FIDE World Rapid Championships 2023: Carlsen and Bodnaruk win titles

Magnus Carlsen and Anastasia Bodnaruk emerged as the winners of the FIDE World Rapid Championship.

The world #1 successfully defended his title and claimed his fifth World Rapid Championship trophy, scoring an impressive 10/13. Vladimir Fedoseev finished a half-point behind the champion and took silver. As many as twelve players tied for third place, netting 9/13, with Yu Yangyi of China completing the podium thanks to better tiebreaks.

Magnus Carlsen: „I am quite happy! Sometimes, my play was a little bit too safe and a little bit too technical, but I don’t think I was really in serious trouble in any game, so it feels really good!“

Anastasia Bodnaruk, Humpy Koneru and Lei Tingjie tied for the top position in the women’s event. To determine the champion, Bodnaruk and Koneru, who had superior tiebreaks, played a tiebreaker. After losing the first game, Anastasia won the second one on demand to level the score. The opponents went on to play two blitz games. The first game ended in a draw; in the second one, Bodnaruk scrambled out of a difficult position, then completely turned the tables and snatched the victory and the title.

The full report is coming shortly