18-year-old GM Volodar Murzin emerged as the sole Winner of the 2024 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship!
Volodar Murzin in the sole lead before the final round, and played the final game as white against GM Karen Grigoryan (Armenia, 2622 rapid rating). Navigating a very solid game into a draw, Volodar Murzin became the new World Rapid Chess Champion.
Simultaneously with Murzin’s game, all eyes were on GM Alexander Grischuk who was trailing by half a point and played as black against GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA, 2699 rapid rating). Grischuk needed to win in order to catch Murzin on the top and force the play-offs, but he went for a quick drew and Murzin clinched gold.
Murzin had an impressive tournament, defeating IM Vuk Damjanovic (Serbia, 2375 rapid rating), GM Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2766 rapid rating), GM Olexandr Bortnyk (Ukraine, 2642 rapid rating), GM Aleksandr Lenderman (USA, 2621 rapid rating), GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2755 rapid rating), GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland, 2740 rapid rating), Praggnanandhaa R (India, 2688 rapid rating). Scoring unbeaten 10/13 points, Volodar Murzin clinched the title and the top prize of $90,000.
Photos by Lennart Ootes
