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World Blitz Championship (2006) The 2006 World Blitz Championship was a 16-player round robin held in the Meir Nitzan cultural center of Rishon LeZion, Israel, 7 September. It was the first world blitz championship recognized by FIDE. The participants: Seven invited top players (Anand, Svidler, Gelfand, Radjabov, Polgar, Grischuk, Bacrot), six players from a qualification tournament the day before the final (Smirin, Roiz, Sutovsky, Erenburg, Zoler, Livshits), two players from a qualification tournament on ICC (Gurevich and Gagunashvili (replacing Jun Zhao)), and one wild card player (Carlsen). Time control: 4 minutes and 2 seconds per player for the whole game, with 2 seconds added per move from move 1. Prize fund: about $95,000, with about $15,000 to the winner. Organizers: Israeli Chess Federation and the chess club of Rishon LeZion. Alexander Grischuk won the 5/4 Armageddon playoff game (Grischuk vs Svidler, 2006) and became the first official World Blitz Champion. Radjabov was 3rd on tiebreak. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Grischuk * 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 10½ 2 Svidler 1 * 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 10½ 3 Radjabov 0 1 * 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 10 4 Anand 0 1 0 * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 10 5 Polgar 1 ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9½ 6 Gelfand 0 0 1 ½ 1 * 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 9½ 7 Bacrot ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 * 0 1 1 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 8 8 Carlsen 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 * 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7½ 9 Erenburg 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 7 10 Sutovsky 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 7 11 Gagunashvili ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 7 12 Roiz 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 * ½ 1 0 1 6½ 13 Smirin ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 0 6 14 Gurevich 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 * 1 0 4 15 Zoler 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 0 * ½ 3½ 16 Livshits 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ * 3½ The eight games each round were transmitted on large screens above the playing stage, and an additional screen showed the tournament standings. The highlight of the closing ceremony was the speech of Shimon Peres, who started off by saying that he came to the tournament to see wise men, because that's what the Israeli government needed. Russian Wiki: https://ru.wikinews.org/wiki/%D0%90... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/grisc... Wikipedia article: World Blitz Chess Championship Video: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/y... Ruchess: https://ruchess.ru/en/news/report/s... USCF: http://www.uschess.org/content/view... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/html/twi... Carlos S Matamoros Franco in Jaque 604, pp. 34-35: https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/... Scott Wilson in The Washington Post, 12 September 2006: https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the... Previous (unofficial): World Blitz Cup (2000). Next: World Blitz Championship (2007)  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. D Zoler vs Smirin   0-1 57 2006 World Blitz Championship D76 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6 2. Sutovsky vs Svidler 0-1 34 2006 World Blitz Championship B40 Sicilian 3. S Erenburg vs Bacrot   0-1 42 2006 World Blitz Championship C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 4. M Roiz vs D Zoler   0-1 65 2006 World Blitz Championship E10 Queen's Pawn Game 5. Bacrot vs M Roiz   0-1 43 2006 World Blitz Championship D56 Queen's Gambit Declined 6. G Livshits vs S Erenburg   0-1 54 2006 World Blitz Championship A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 7. D Gurevich vs M Gagunashvili   0-1 57 2006 World Blitz Championship D02 Queen's Pawn Game 8. M Gagunashvili vs Bacrot   0-1 29 2006 World Blitz Championship D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 9. M Roiz vs Sutovsky 0-1 19 2006 World Blitz Championship B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 10. D Zoler vs Grischuk 0-1 30 2006 World Blitz Championship E15 Queen's Indian 11. Carlsen vs M Gagunashvili 0-1 65 2006 World Blitz Championship B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 12. G Livshits vs J Polgar   0-1 47 2006 World Blitz Championship B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 13. D Zoler vs Gelfand   0-1 46 2006 World Blitz Championship A62 Benoni, Fianchetto Variation 14. Gelfand vs Bacrot   0-1 39 2006 World Blitz Championship A09 Reti Opening 15. Bacrot vs D Gurevich   0-1 63 2006 World Blitz Championship A50 Queen's Pawn Game 16. G Livshits vs Gelfand   0-1 78 2006 World Blitz Championship B23 Sicilian, Closed 17. Gelfand vs Grischuk 0-1 47 2006 World Blitz Championship E15 Queen's Indian 18. S Erenburg vs M Gagunashvili   0-1 40 2006 World Blitz Championship C41 Philidor Defense 19. Smirin vs Anand 0-1 48 2006 World Blitz Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 20. S Erenburg vs M Roiz   0-1 33 2006 World Blitz Championship B22 Sicilian, Alapin 21. D Zoler vs S Erenburg   0-1 29 2006 World Blitz Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 22. S Erenburg vs Svidler   0-1 36 2006 World Blitz Championship B06 Robatsch 23. Sutovsky vs J Polgar   0-1 48 2006 World Blitz Championship B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 24. Sutovsky vs S Erenburg   0-1 30 2006 World Blitz Championship B12 Caro-Kann Defense 25. Anand vs J Polgar 0-1 27 2006 World Blitz Championship B90 Sicilian, Najdorf  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-08-06    amdocs: I am from Israel and I had part in tournament for ammateurs and afterwards in competition for master where six players were choosen to final stage. I also saw almost all games in live and it was magnified 8 blitz games all big boards at the same time, hovewer 8 is to much. Sep-08-06    amdocs: Gelfand was the leader of the tournament from the start and only at 3 round before end he lost to Grischuk and afterwards to Sutovsky. Sep-08-06    EXIDE: What is the difference between 'blitz chess ' and 'rapid chess' ? Sep-08-06    aw1988: Rapid is more or less 25 minutes, whilst blitz is 5... Sep-09-06    ahmadov: According to chessbase.com, Svidler gets more money than Grischuk despite the fact that the latter won the tournament. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Sep-09-06    ahmadov: I wonder why <CG> has not included Radjabov's win over Anand in the database here. It is one of the most available games from the tournament thanks to <percyblakeney>. Sep-09-06    percyblakeney: At the moment it seems as if less than half of the games have been saved, and the amazingly unimpressive official home page doesn't even have the results of any games. Sep-09-06    controlaltdelete: Damn, i never thought A.Grisschuk could beat Raffael ;) .. ehm Svidler Sep-11-06    ahmadov: <controlaltdelete: Damn, i never thought A.Grisschuk could beat Raffael ;) .. ehm Svidler> But what is the problem with that. Now anyone can beat any other chess player in top 20. It is only a matter of good form and a slight luck. Sep-16-06    waddayaplay: <you vs yourself: According to his bio in the official site, Grischuk achieved the highest rating in ICC blitz> Grischuk *once* held the record for highest rating achieved on the Internet Chess Club. The current record is held by Nakamura ("Smallville"). You can see the records here: http://www.chessclub.com/help/records I guess if you live in New York, like Naka, there isn't that much competition, so you have time to excel in internet blitz chess. Internet blitz chess is different from real life blitz, because accurate mouse treatment will win many games. There are also many ways to trick your way to a win that are unrelated to chess, rather depending on how well you know the chess program interface or the chess server. Yet, if Nakamura was as good as he considers himself, he should have been given a wildcard into the blitz World Championship. Then again, he had his chance in the ICC qualifier. Sep-23-06    samsal27: <Alekhine witnessed Capa at the St. Petersberg tourney giving any and all grandmasters there one minute to five: and winning handily> Incredible!!! Sep-23-06    alexmagnus: Nothing incredible, I once played with time handicap against the players of my level - and had the same winning percentage as without the handicap. Sep-23-06    samsal27: <alexmagnus> were these GMs? Sep-23-06    alexmagnus: Well, I am also not a GM, but where is the difference. If a 1500 can beat other 1500s with 1 minute to 10, why not a GM other GMs with 1 to 5? The trick is: you are absolutely equal in time because you think while opponent thinks and you opponent can't think while you think because you have no time to think. The handicap is just imaginary. Sep-23-06    samsal27: <The trick is: you are absolutely equal in time because you think while opponent thinks and you opponent can't think while you think because you have no time to think. The handicap is just imaginary.> OK. I get your point. Sep-28-06    Caissanist: Strangely enough there seems to have been less "luck" in this tournament than in most over-the-board events. Except for Anand and Smirin, everyone at least tied for the position that he or she "should" have gotten. Oct-06-06    samsal27: <Carlsen was obviously out of form> I hope that he returns to form again soon. He was simply awesome in the tournament (in Iceland?) where he beat Vishy and clinched first place. Jan-05-07    Karpova: http://www.fideblitz.com/index.php?... This is the proof that this player Mikheil Gagunashvili didn't play there (and he doesn't seem to exist outside this database). The player participating was Merab Gagunashvili Jan-30-07    positionalgenius: Does anybody know when the next blitz championships is? Jun-16-07    notyetagm: Does anyone know the <time control> used in this tournament? Was it <3 2> or <5 1>? Thanks. Jun-16-07    Karpova: 4 min with an increment of 2 sec per move, starting from move one. http://www.fideblitz.com/index.php?... Jun-18-07    notyetagm: <Karpova: 4 min with an increment of 2 sec per move, starting from move one.> Thanks Nov-22-07    pawnofdoom: Outdated tournament that I happened to stumble upon. Amazing how Svidler only got one draw here! Nov-22-07    pawnofdoom: Outdated tournament that I happened to stumble upon. Amazing how Svidler only got one draw here! Jan-04-20    Tabanus: The one missing game is Polgar vs Grischuk 1-0 in round 1. http://portablegamenotation.com/Tou... has this: click for larger view and then (1... Qf5) 2. Bxd5 Rad8 3. Rf3 Qd7 4. Bxf7+ Kh8 5. Bxe8 Qxe8 6. Qe2 Qc6 7. Kg1 Nf6 8. Bg5 Rg8 9. Rf5 c4 10. dxc4 Nh7 11. cxb5 Qg6 12. Qg4 axb5 13. Be3 Qd6 14. Rd1 Qc6 15. Bxb6 Qxb6 16. Rh5 Rf8 17. Qg3 Kg8 18. Rd7 Qf6 19. Rxe5 Qh6 20. Ree7 Kh8 21. Qxg7+ 1-0 search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. 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