with Caruana while Firouzja lifted himself onto level terms with a win over Wei Yi.

Meanwhile, Murzin was busy showing the world his Rapid exploits were no flash in the pan. He beat Olexandr Bortnyk, whose IM brother Mykola was also posting impressive results, to make it four wins in a row and also rise to 8.5.

Elsewhere, the veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk was in tears slumped over his board after losing his game, and his chances, against Daniel Naroditsky.

Going into the penultimate round eight players were tied for first on 9/11. Carlsen was among them having won a thrilling round 10 game against Sam Sevian. With only eight places to play for, it was incredibly tight. Below the top group, five were on 8.5/11 ready to take their place.

Having won the right to wear his jeans, and
reportedly signed a new contract with the clothing firm G-Star on the back of the row, Carlsen looked casual until the end.

In round 3, the 34-year-old—known for his endgame brilliance—blew a winning king and pawn endgame with 48…b6 against the Dutchman Benjamin Bok. After White's move, Carlsen stood up in disbelief. Half a point was dropped. But that was one of very few missteps as he also went through to the Knockout with no fuss.

Another rival of Carlsen, the American Niemann, had a storming day. But it wasn’t quite as smooth. Niemann won his first four games to shoot up the leaderboard before blundering an equal rook endgame in round 5 to become one of Caruana’s hot streak victims.

Niemann was aided by the gift of a forfeit victory with the black pieces in round 10 when the Russian Daniil Dubov failed to turn up to the board. It was a bizarre scene. Niemann was left twiddling his thumbs while the clock ran down then walked off looking disgruntled.

While the round was still being played elsewhere, Niemann posted on X: “Cowardice is the absence of character.” It was later reported that Dubov fell asleep in his hotel room.

Murzin, having gone 13 unbeaten to win a $90,000 first prize in the Rapid, lost only one Blitz game all day. Murzin made it through to the Knockout as one of the pack locked on 9.5/13 and has serious chances of winning the double crown.

Carlsen faces Niemann again in the quarter-finals. Caruana faces the dangerous Pole Jan-Krzystzof Duda, who lifted himself into the final eight at the death. Murzin takes on his country’s number-one Nepomniachtchi while Firouzja faces Wesley So.

Dubov missed out despite a brilliant final-round win over Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the brother of Vashali. Dubov had mate on the board which lifted him into the crowded 10-way tie for first right when it mattered. But Dubov’s no-show against Niemann cost him and the Russian went out on tiebreaks. Naroditsky also narrowly missed the cut.

One name also conspicuously missing is the world number three in Blitz, Hikaru Nakamura who finished in 30th place on 7.5/13.

In the Women’s event, Indian star Vaishali topped the leaderboard a clear point ahead of the pack with 9.5/11.

She finished the day unbeaten and was joined by Lei, from China, who was clear in second on 8.5/11. Lei also finished unbeaten and heads into the Knockout with high hopes of winning the title.

The classical world champion Ju, also from China, showed her class early on with four straight wins before comfortably advancing. She remains the top seed.

Lagno, Gunina, reigning Women's U.S. Champion Yip, two-time Women's Blitz World Champion Assaubayeva, and Zhu complete the lineup for the Knockout.

It was heartbreak, however, Humpy Koneru, winner of the Women’s World Rapid title. The Indian missed out on tiebreaks despite tying for third place.

The ICC, the original home of online chess, is sponsoring several players throughout the event.

Anna Muzychuk was in the hunt right until the end until a final-round defeat to Assaubayeva torpedoed her chances and sent her opponent through. She finished on 7/11.

Priyanka Nutakki, the 22-year-old Woman Grandmaster from India, scored four wins but suffered five defeats to finish in 70th place with 5/11.

Argentinia’s rising star Faustino Oro finished with two wins on 4.5/13. Jose Carlos Ibarra, the 2023 Spanish blitz champion, fared better finishing 86th on 6.5/13.

The standings after the first stage of the FIDE 2024 Open World Blitz Championship are available here. The standings for Women’s event are available here.

The 2024 FIDE World Rapid Championship concludes on Tuesday from 2pm ET / 8pm CET. You can watch the official stream on FIDE’s YouTube channel.

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