The 2021 World Blitz Championship ended before the New Year in Warsaw, Poland, with a narrow victory for GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The 31-year old top French player took the crown via a 2-1 tiebreak win over GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland. The two, along with teen sensation GM Aliresa Firouzja tied for first with 15 points apiece in the 21-round Swiss competition which has a 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move format. Aliresa has the lower tiebreak quotient and settled for 3rd place.
Defending champion Magnus Carlsen was erratic in the event, losing six games – the most the champ has lost in an event such as this. He finished with 13½ points and wound up in 12th place. Russian GM Daniil Dubov scored 14½ and finished in solo 4th place. Levon Aronian, Shakhriyat Mamedyarov and Vladislav Artemiev tallied 14 points each to wind up sharing 5th to 7th place.
