 The second and final day of the Rapid was bitterly disappointing for the local fans. In the men event their favorites, Wang Hao and Wang Yue, scored only 2 points out of their six games. After his excellent first day, Wang Hao maintained his solitary lead until the sixth round, when Grischuk caught up with him by defeating Ivanchuk with the black pieces. The Russian GM's last round strategic draw in 15 moves against his friend and rival Jan Nepomniachtchi proved a very smart move since Wang Hao lost his last game. The Chinese player might have got tired after his first day string of wins, but facing Aronian with black in the decisive round is not everybody's dream anyway.
The women competition was marked by Gunina's perfect sprint: 3 out of 3 in the second day! The crucial game took place in the penultimate round, when the Russian GM defeated the reigning World Champion and, until that moment, tournament leader - Hou Yifan. This result swapped the two players in the classification, a less favourable trade for the local and worldwide hero, the Chinese grandmaster. |
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Day1: China and Georgia atop |
 The tournament whirlpool is spinning more rapidly than the rapid games themselves. Some players barely have 10 minutes to recover from one game to another, especially those who passed through the long phase of playing on equal positions with the 10 seconds increment. And, as it was expected with such a rather short time control, mistakes were bound to happen, re-emerging the game of chess as a fun and interesting board game to watch. The recipe for success could not be completed without the first move being played by the high officials.
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 Beijing in December may bring to mind the image of a cold city with -5 degrees but with its inhabitants ready to stand snow and fire to successfully fulfil their duties. On this evening's agenda two major activities were red-lettered: the opening ceremony of the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 and the technical meeting for the section dedicated to our beloved sport, chess. |
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SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 |
 The prestigious SportAccord World Mind Games, is ready to start tomorrow, 11th December 2014, a multi-sport event we all long waited for! In its 4th edition, taking place in the bustling capital of China, our Chess dedicated section is in for intense fights in the rapid, blitz and basque competitions. Jet-lagged or not, the brilliant minds of the top players from both Men and Women divisions, will prove, once again, their strength in the over the board battles, continuing to amaze us with their masterpieces. In spite of the little time available on the clock and with the additional pressure of high prizes, top grandmasters like Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk or Humpy Koneru and Hou Yifan (all the players should be mentioned but one can find the full lists in the dedicated tabs) lined up to grab the coveted titles, while delivering a true feast for the local and worldwide public's eyes.
After tonight's opening ceremony, which is scheduled for 18.30 (local time in Beijing is GMT+8:00), and once the technical meeting will be over, we will have the drawing of lots for tomorrow's competition, the Rapid. But we can all sense something in the air, perhaps it is the "knives sharpening", as the players are mentally preparing already for the intense five days to come. Since one cannot fully rely of deep calculation, exhausting all possibilities and taking thoughtful decisions before each move, intuition, creativity and a certain strategy will be required for the chess players to cope with all the challenges that will arise on their way to the very top.
All the 'drama' can be followed on our website, of course, but for the full overview of the World Mind Games 2014, kindly visit the official website and the social media platforms mentioned underneath:
Official website
Social media:
  
The twitter hashtag being: #sawmg14
Nothing would be possible without the generosity of the sponsors:
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