GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (also known as MVL) finished first in the World Blitz Chess Championship with 15/21 in the Swiss tournament, after defeating GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in their third blitz playoff game. Duda finished in second and GM Alireza Firouzja finished in third, each with 15/21 as well. With.
World Blitz Championship: Aronian in clear first after Day 1 panorama.am - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from panorama.am Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Thanks to a final-round victory over Armenia, Ukraine got their first gold medals at the open section of the European Team Championships. France came second after beating Azerbaijan, with Alireza Firouzja beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to climb to second place in the world ranking and become the youngest ever player to cross the 2800-rating barrier. Poland finished in third place. | Photos: ECU Press
High-level chess is being played in Riga at the open and women’s sections of the Grand Swiss. Our in-house endgame expert has been following the games closely, and sent us a few analyses from instructive positions played by Harika Dronavalli, Meruert Kamalidenova and Jeffery Xiong. | Photo: Anna Shtourman