PUNE: Former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk believes the rise of rapid and blitz chess has not diminished the virtues of the classical game, arguing that success in any format still requires the same foundation of hard work and understanding.Speaking ahead of the Global Chess League in Bengaluru, where she will represent Triveni Continental Kings for a third successive season, the Swiss grandmaster said shorter time controls remain closely linked to classical chess.“In order to show good results in blitz or rapid, you still need to work on chess,” Kosteniuk told TOI.The 43-year-old noted that while youngsters increasingly play one-minute and five-minute games online, sustained success in rapid or blitz cannot be achieved without studying openings, tactics, patterns and core strategic principles.“It’s kind of connected. I don’t see a problem with introducing faster time controls or even focusing on them. Players who take online chess seriously also work hard to improve their level and gain many of the benefits associated with playing chess,” she said.Kosteniuk, the 2008 women’s world champion, argued that elite players are capable of producing remarkably high-quality games even under severe time pressure.“Sometimes the level of a blitz game can be very, very high, even compared to a classical game. When you overthink, having a lot of time on the clock, you can also make more mistakes,” she said.The former world No. 3 also rejected suggestions that women’s chess is stagnating because of the limited number of players above the 2500 Elo mark and the absence of contenders near 2600. “Women’s chess is on the rise as well,” she said, adding that ratings alone do not provide the full picture because gaining rating points has become increasingly difficult.
