MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The 2024 FIDE World Rapid Chess
Championship in New York has ended with the triumph of Russian chess
players, about which the West says nothing.
Russian players showed excellent results: Volodar Murzin, 18, won the
championship, while Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomnyashchy came
second and third, respectively. Another Russian player, Yekaterina
Lagno, won bronze in the women's tournament. However, the scandal
involving Norway's Magnus Carlsen, who was disqualified for violating
the dress code, overshadowed the success of the Russian players.
During the championship, Russian chess grandmaster Murzin scored 10
points in 13 rounds and secured his first place. Interestingly enough,
he began as the 59th, while Grischuk and Nepomnyashchy were 0.5 points
behind Murzin. Lagno scored 8 points, losing only to China's Ju Wenjun
with her extra points and India’s Hampy Koneru, the winner of the
women's tournament (8.5 points).
After the tournament, Murzin admitted to being nervous. "I feel happy,
what else can I say? This is cool," he said. "Today I was nervous
because it is a big tournament with strong competitors. It is very
interesting to play against grandmasters, which makes it easier for me.
I really wanted to win - and I was a bit lucky," the player noted.
"Our chess players were truly impressive," said Dmitry Peskov, the
Russian Kremlin spokesman and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Russian Chess Federation (CFR). "Russia has taken the entire podium.
Volodar Murzin came first, which once again emphasizes how strong and
competitive our school is. There is no doubt that our chess players,
including younger ones, have a brilliant future. The whole country is
proud of their achievements," Peskov said.
The Western world has nothing to say about the Russians' success, CFR
President Andrey Filatov told TASS. "Russian chess players achieved
three excellent results at the World Rapid Championship." "The whole
Western world is ranting and raving about Carlsen's trousers, but is
silent about the triumph of the Russian players," he noted.
