CHESS#1282

If the Saudis are to host again in 2018 and 2019, they will have to let Israelis, Qataris, Iranians, et al, play, or risk more players staying away

The Blitz section of the King Salman World Speed Chess turned out to be as exciting and as the Rapids. On day 1, Sergey Karjakin led with 9 points from 11 games with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on 8.5. Magnus Carlsen was on 7/11. 

The world champion and no 1 seed’s campaign started on a weird note. In Game one, he checked Ernesto Inarkiev’s king. Inarkiev responded illegally by giving check himself. Instead of claiming a win for the illegal move, Carlsen defended and Inarkiev claimed a win. After much back-and-forth, they were asked to play on. Inarkiev declined, chucking the point.