Rapport, Richard Age 28

Source: https://www.reddit.com

Title
Grandmaster
Live Rating
2717.9
Live Rank
#26
FIDE Rating
2721
World Rank
#25
Hungary Rank
#1
FIDE Peak Rating
2776 - Apr 2022 (Age 26)
FIDE Peak Rank
#5 (2776) - May 2022 (Age 26)
Rapid
2709 World #17, Peak 2802 (Jun 2022)
Blitz
2687 World #33, Peak 2776 (Jul 2021)
Born
25 Mar 1996
Szombathely, Hungary
FIDE ID 738590
Wikipedia
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Active Years:
2006 - 2025
Total Games:
2004
Wins:
841 (42%)
Losses:
398 (20%)
Draws:
765 (38%)
Total score:
61%
Performance :
Performance for the last active 12 months:
2694
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 (22 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.

Every chart point has info (FIDE Rating, Date, Rank, Age). Click on the chart to compare the player with any other top player.

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Games

#White PlayerRatingBlack PlayerRatingResultMovesSiteDate 
101Rapport, Richard2717Bartel, Mateusz26601/2-1/237Prague28 Feb 2024
102Gukesh, Dommaraju2743Rapport, Richard27171/2-1/240Prague27 Feb 2024
103Kollars, Dmitrij2633Rapport, Richard27521/2-1/234Germany25 Feb 2024
104Rapport, Richard2752Abdusattorov, Nodirbek27161/2-1/222Germany24 Feb 2024
105Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo2615Rapport, Richard27520-140Germany23 Feb 2024
106Rapport, Richard2731Indjic, Aleksandar25891/2-1/234Samarkand30 Dec 2023
107Rapport, Richard2731Tomashevsky, Evgeny26811-061Samarkand30 Dec 2023
108Carlsen, Magnus2830Rapport, Richard27311-057Samarkand30 Dec 2023
109Rapport, Richard2731Sindarov, Javokhir27011-049Samarkand30 Dec 2023
110Radjabov, Teimour2723Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/222Samarkand30 Dec 2023
111Rapport, Richard2731Shimanov, Aleksandr25781-052Samarkand30 Dec 2023
112Vasquez Schroder, Rodrigo Rafael2475Rapport, Richard27310-128Samarkand30 Dec 2023
113Tabatabaei, Mohammad Amin2692Rapport, Richard27311-029Samarkand30 Dec 2023
114Rapport, Richard2731Aravindh, Chithambaram VR26461-049Samarkand30 Dec 2023
115Vokhidov, Shamsiddin2596Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/258Samarkand30 Dec 2023
116Rapport, Richard2731Riazantsev, Alexander26160-172Samarkand29 Dec 2023
117Nepomniachtchi, Ian2771Rapport, Richard27311-071Samarkand29 Dec 2023
118Rapport, Richard2731Sjugirov, Sanan27031/2-1/269Samarkand29 Dec 2023
119Rapport, Richard2731Rakhmanov, Alexander26141-035Samarkand29 Dec 2023
120Gukesh, Dommaraju2720Rapport, Richard27310-146Samarkand29 Dec 2023
121Rapport, Richard2748Christiansen, Johan Sebastian25411/2-1/264Samarkand29 Dec 2023
122Idani, Pouya2602Rapport, Richard27310-135Samarkand29 Dec 2023
123Rapport, Richard2731Ruck, Robert25311-034Samarkand29 Dec 2023
124Predke, Alexandr2689Rapport, Richard27311-072Samarkand29 Dec 2023
125Rapport, Richard2731Dardha, Daniel25981-035Samarkand29 Dec 2023
126Khusnutdinov, Rustam2429Rapport, Richard27310-146Samarkand29 Dec 2023
127Dubov, Daniil2710Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/215Samarkand28 Dec 2023
128Rapport, Richard2731Sandipan, Chanda24861-020Samarkand28 Dec 2023
129Predke, Alexandr2689Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/225Samarkand28 Dec 2023
130Rapport, Richard2731Pichot, Alan26511-082Samarkand28 Dec 2023
131Korobov, Anton2672Rapport, Richard27311-053Samarkand27 Dec 2023
132Rapport, Richard2731Xu, Xiangyu26231/2-1/250Samarkand27 Dec 2023
133Najer, Evgeniy2663Rapport, Richard27310-127Samarkand27 Dec 2023
134Rapport, Richard2731Paravyan, David26121/2-1/289Samarkand27 Dec 2023
135Cheparinov, Ivan2663Rapport, Richard27311-025Samarkand26 Dec 2023
136Rapport, Richard2731Matlakov, Maxim26701/2-1/242Samarkand26 Dec 2023
137Ponkratov, Pavel2608Rapport, Richard27310-134Samarkand26 Dec 2023
138Rapport, Richard2731Pantsulaia, Levan25611-031Samarkand26 Dec 2023
139Asadli, Vugar Afgan Oglu2562Rapport, Richard27310-127Samarkand26 Dec 2023
140Gelfand, Boris2660Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/259Baku11 Dec 2023
141Rapport, Richard2731Erigaisi, Arjun Kumar27271-030Baku11 Dec 2023
142Rapport, Richard2731Van Foreest, Jorden26791-035Baku11 Dec 2023
143Radjabov, Teimour2723Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/240Baku11 Dec 2023
144Rapport, Richard2731Mamedov, Rauf26510-172Baku11 Dec 2023
145Suleymanli, Aydin Elshan2609Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/259Baku11 Dec 2023
146Rapport, Richard2731Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi27371/2-1/283Baku11 Dec 2023
147Abasov, Nijat Azad2641Rapport, Richard27310-122Baku11 Dec 2023
148Rapport, Richard2731Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar27231/2-1/271Baku11 Dec 2023
149Rapport, Richard2731Gelfand, Boris26601/2-1/251Baku11 Dec 2023
150Erigaisi, Arjun Kumar2727Rapport, Richard27311/2-1/253Baku11 Dec 2023
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