After all the DRAMA 17-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov wins the World Rapid Championship 2021!

It was a day filled with drama for the chess enthusiasts at the Narodowy Stadiumin Warsaw, Poland. Nodirbek Abdusattorov became the youngest player to win the World Rapid Championship. After battling it out against some of the favorites in the championship, the 17-year-old managed to make the impossible possible. He even managed to beat the

It was a day filled with drama for the chess enthusiasts at the Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland. Nodirbek Abdusattorov became the youngest player to win the World Rapid Championship.

After battling it out against some of the favorites in the championship, the 17-year-old managed to make the impossible possible. He even managed to beat the defending World Chess Champion and the World No.1 Magnus Carlsen.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov‘s unreal run at World Rapid Championship 2021

Nodirbek Abdusattorov came into the World Rapid Championship as a complete underdog. He was rated 2593 before the beginning of the championship. Although in a rapid event you simply cannot undermine players with lower rating.

However, players like Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura or Ian Nepomniatchi were believed to be the favourites to win the tournament. If there was a youngster who could’ve been considered as a prospect it was Alireza Firouzja, who holds the second position in world chess rankings after Carlsen.

Abdusattorov on his unreal run managed to defeat some of the best players of chess, Boris Gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniatchi.

On the third and the last day of the World Rapid Championship 2021, the defending champion Magnus Carlsen was at the top of leaderboard with four rounds left to be played. It was believed that the reigning champion will manage to retain his title, but things took a serious turn after Carlsen faced a defeat against Abdusattorov.

The World No.1 then faced his arch-rival Hikaru Nakamura in his last match. Magnus was trying everything to push a win but Nakamura’s defence was solid and the defending world champion had to agree to a draw.

However, there were four players Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ian Nepomniatchi, Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana ended the tournament with a score of 9.5/13. But due to the rules in place only the top two players i.e Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Ian Nepomniatchi qualified for the tiebreaks.

Rk.SNo  NameRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4 
159 GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek25939,5103,0109,026740,0
24 GMNepomniachtchi Ian27989,5100,5107,526990,0
31 GMCarlsen Magnus28429,597,0103,026910,0
46 GMCaruana Fabiano27709,595,0100,026490,0
53 GMDuda Jan-Krzysztof28019,098,0103,026790,0
Standings at the end of the Chammpionship

Magnus Carlsen the defending champion wasn’t happy with the rule and was shown support by other chess players as well. However, FIDE Director Emil Sutovsky in an interview said that the rule has been in place from 2017. He also talked about a similar situation which took place in Riyadh 2017 and there weren’t any complaints raised. Mostly the complaints arise when players who aren’t supposed to be the favourites get benefitted due to the rule.

However, this small hiccup didn’t sideline the tiebreak which was a treat in itself. In the first game Ian had the white pieces and in a tough fight Abdusattorov managed to get a draw. In the second game Abdusattorov won the game with the white pieces and became the youngest player to win the World Rapid Championship.

In the press conference following the win the Uzbek was asked if he expected to win the championship to which he replied, “yes! somehow yes I expected that it can happen.” The 17-year-old showed great resiliency and character and achieved a great feat in the beginning of his career. All the chess enthusiasts will hope on seeing more wonderful performances from the World Rapid Champion of 2021.

Also Read: Magnus Carlsen retains World Chess Championship title

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