CHESS#1293

The Tal Memorial Rapid featured a stellar 10-player field competing for $130,000, with $25,000 as the first prize. The time control was 25 minutes with a 10-second increment. There were two former world champions — Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand, two former challengers — Boris Gelfand and Sergei Karjakin, four candidates — Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The young Russian stars, Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniahtchi completed the field.
 
The blitz that followed was a 14-player event with Vladimir Fedoseev, Vladislav Artemiev, Dmitry Andreikin and Alexander Morozevich added. It had a $30,000 prize, with $10,000