World Blitz Chess Championship 2023

World Blitz Chess Championship 2023

	World Blitz Champion	Women's World Blitz Champion
	Magnus Carlsen	Valentina Gunina
	16/21 Scores 14/17
	Born 30 November 1990 33 years old	Born 4 February 1989 34 years old

The 2023 World Blitz Chess Championship was the 2023 edition of the annual chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament. The tournament was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from 26 to 30 December 2023, using a Swiss-system with 21 rounds for the open tournament and 17 rounds for the women's tournament. Players eligible to participate were to either be rated at least 2550 Elo (2250 Elo for women) in a FIDE rating list during 2023, or be a reigning national champion. Time controls for the tournament were 3+2, meaning each player initially starts with 3 minutes and gains 2 additional seconds following each move.

Prize fund

The prize fund for both the open and women's tournament is shown below. In case of a tie (except for first place) all prize money is shared between the players. Players outside the brackets do not receive any prize money. All amounts are in United States dollars.

Open tournament:

• 1st place: $60,000
• 2nd place: $50,000
• 3rd place: $40,000
• 4th place: $30,000
• 5th place: $25,000
• 6th place: $22,000
• 7th place: $18,000
• 8th place: $14,000
• 9th place: $11,000
• 10th place: $8,000
• 11th–16th places: $5,000
• 17th–25th places: $3,000
• 26th–35th places: $1,500

Total: $350,000

Women's tournament:

• 1st place: $40,000
• 2nd place: $30,000
• 3rd place: $20,000
• 4th place: $15,000
• 5th place: $10,000
• 6th place: $7,000
• 7th place: $6,000
• 8th place: $5,000
• 9th place: $4,000
• 10th place: $3,000
• 11th–15th places: $2,000

Total: $150,000

Tiebreak regulations

For players who finish on the same score, final position was determined by the following tie-breaks, in order:

1. Buchholz Cut 1 (the sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player but reduced by the lowest score of the opponents)
2. Buchholz (the sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player)
3. Average Rating of Opponents Cut 1 (average rating of opponents excluding the lowest rated opponent)
4. The results of individual games between tied players
5. Drawing of lots

If two or more players were tied for any position other than first, the above-mentioned tiebreak system decided the ranking of the tied players.

If two or more players were tied for first, the top two players who finished the highest on the above-mentioned tiebreaks would have played a two-game mini match with the time control of 3+2 (with colours of the first game drawn) to decide the winner. If the score is tied 1-1, the players continue to play single 3+2 games until one of the players has won one game (the player who finished highest on the above-mentioned tiebreaks shall have the white pieces for the first game and the colours will alternate from the next game).