"I'm very sad to hear about the passing of Vugar Gashimov, one of the most talented & original players I've met. He was always friendly with everyone and always smiling. I have many good memories with him from tournaments, especially in the Amber tournaments.
Magnus Carlsen posted on his Facebook page: "Having a great time at the beautiful Kragerø Resort! And brave enough to jump from 5 meters (they didn't have 10)!"
GM Laurent Fressinet (France) and Jon Ludvig Hammer (Norway) are with Carlsen in Kragero to help in preparation for the World Championship match. The video with these two seconds and Magnus were published on Carlsen's Facebook page today. On the photo the challenger plays blitz against Fressinet.
The official opening ceremony of the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship was held today in Hotel Radisson located in Astana. The event was attended by Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov , FIDE President and Almazbek Atambayev, the President of Kygystan.
On his Facebook page, Magnus Carlsen shared some photos and impressions of how he spent his time in Wolfsburg, with the reigning world rally champion, Sebastian Ogier.
Mark Crowther, the journalist, wrote on his Twitter page: "Ian Nepomniachtchi has now secured a visa to help Magnus in London." He also retwitted Magnus Carlsen's answer: "I'm very happy that Ian got a visa in the end."