Blitz isn't quite the same game as classical chess as speed, tactical instinct and practical play are more important than deep strategy or creativity. Psychology plays a part as a player needs good mental strength to pick themselves up after an inevitable bad loss or two.
Here the time control is 3 minutes plus an increment of 2 seconds per move.
I prefer this to the old-fashioned '5 minutes for all one's moves' as the 2 second increment enables one to play endgames out 'normally with logical results' rather than games being ruined by the imminence of a flag about to drop.
After two days of this three-day event the omnipresent Magnus Carlsen has a one-point lead over Anand. The leading scores after 28 (out of 42) rounds are the following:
WORLD BLITZ: Standings after 28 rounds
| Position | Name | Nationality | Rating | Points |
| 1. | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2801 | 21 |
| 2. | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2788 | 20 |
| 3. | Sergei Karjakin | UKR | 2723 | 18.5* |
| 4. | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2772 | 16.5 |
| 5. | Peter Svidler | RUS | 2754 | 16.5 |
| 6. | Rustam Ponomariov | UKR | 2739 | 16 |
| 7. | Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2736 | 16 |
*There is some discussion on other sites about whether Karjakin has 18 or 18.5 points.
The champion will surely be from one of these, most likely from the first three.
Note the participation of Anatoly Karpov 14 points and Alexandra Kosteniuk 11 points (both are performing well above expectations), the latter being only half-a-point behind the other female player Judith Polgar.
More details are available from the
