2019 Paris GCT

The 2019 Paris Rapid and Blitz Champion was the player who lead all tournament, but despite this the result was anything but a foregone conclusion.

The rest day clearly reinvigorated the players, and they provided us with nine rounds of exciting chess.  

The players were understandably tired on the 3rd day of rapid chess, and we saw more shorter draws and inexplicable blunders than we are accustomed to.

Day two had plenty of exciting games and a slight shifting in the standings. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had a spectacular day, with two wins and a draw, which enabled him to catapult to clear first place.

This year’s Paris Rapid and Blitz started off with a bang.  All the players were clearly in fighting moods, and the first two rounds had four decisive games each.