Iranian grandmaster makes splash in World Chess Rapid and Blitz
Iranian grandmaster makes splash in World Chess Rapid and Blitz

 Iranian chess grandmaster Sarasadat Khademalsharieh put in a dazzling performance by finishing runner-up in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Competition 2018, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from Dec. 29-31. Khademalsharieh snatched the second place, winning the $25,000 prize, in a heated rivalry among 204 female chess grandmasters. Chinese chess grandmaster Ju Wenjun won the first […]

 Iranian chess grandmaster Sarasadat Khademalsharieh put in a dazzling performance by finishing runner-up in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Competition 2018, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from Dec. 29-31.

Khademalsharieh snatched the second place, winning the $25,000 prize, in a heated rivalry among 204 female chess grandmasters.

Chinese chess grandmaster Ju Wenjun won the first prize in women’s tournament, with maybe some scary moments in the very last round. She finished a full point ahead of Khademalsharieh and the Russian grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina, who stood at the third place.

Three other Iranian chess players, namely Parham Maghsoodloo, Alireza Firouzja, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami represented the Islamic Republic in men’s section, where the worlds strongest chess players vied for titles.

Firouzja ranked sixth at the end of the competition, where Daniil Dubov from Russia won the first place.

Iranian players have shown an outstanding presence in international competitions during the past years.

Earlier in June, junior Iranian male chess player Bardiya Daneshvar put on commendable performances at the second edition of FIDE World Cadets Rapid and Blitz Championships in Belarus, snatching the gold medal in the blitz division of the competitions.

According to the latest FIDE ratings, in the ranking of countries, Iran has moved one place up compared to last month with 2555 points, sitting in the 25th place.

The ranking is measured by the average rating of the country’s top 10 players. Maghsoodloo stands at the world’s 4th place with 2,688 points in the juniors’ standard category. The teen player, Firouzja (2607) stands in 12th spot in the same category. With 2470 points, Khademalsharieh gained the rank of 19th in the standard women’s section in the December ratings of FIDE.