World number one Magnus Carlsen will defend his Rapid and Blitz World Championship title on Wall Street in New York from December 26-31, but the international chess federation FIDE has yet to announce the exact location.
It's a major development for the annual speed event, popular with online audiences around the world – the previous five editions have all taken place in Asia or Eastern Europe.
The 33-year-old Carlsen holds both the Rapid and Blitz Open titles and will be defending them against a host of challengers, including world number two and three Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana from the United States. In the women's championship, world champion Zhu Wenjun from China tops the entry.
Traditionally, the World Rapid/Blitz takes place over five days, with three days of 13 rounds of rapid and two days of 21 rounds of blitz. Rapids last 15 minutes per game with a 10-second extension per move. Blitz lasts three minutes per game with a 2-second extension per move. This year there is a free day in the middle, devoted to Chess Davos, a conference exploring the intersection of chess and finance, and where top GMs will celebrate 2025 in New York.
This fast-paced form of chess requires quick, intuitive decisions and strong, tenacious nerves, and is popular with players and spectators alike, as it tests both skill and mental toughness.
After seven rounds (out of nine) of the $350,000 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Alireza Firouzja (21) of France is leading the field at 5/7, one point ahead of world number three Caruana in a tournament with a high draw rate.
Supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Elite Chess Fund, England's Open and Women's teams held a training camp last weekend in preparation for the 193-nation Olympics, which begin in Budapest on September 10. The Open team played a five-day training match against another unnamed European team, while the Women's team took part in a training camp in Elstree with captain GM Stuart Conquest and ECF chief trainer GM John Emms.
England are seeded seventh in the Open Olympic tournament and 16th in the women's tournament.
Joseph Blackburn, nicknamed “The Black Death” and one of the greatest British chess players of all time, died 100 years ago on 1 September 1924. In his heyday in the 1880s, he was the third-ranked player in the world behind Wilhelm Steinitz and Johann Zuckertorth, and frequently shone with his tactical vigour.
Blackburn was famous as a chess advocate. Every year, he toured chess clubs around the country, playing simultaneous and blindfolded games and providing commentary on the games. A contemporary account states, “He annotated every move as the game progressed, and his annotations were designed to make even the losing player laugh and feel good about himself. The player retains his self-respect even if he loses the game.”
Blackburn's annual schedule consisted of touring starting in the autumn and continuing through the early spring after a Christmas break. According to his 1899 biography, he played at least 2,000 matches per year since beginning his professional career in the early 1860s, and by his own estimate, “at least 50,000 matches.” He continued playing for another decade, making his lifetime total perhaps the highest of any professional player before the Internet era, when virtuosos routinely log tens of thousands of online blitz games in a few years.
Had he lived, Blackburn would probably have been a streamer for his rival Hikaru Nakamura. He drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes, but he lived to be 82, married three times and had two sons. On one occasion, he downed his opponent's whiskey, explaining, “He left it en prise, so I took it en passant.”
Blackburn's long career continued until the Great Tournament of St. Petersburg in 1914, where, at the age of 72, he won the special honors award with a win over Aaron Nimzovich, drawing with Alexander Alekhine and Akiva Rubinstein alongside three current and future world champions and other elite players, receiving a score of 3.5/10.
Blackburn's life and career are well documented in Tim Harding's excellent biography and there is a fascinating feature in Edward Winter's Chess Notes.
Puzzle 2587
Joseph Blackburn vs. Adolf Schwarz, Berlin 1881. White moves and wins.
Click here for the solution
