Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it h ...

who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest rated player in history. A

chess prodigy The term chess prodigy refers to a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even title ...

, Vachier-Lagrave earned the title of grandmaster in 2005, at age 14. In 2007, Vachier-Lagrave won the

French Chess Championship The French Chess Championship is the annual, national chess tournament of France. It was officially first played in 1923 after the formation of the ''Fédération Française des Echecs'' in 1921. The first unofficial national tournament was played i ...

, and in 2009, won the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

and the Biel Grandmaster Tournament. He repeated as French Chess Champion in 2011 and 2012 and as the winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Vachier-Lagrave won the

Sinquefield Cup The Sinquefield Cup is an annual, invitation-only chess tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, honoring Rex Sinquefield and his wife Jeanne, the founders of the Saint Louis Chess Club. Since 2015, the Sinquefield Cup has been a part o ...

in 2017 and 2021 and competed in the Candidates Tournament 2020–21, placing second. Vachier-Lagrave has participated in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

and in the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

, representing France.

Early life

From the age of six, Vachier-Lagrave competed in numerous sections of youth tournaments, winning the French Under-8 championship in 1997, U-10s in 1999, U-12s in 2000, U-16s in 2002, runner up in the U-18s in 2003 and won the U-20s in 2004 scoring 8/9. He also took part in the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

, coming third in the U-10 division in 2000 (8½/11), third in the U-12 championship in 2001 (8/11), second in the U-14 event in 2003 (9/11) and third in U-16 section in 2005 (8½/11). From 2001 to 2008, his FIDE rating increased steadily from 2198 in January 2001 to 2637 in January 2008. Vachier-Lagrave passed 2600 in October 2007 and 2700 one year later. He became an International Master in 2004 and achieved the Grandmaster title in 2005 at the age of 14 years and 4 months after sharing first in the 2004 Paris Championship with 6½/9, winning the NAO GM tournament in 2004 with 6/9 and coming second in the Évry GM tournament in February 2005 with 7½/9.

Chess career

French Championships

* 2004: Winner of the French Junior Championship (U20). * In 2005, Vachier-Lagrave finished in third place at the

with 7/11. *

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

2006: finished 5th at the French Championship with 6 points out of 11 and a TPR of 2608. * Winner of 2007 French Championship after beating GM

Vladislav Tkachiev Vladislav Tkachiev (, born Moscow November 9, 1973) is a Russian-born Kazakh-French chess player. Biography In 1982, he moved to Kazakhstan with his parents and learnt to play chess a year later. A winner of the Kazakhstani Youth Championship in ...

in tiebreak match. In the main tournament he collected 7.5 out of 11. * Winner of the 2011 and 2012 French Championships.

Classical international tournaments

* 2006:

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament played in Moscow and sponsored by the airline Aeroflot. It was established in 2002 and quickly grew to be the strongest open tournament; in 2013 it was converted to a rapid and blitz event, whil ...

, Moscow: played the A1 (main) tournament, reserved for players having a rating superior to 2550. He finished sixth with 6 points out of 9 and a TPR of 2775. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave contre Vishwanathan Anand 2013

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave contre Vishwanathan Anand 2013

* Young Masters,

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

2006: being the youngest player invited, won the tournament with a TPR of 2630. * 2007: Corus tournament B,

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Coru ...

: finished 5th with 8 points out of 13. * Winner of the 2007 and 2008

Paris City Chess Championship The first Paris City Chess Championship was held in 1925. Since 1989 the title of Paris Champion has been awarded to the highest-placed French player licensed in Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most popul ...

s with 7 points out of 9. * 2008: 2nd-10th place at the

European Individual Chess Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), ...

with 8 points out of 13 * Winner of the 2008 Gregory Marx Memorial in

Paks Paks is a small town in Tolna county, in the south of Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube River, 100 km south of Budapest. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian nuclear power plant, which provi ...

, with 7 points out of 10. * Winner of the 2009 Biel Grandmaster Tournament with 6 points out of 10 ahead of Morozevich and Ivanchuk. * Winner of the 2009

. * Winner of the 2010 Hoogeveen tournament. * Winner of the 2012 SPICE Cup Festival at

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate program ...

with 6 points out of 10 ahead of

Lê Quang Liêm Lê Quang Liêm (born 13 March 1991) is a Vietnamese chess grandmaster, the top-ranked of his country. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2006. Liêm is the current Asian champion and was the World Blitz Chess Champion in 2013. ...

Ding Liren Ding Liren (; born 24 October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He is the highest rated Chinese chess player in history and is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachi ...

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...

Georg Meier Georg "Schorsch" Meier (; 9 November 1910 – 19 February 1999) was a German motorcycle racer famous for being the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT, the Blue Riband race of the Isle of Man TT Races, in 1939 riding for the f ...

, and

Csaba Balogh Csaba Balogh (born 10 March 1987 in Budapest) is in a Hungarian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. Chess career Balogh was taught how to play chess by his father, when he was six years old. At the age of eight, he began training with IM ...

. * 2012: 1st-2nd of the first Al Ain Classic, second on tie-break (number of wins). * 2013: In the

Alekhine Memorial The Alekhine Memorial was a recurring chess tournament, organized in different cities and irregular intervals, honoring the former world chess champion Alexander Alekhine. The Alekhine Memorial tournaments have no numbering (technically it is not ...

tournament, held from 20 April to 1 May in Paris, Vachier-Lagrave finished eighth, with +2−2=5. *Winner of the 2013 Biel Grandmaster Tournament (+3 -2 =5) after a tie-break against three players (Moiseenko, Bacrot and Ding Liren). *Winner of the 2014 Biel Grandmaster Tournament with 6 points out of 10 ahead of

Radosław Wojtaszek Radosław Wojtaszek (born 13 January 1987) is a Polish chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Polish champion. Wojtaszek has acted as Viswanathan Anand's second, assisting the former world chess champion in his successful title defence match a ...

. *2014: Scored 4/10 (fourth place) in the Sinquefield Cup 2014 in Saint Louis, USA, the strongest chess tournament ever held in the history of chess. *2015: 2nd place in the

Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

. *Winner of the 2015 Biel Grandmaster Tournament with 6.5 points out of 10 ahead of Radosław Wojtaszek. 4th victory in Biel and 3rd consecutive victory. *2015: Fourth place at the 3rd Sinquefield Cup *2015: Third place at the

London Chess Classic The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cov ...

*2016: Second Place at the

Gibraltar Chess Festival The Gibraltar International Chess Festival is a chess tournament held annually at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. Its eleven days of competition usually run from late January to early February. The inaugural edition, then known as the ''Gibtelecom ...

after a tie-break against Hikaru Nakamura. * Winner of the 2016

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Dortmund is an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund is awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot Open in Moscow ...

with 5.5 points out of 7. Ahead of multiple-time previous winners

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Cha ...

and

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United Sta ...

. *2017: 2nd-3rd place at the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. * Winner of the 2017

with 6 points out of 9 (+3=6). *2018: Second Place at the

after a tie-break against Levon Aronian. *2018: Third place at the 5th Grenke Chess Classic with a score of 5/9 (+2–1=6). *2018: Eighth place at the sixth edition of Norway Chess, with a score of 3/8 (+0–2=6). *Winner of the 2018 Shenzhen Masters on tiebreak, with a score of 5.5/10 (+1=9), defeating Ding Liren in their direct encounter (1.5-0.5). *2019: Fourth place at the 6th Grenke Chess Classic with a score of 5/9 (+2–1=6). * Winner of the 2021

with 6 points out of 9 (+4–1=4), being the first person to win clear first place twice and the first to win the event after losing one game.

FIDE Grand Prix and World Cups

*2009: 9th-16th at the

Chess World Cup 2009 The Chess World Cup 2009 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 20 November and 14 December 2009, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Cup winner qualified for the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship 2012. Boris ...

. *2013: Semifinalist at the

Chess World Cup 2013 The Chess World Cup 2013 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, single-elimination chess tournament, played between 11 August and 2 September 2013, in the hotel Scandic Hotels, Scandic Tromsø in Tromsø, Norway. It was won by Vladimir Kr ...

. *2014–2015 ** 4th-7th place at the

FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 The FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2016. Fabiano Caruana finished first, and Hikaru Nakamura second in the overall standings. Both there ...

stage in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

. ** Finished 15th (out of 16 participants) in the

, one of the qualifying methods of the 2016

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...

cycle. ** 5th-8th (quarterfinalist) at the

Chess World Cup 2015 The Chess World Cup 2015 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, single-elimination chess tournament held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 10 September to 5 October 2015. Sergey Karjakin won the competition on tie-breaks after a four-game final ...

. *2017: ** Winner of the

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

(2017), with 5.5 points out of 9. ** Finished sixth (out of 24 participants) in the

FIDE Grand Prix 2017 The FIDE Grand Prix 2017 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2018. The top two finishers, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk, qualified to the 2018 Candi ...

** Semifinalist at the Chess World Cup 2017, after losing the

armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

tiebreak to

Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenians, Armenian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A ches ...

, thus narrowly missing qualification to the

Candidates Tournament 2018 The Candidates Tournament 2018 was an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament, which was held in Berlin, Germany, between 10–28 March 2018. The winner, Fabiano Caruana, earned the right to challenge the defending world champion, Magnu ...

. *2019: ** Third place at the

Chess World Cup 2019 The Chess World Cup 2019 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from 9 September to 4 October 2019. It was won by Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov. He and the runner-up, Ding Liren ...

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty language, Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi language, Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the admini ...

. ** Finished third (out of 21 participants) in the

FIDE Grand Prix 2019 The FIDE Grand Prix 2019 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2021. The top two finishers who had not yet qualified, qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–21. ...

. *** Second place (finalist) at the

stage in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. *** Semifinalist at the

stage in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. *** Semifinalist at the

stage in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. *2021: 9th-16th at the

Chess World Cup 2021 The Chess World Cup 2021 was a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia, beginning 12 July and ending 6 August 2021. It was the 9th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner of this tournament was the Polis ...

. *2022: ** Semifinalist at the

FIDE Grand Prix 2022 The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 was a series of three chess tournaments played between 4 February and 4 April 2022. The top two finishers – Hikaru Nakamura (winner) and Richárd Rapport (runner-up) – qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022,

stage in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Candidates Tournament 2020–2021

On March 6, citing concerns over the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Teimour Radjabov Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; az, Teymur Boris oğlu Rəcəbov, ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster, ranked number 18 in the world A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaste ...

withdrew from the 2020–21 Candidates Tournament. His replacement was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, as he was next on the qualifier by rating list.

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

decided to postpone the second half of the tournament due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. The tournament was resumed on April 19, 2021, and ended on April 28, 2021. Maxime ended the tournament with 8/14 points (4 wins, 8 draws, and 2 losses) getting second place, half a point behind the winner

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

Grand Chess Tour tournaments

*2015:

Grand Chess Tour The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is a circuit of chess tournaments where players compete for multiple prize pools. Major tournaments that have been featured in the Grand Chess Tour include Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic. ...

Participant **

Norway Chess Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...

2015: 4th–5th place ** joint 2nd-5th place at the 2015

** 1st-3rd Place at the

, came third on Sonneborn-Berger tie-break and after a tie-break match against

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

. ** 4th Place in the 2015

. *2016: ** Third Place at the Paris Rapid and Blitz Grand Chess Tour Tournament with a score of 22/36 ** 7th Place in the 2016

. *2017: ** Second place at the Paris Grand Chess Tour (rapid and blitz), with a score of 24/36, after a tie-break with Magnus Carlsen ** Winner of the 2017

with 6 points out of 9 (+3=6), defeating Magnus Carlsen in their individual encounter. ** Second place at the 2017 Grand Chess Tour, behind Magnus Carlsen. *2018: ** Joint fifth through seventh place at the 2018 Sinquefield Cup, drawing all nine of his games. ** Second place at the Saint-Louis Rapid and Blitz with a score of 21,5/36 ** Second place at the

(beats Levon Aronian in the semi-final) 2018. ** Second place at the 2018

, behind Hikaru Nakamura. *2019: ** Second place at Côte d'Ivoire

Rapid and Blitz tournament with a score of 23/36. ** Winner of the 2019 Paris Rapid and Blitz Grand Chess Tour tournament with a score of 21/36 ** Second-Fourth place in the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz event with a score of 21.5/36. The second place was tied and shared with

and Yu Yangyi. ** Second place at the

2019 (beats Magnus Carlsen in the semi-final). ** Second place at the 2019

, behind Ding Liren. *2021: ** Third-fourth place in the 2021 Paris Rapid and Blitz Grand Chess Tour tournament ** Winner of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour Rapid and Blitz tournament with a score of 23/36 ** Winner of the Sinquefield Cup with a score of 6 points out of 9 (+4=4-1) ** Second place at the Grand Chess Tour 2021, behind Wesley So. *2022 ** Winner of the Bucharest Superbet classic after a tie-break against Wesley So and Levon Aronian ** Second-Third place Poland Grand Chess Tour Rapid and Blitz with a score of 22/36 ** Third-Fourth place at the Saint-Louis Rapid and Blitz with a score of 19/36 ** Third place at the Grand Chess Tour 2022, behind

Alireza Firouzja Alireza Firouzja ( fa, علی‌رضا فیروزجا, ; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest ever 2800- rated player, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months ...

and Wesley So.

Rapid, Blitz and Bullet tournaments and matches

* Winner of the 2010 Aeroflot Open Blitz Tournament * Winner of the 2010 European Blitz Championship. * Winner of the 2011

SportAccord World Mind Games The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) inaugurated the SportAccord World Mind Games December 2011 in Beijing. For all sports, the meet was invitational and the events were not world championships. Beside satisfaction of the participating ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

* Winner of the 2011 Quenza Blitz Open Tournament * Winner of the 2012 Port-Marly Rapid Pyramid Grand Prix * Winner of the 2012 Biel Blitz Tournament * Winner of the 2012 European Blitz Championship. * Winner of the 2013 Paris International Blitz Tournament * Winner of the 2013 Port-Marly Rapid Pyramids Grand Prix * Winner of the 2014 Paris International Blitz Tournament * Winner of the 2014 Paris International Rapid Tournament * Winner of the 2014 Venaco Casanova Rapid Open * Winner of the 2015

blitz tournament with 6.5 out of 9. * Winner of the 2015 Quenza Blitz Open Tournament *2015: Second Place at the World Blitz Championship in Berlin with 15 points out of 21, only 0.5 point behind

Alexander Grischuk Alexander Igorevich Grischuk (born October 31, 1983) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Grischuk was the Russian champion in 2009. He is also a three-time world blitz chess champion (in 2006, 2012 and 2015). He has competed in five Candidates ...

. * Winner of the 2016 Ciamannacce Blitz Open Tournament * Winner of the 2016 Biel Masters Challenge Rapid match against Svidler * Winner of the 2016 Corsica Masters (rapid), beat Anand in the final. *2016: Sixth Place at the World Blitz Championship in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

with 14 points out of 21. *2019: Third place in Chess.com's Bullet Chess Championship, behind runner-up Oleksandr Bortnyk and Hikaru Nakamura, the winner. * Winner of the 2019 Norway Chess blitz tournament with 7.5 out of 9. *2019: Fifth Place at the World Blitz Championship in Moscow with 14 points out of 21. * Winner of the 2021

World Blitz Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

with 15 points out of 21.

Teams

Vachier-Lagrave played in the French team championship with the NAO Chess Club teams since 1997. Team results include: * U16 French championship 2004–2005: first board for NAO Chess Club, 7 points from 7 games. NAO-CC earned the title * U16 French championship 2005–2006: first board for NAO Chess Club, 7 points from 7 games. NAO-CC again earned the title * Top 16 2006: NAO team, 6½ points from 8 games. NAO-CC won the championship for the fourth time in a row (2003 to 2006) He played for the Évry Grand Roque chess club in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Since 2011, he plays for the Clichy club chess team in the Top12. In the

European Chess Club Cup The European Chess Club Cup is an annual chess tournament for club teams from Europe. It is organised by the European Chess Union. The competition is held with the Swiss system over seven rounds. It consists of two sections, open and women's, with e ...

, he played with SV Mülheim Nord (in 2008), SOCAR Baku (in 2010), Clichy Échecs 92 (in 2013) and Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova (2014–2016).

Rapid and blitz rankings

In addition to his strength in classical time controls, Vachier-Lagrave is very skilled at rapid and

blitz chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...

. Maxime ranked fourth on the FIDE rapid list and also fourth on the blitz list.

Personal life

Vachier-Lagrave also teaches chess on his personal YouTube channel
MVL Chess
as well as maintains
blog

References

External links

* * * * * * *
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
player profile and games at Chess-DB.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 1990 births Living people Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors French chess players World Junior Chess Champions People from Nogent-sur-Marne Sportspeople from Val-de-Marne