Magnus Carlsen is the 2015 World Rapid Champion! Congratulations! At the championship in Berlin he defended successfully the title that he won last year in Dubai.

Carlsen started the first day with 4,0/5, remaining half a point behind the leader Karjakin. During the second day of the event Carlsen continued with yet another 4,0/5 to share the lead with Zhigalko.

In the third and final day of the championship, the Norwegian grandmaster defeated his direct opponents, took sole lead and never let go until the end of the event.

A round before the end, Carlsen was already unreachable for his opponents and secured his 2015 World Rapid title.

On the shared second place are Ian Nepomniachtchi, Teimour Radjabov and Leinier Dominguez with 10,5 points each. After breaking the tie Nepomniachtchi is awarded with the silver medal, while Radjabov claimed the bronze. Full standings below.

In the final press conference Magnus Carlsen said: “It is important not to let the results affect you too much and you shouldn’t be afraid of draws when you play in a tournament of 15 rounds.”, and added, “There were many games which could have gone either way for me, but I always had a little more time and a little bit of control of position.”

Carlsen also thanked the organizers and the spectators for filling up the playing venue to the capacity.

Ian Nepomniachtchi said: “Sharing second place in such a tournament is always a success.” On the question who can challenge Carlsen in the Blitz Championship, Nepomnichtchi joked – “Guess who.”

Reports: FIDE World Rapid preview / Rapid day 1 / Rapid day 2 / Rapid day 3

Tomorrow starts the 2015 FIDE World Blitz Championship, where Carlsen has yet another title to defend. If he succeeds, he will not only be the first person to hold the three FIDE titles – classical, rapid, and blitz – at the same time, but he will also be the first one to re-validate them.

Replay Carlsen’s games from the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2015 in Berlin:

Final standings:

1 GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2847 – 11.5

2 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2789 – 10.5

3 GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2741 – 10.5

4 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB 2749 – 10.5

5 GM Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2577 – 10

6 GM Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2798 – 10

7 GM Onischuk Vladimir UKR 2692 – 10

8 GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2835 – 10

9 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2687 – 10

10 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2784 – 10

11 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2756 – 10

12 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2733 – 10

13 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2574 – 9.5

14 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam UZB 2619 – 9.5

15 GM Malakhov Vladimir RUS 2662 – 9.5

16 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2694 – 9.5

17 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2664 – 9.5

18 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2698 – 9.5

19 GM Karjakin Sergey RUS 2805 – 9.5

20 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2631 – 9.5

21 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2681 – 9.5

22 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2711 – 9.5

23 GM Navara David CZE 2673 – 9.5

24 GM Guseinov Gadir AZE 2705 – 9.5

25 GM Anand Viswanathan IND 2800 – 9.5

26 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2534 – 9

27 IM Bogdanovich Stanislav UKR 2619 – 9

28 GM Adhiban Baskaran IND 2590 – 9

29 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2716 – 9

30 GM Khairullin Ildar RUS 2662 – 9

31 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2751 – 9

32 GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2846 – 9

33 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2705 – 9

34 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2735 – 9

35 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2684 – 9

36 GM Rublevsky Sergei RUS 2757 – 9

37 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2692 – 9

38 GM Ponkratov Pavel RUS 2629 – 8.5

39 GM Motylev Alexander RUS 2627 – 8.5

40 GM Perunovic Milos SRB 2617 – 8.5

41 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2612 – 8.5

42 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2731 – 8.5

43 GM Aronian Levon ARM 2830 – 8.5

44 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2696 – 8.5

45 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2590 – 8.5

46 GM Meier Georg GER 2686 – 8.5

47 GM Andreikin Dmitry RUS 2720 – 8.5

48 GM Zhang Zhong SIN 2547 – 8.5

49 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2672 – 8.5

50 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2667 – 8

51 GM Socko Bartosz POL 2639 – 8

52 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2667 – 8

53 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2525 – 8

54 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2643 – 8

55 GM Onischuk Alexander USA 2662 – 8

56 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2639 – 8

57 GM Agdestein Simen NOR 2594 – 8

58 GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof POL 2560 – 8

59 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2631 – 8

60 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2670 – 8

61 GM Seirawan Yasser USA 2641 – 8

62 GM Bacrot Etienne FRA 2733 – 8

63 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2743 – 8

64 GM Leko Peter HUN 2747 – 8

65 GM Hansen Eric CAN 2592 – 8

66 GM Volokitin Andrei UKR 2671 – 8

67 GM Lagno Kateryna RUS 2582 – 8

68 GM Dreev Aleksey RUS 2706 – 8

69 GM Vovk Yuri UKR 2572 – 8

70 GM Ragger Markus AUT 2711 – 8

71 GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2714 – 8

72 GM Bindrich Falko GER 2594 – 8

73 GM Bluebaum Matthias GER 2543 – 8

74 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan IRI 2591 – 8

75 GM Gajewski Grzegorz POL 2661 – 8

76 GM Mikhalevski Victor ISR 2523 – 7.5

77 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2639 – 7.5

78 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2683 – 7.5

79 GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2595 – 7.5

80 GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2682 – 7.5

81 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2575 – 7.5

82 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2720 – 7.5

83 GM Belov Vladimir RUS 2614 – 7.5

84 GM Agrest Evgenij SWE 2563 – 7.5

85 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2700 – 7.5

86 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2502 – 7.5

87 GM Ivanisevic Ivan SRB 2653 – 7.5

88 GM Borisek Jure SLO 2582 – 7.5

89 GM Hjartarson Johann ISL 2529 – 7.5

90 GM Alekseev Evgeny RUS 2698 – 7.5

91 GM Huzman Alexander ISR 2585 – 7

92 GM Nikolic Predrag BIH 2606 – 7

93 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2649 – 7

94 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2658 – 7

95 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2576 – 7

96 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2633 – 7

97 IM Svane Rasmus GER 2505 – 7

98 GM Romanov Evgeny RUS 2569 – 7

99 GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2700 – 7

100 GM Bologan Viktor MDA 2623 – 7

101 GM Ehlvest Jaan USA 2520 – 7

102 IM Krnan Tomas CAN 2449 – 7

103 GM Olafsson Helgi ISL 2542 – 7

104 GM Hasangatin Ramil RUS 2478 – 7

105 GM Van Wely Loek NED 2639 – 7

106 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando ESP 2463 – 7

107 IM Carlstedt Jonathan GER 2305 – 7

108 GM Dlugy Maxim USA 2535 – 6.5

109 GM Shchekachev Andrei FRA 2552 – 6.5

110 GM Kunin Vitaly GER 2501 – 6.5

111 GM Bezold Michael GER 2509 – 6.5

112 GM Hausrath Daniel GER 2499 – 6.5

113 GM Wagner Dennis GER 2459 – 6.5

114 IM Hirneise Tobias GER 2453 – 6.5

115 IM Tari Aryan NOR 2506 – 6.5

116 GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2581 – 6.5

117 GM Morozevich Alexander RUS 2717 – 6.5

118 GM Al-Sayed Mohammed QAT 2518 – 6.5

119 GM Milanovic Danilo SRB 2545 – 6.5

120 GM Handke Florian GER 2530 – 6.5

121 GM Naumann Alexander GER 2543 – 6.5

122 IM Seel Christian Dr. GER 2474 – 6.5

123 GM Shabalov Alexander USA 2519 – 6

124 IM Ladva Ottomar EST 2466 – 6

125 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2528 – 6

126 GM Stefansson Hannes ISL 2510 – 6

127 GM Guliyev Namig AZE 2581 – 6

128 GM Munoz Pantoja Miguel ESP 2513 – 6

129 IM Schneider Ilja GER 2493 – 6

130 GM Papin Vasily RUS 2521 – 6

131 IM Valdes Romero Leonardo CRC 2377 – 6

132 GM Polzin Rainer GER 2416 – 6

133 GM Meister Jakob GER 2437 – 6

134 GM Godena Michele ITA 2536 – 6

135 IM Abel Dennes GER 2441 – 6

136 CM Choukri Adel MAR 2267 – 6

137 GM Rasmussen Allan Stig DEN 2551 – 6

138 GM Stern Rene GER 2539 – 5.5

139 FM Przybylski Wojciech POL 2409 – 5.5

140 GM Pavlovic Milos SRB 2544 – 5.5

141 FM Carow Johannes GER 2430 – 5.5

142 IM Ben Artzi Ido ISR 2245 – 5.5

143 IM Sanal Vahap TUR 2469 – 5.5

144 IM Breutigam Martin GER 2380 – 5

145 IM Carstensen Jacob DEN 2335 – 5

146 WGM Berend Elvira LUX 2327 – 5

147 GM Richter Michael GER 2513 – 5

148 GM Gutov Andrey RUS 2443 – 5

149 Cordeiro Marco Aurelio Zaror BRA 2201 – 5

150 IM Camacho Collados Jose KOR 2338 – 5

151 FM Bruedigam Martin GER 2379 – 4.5

152 Lagunow Raphael GER 2164 – 4.5

153 GM Petursson Margeir ISL 2454 – 4.5

154 IM Thiede Lars GER 2446 – 4.5

155 Thornton Giovanni Antonio NZL 2121 – 4

156 WIM Osmanodja Filiz GER 2206 – 4

157 Hilverda Alexander GER 2384 – 3.5

158 WIM Zepeda Lorena ESA 2095 – 3