Rapport, RichardAge 29


Source: https://www.reddit.com

Title
Grandmaster
Live Rating
2722.0
Live Rank
#24
FIDE Rating
2722
World Rank
#23
Hungary Rank
#1
FIDE Peak Rating
2776 - Apr 2022 (Age 26)
FIDE Peak Rank
#5 (2776) - May 2022 (Age 26)
Rapid
2709 World #16, Peak 2802 (Jun 2022)
Blitz
2631 World #72, Peak 2776 (Jul 2021)
Born
25 Mar 1996
Szombathely, Hungary
FIDE ID 738590
Wikipedia
Facebook
Twitter

Active Years:
2006 - 2025
Total Games:
2045
Wins:
853 (42%)
Losses:
410 (20%)
Draws:
782 (38%)
Total score:
61%
Performance :
Performance for the last active 12 months:
2663
White:
A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack (41 games)
D00 Amazon Attack (29 games)
A07 Hungarian Opening (28 games)
Black:
B06 Modern Defense (23 games)
E94 King's Indian Defense (23 games)
B12 Caro-Kann Defense (20 games)

The story of Richard Rapport is truly remarkable. While classical chess players emerged from countries not known for chess, the heir to the great Hungarian chess school seemed closer to a paradox, deliberately going against the grain and choosing his own path. Could he have achieved more by following convention? Even Richard himself doesn’t know the answer.

Richard (or Rihard) was born on March 25, 1996, into a family of provincial economists. His father taught him chess at the age of four, and by ten, thanks to his early successes, he entered a prestigious chess school in the capital, which gave his career a significant boost. Rapport won the European Championship in the under-10 category, earned the title of National Master at twelve, and by the age of 13 years, 11 months, and 6 days, he became a grandmaster. He achieved his final norm in a tournament alongside his coach, Beliavsky, and Hungarian legend Portisch, solidifying his status as a chess prodigy.

However, Rapport never managed to win the World Junior Championship—he often lost crucial games, and in 2012, despite tying for 1st-2nd place (10/13), the tiebreak cost him the title. Nevertheless, his games always drew large crowds—no one could figure out what was happening on the board! Playing in this style, he won the “B” group in Wijk aan Zee in 2013 (9/13), Malmö (4.5/7), and posted several striking performances in strong open tournaments. However, in the main Wijk aan Zee tournament in 2014, he predictably faltered with a score of 3.5/11. His next appearance in the Netherlands in 2017 ended in another brilliant failure (4.5/13), but one of his victims, lost in Rapport's complexities, was none other than Magnus Carlsen. Just a month earlier, Richard had defeated Wei Yi in a "match of hopes" after a tiebreak; both classical and blitz games ended in a 3-3 draw.

Interestingly, after that Wijk aan Zee, Rapport made a decisive shift in his playing style. He greatly improved his stability, and within five years, this led him to a rating of 2776 and 5th place in the world! Along the way, there were notable achievements: a quarterfinal finish in the 2017 World Cup (losing to Ding Liren), a strong showing in Isle of Man (6.5/9, with Carlsen taking 1st place), victories in Gibraltar (7.5/10) in 2018, and Danzhou (4,5/7) in 2019. He missed out on the 2020/21 Candidates Tournament due to COVID but qualified for the next one by finishing second in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix "bubble" event. He was considered a serious contender for the win.

Unfortunately, the tournament that held so much promise for Rapport didn’t go his way. He finished second in Wijk aan Zee 2022 (8/13), losing only to Carlsen, but struggled in Madrid. In the first six games, he couldn’t secure a win, lost to Nepomniachtchi with White in the seventh round, and unraveled from there, finishing in 7th-8th place with a score of +1–4=9. He did get a form of revenge on Nepo, though, when he surprisingly became Ding Liren’s second in the 2022 World Championship match against the Russian, helping Ding become the new world champion.

Interestingly, after the match in Dubai, Rapport’s ambitions for the world title seemed to evaporate. He drastically reduced his playing activity, and his results began to decline. In just over a year, Richard lost more than 60 rating points and no longer seemed driven to become world champion. In 2023, he declined to participate in the World Cup and scored only 6/11 in the FIDE Grand Swiss. At 28, Rapport is still highly experienced and very strong, continuing to assist Ding Liren, but his own career appears to be at a standstill.

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Games

#White PlayerRatingBlack PlayerRatingResultMovesSiteDate 
1
Gukesh D
2787
Rapport, Richard
27221/2-1/240Paris, FR10 Apr 2025board
2
Rapport, Richard
2722
Gukesh D
27871-065Paris, FR9 Apr 2025board
3
Rapport, Richard
2709
Nakamura, Hikaru
27340-136Pairs, FR8 Apr 2025board
4
Gukesh D
2654
Rapport, Richard
27090-136Pairs, FR8 Apr 2025board
5
Rapport, Richard
2709
Carlsen, Magnus
28190-168Pairs, FR8 Apr 2025board
6
Erigaisi Arjun
2708
Rapport, Richard
27091/2-1/262Pairs, FR8 Apr 2025board
7
Rapport, Richard
2709
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
26501-027Pairs, FR8 Apr 2025board
8
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
2745
Rapport, Richard
27091-042Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
9
Rapport, Richard
2709
Nepomniachtchi, Ian
27580-149Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
10
Caruana, Fabiano
2756
Rapport, Richard
27091-024Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
11
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek
2732
Rapport, Richard
27091-047Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
12
Rapport, Richard
2709
Keymer, Vincent
26490-120Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
13
Praggnanandhaa R
2684
Rapport, Richard
27090-162Pairs, FR7 Apr 2025board
14
Areshchenko, Alexander
2613
Rapport, Richard
27150-160Germany24 Mar 2025board
15
Rapport, Richard
2715
Socko, Bartosz
25511-057Germany23 Mar 2025board
16
Niemann, Hans Moke
2734
Rapport, Richard
27131/2-1/268Moscow6 Mar 2025board
17
Rapport, Richard
2713
Sadhwani, Raunak
26641/2-1/227Moscow5 Mar 2025board
18
Goganov, Aleksey
2472
Rapport, Richard
27131/2-1/223Moscow5 Mar 2025board
19
Rapport, Richard
2713
Daneshvar, Bardiya
26091-068Moscow4 Mar 2025board
20
Drygalov, Sergey
2551
Rapport, Richard
27130-142Moscow3 Mar 2025board
21
Rapport, Richard
2713
Nesterov, Arseniy
25931/2-1/266Moscow3 Mar 2025board
22
Nikitenko, Mihail
2521
Rapport, Richard
27131/2-1/265Moscow2 Mar 2025board
23
Rapport, Richard
2713
Galchenko, Matvey
24381-034Moscow2 Mar 2025board
24
Yadegar, Radin
2401
Rapport, Richard
27130-139Moscow1 Mar 2025board
25
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-043Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
26
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/245Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
27
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-031Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
28
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/263Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
29
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-040Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
30
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-051Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
31
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-039Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
32
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/265Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
33
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-036Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
34
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-039Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
35
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27180-153Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
36
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-147Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
37
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-054Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
38
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-046Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
39
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-050Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
40
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-185Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
41
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-056Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
42
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-024Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
43
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181/2-1/262Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
44
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-132Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
45
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/237Rostov on Don19 Feb 2025board
46
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181/2-1/233Rostov on Don18 Feb 2025board
47
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-023Rostov on Don17 Feb 2025board
48
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-049Rostov on Don15 Feb 2025board
49
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/231Rostov on Don14 Feb 2025board
50
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181/2-1/239Rostov on Don13 Feb 2025board