Richard Rapport is a Hungarian Chess Grandmaster. Rapport currently has FIDE ratings over the 2700 thresh hold, making him one of the few players on the list of Chess Super Grandmasters. For more information on FIDE ratings, see the step-by-step guide on how to get a FIDE rating.
Full name: Richard Rapport
Title: Grandmaster
Born: May 25th, 1996
Place of birth: Szombathely
Profiles
Ratings
World Ranking: #5
Rapid: 2785
Blitz: 2646
Classical: 2277
Biography
Richard Rapport was taught to play chess by his biological father after his father was concerned about his concentration in his studies at the primary level. His commitment to teaching his son how to play chess was bearing fruits as Richard began to dominate the junior events. However, their country Hungary had not embraced chess as a game, so it had no worldwide recognition in the game.
Although there were other chess gurus before him, Judit Polgar, together with Peter Leko, who in their times had set a record of the youngest people to become grandmasters, Richard was able to go past them by gaining the title grandmaster at the age of 14 years.
Know this Hungarian player has undergone a lot of progress both in his game plan and physical appearance. He has been able to almost outwit any player that comes against him. His politeness and shyness have become his strength as a charm that has attracted a lot of interest and funs him. He can communicate fluently both in English and Germany. Though he is among the most polite and calm chess players who have not been swayed by the fame into the luxurious life like many young successful players, he does not shy away from speaking of his glory and victories. In an interview after winning one of his matches in 2013, he said that far he was pleased by his performance, that he had been able to acquire 70 points within just five months, and that he would continue with his commitment to playing chess until he got to the top ranks. And surely, he is already at the top rank of the grandmasters as one of the youngest players in the rank. He was now fulfilling his prophecy in 2013.
Achievements
In many of the matches he has played recently, he has been among the top positions on the tables. He has been sharing the table in a game with the most experienced chess players at the grandmaster level. In 2011, he faced his greatest disappointment when he lost the World’s junior championship to the grandmaster Alexander Ipatov. Ipatov carried the gold home after a tie break with Richard Rapport of a 13 to 10.0, and Ipatov was declared the winner.
He again lost in January of 2013 in the group B competitions held in Wijk aa Zee. This time, the tie break was relatively bigger when he lost to Najdich with a tie break of 9.0 to 13. And here, his former competitor in the Junior levels, Alexander Ipatov, was among the last competitors in this competition. The competition involved 14 players, and Ipatov was in position 13. Group B was the first time Rapport participated in a major world-class competition. His game met the comments like Rapport was the man to watch in that competition. In addition, the commentators also suggested that Rapport would be the next youngest breakthrough to the Grandmaster level.
It did not even take more than two months that Rapport, in the March of 2013, in the Neckar openings in Germany, emerged the winner with a broken tie of 7.0 to 9. He was followed by Bacrot, Naiditsch, and Solodovnichenko as the third.
Also, in the Balgana tournament that followed, he won and became a qualifier. Through his qualification, he left behind Barcot, Tkachiev, Freycinet, and Svetushkin. However, in the Barcot knockout stage, he was knocked out. In the 21st Sigeman tournament in Malmo, held in May 2013, Richard made it to the first position together with Nigel Short, not leaving behind Nils Grandelius with a tie break of 4.5 to 7. At this time, Rapport got one of his best tie breaks against Short and Grandelius during their confrontations.
He went to play in France in the French team competitions championship. At this time, Rapport won a gold medal after his third board when he got a score of 8.5 to 10, which was the highest score for his team that led to their team’s victory in the competition for the twelfth time. He emerged as the best player of the month.
He played for the Werder Bremen in the Germany league before being snatched by the Hockenheim. When he played for the Werder, he did not lose, not even a single game that gave him an additional five points. He ranked second in the league behind Anatoly Karpov, but this was in the absence of the previous world champion. They were supposed to be playing with on board one.
Following his good performance in his matches and different competitions, the rating of Rapport has been gradually increasing as he is now at 2277 as his latest classical position by FIDE in the Grandmasters rank.
His favorite chess players are Grischuk, Fischer, and Ivanchuk, as he termed their moves and game plan to be amazing. He is currently training with Laurent Fressinet, a Hungarian Olympic player grandmaster Robert Ruck and Markus Ragger.
The Hobbies and interests of Rapport
Besides just chess, Rapport is also involved in sports like football, gym, bike riding, and playing with his brother and sisters. Before he goes for a game, he loves to watch comic movies, which helps him relax and get rid of the pre-game stress and pressure. Traveling is also his hobby, and his professionalization in playing chess has facilitated a lot of his travel to many parts of the World when he is going for his competitions.
Rapport recognizes his father, Tamas Rapport, as the great influence and the driving force towards his success in the profession of chess. Since Rapport could not have full-time access to post-primary education, he was doing his high school examinations every six months until he was done.
Through determination and perseverance, Richard Rapport has been able to become that successful in his career. And above all, he has been dedicated to the chess game, and the results are amazing. Undoubtedly, he was destined to be one of the best in the history of Chess.
Did you enjoy reading about Richard Rapport? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Bobby Fischer, Daniil Dubov, and Hans Niemann.
Sources and Footnotes
1. https://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=685March 2022
2. ” http://www.chess.com/news/european-blitz–rapid-championships-titles-for-korobov–rapport-8646. Chess.com. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
3. Doggers, Peter (29 May 2013). ” http://www.chessvibes.com/rapport-wins-21st-sigeman-co-on-tiebreak”. ChessVibes. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
4. http://players.chessdom.com/richard-rapport-gotth-art-kupa” http://players.chessdom.com/richard-rapport-gotth-art-kupa. Chess News. 2018-01-07. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
5. “https://web.archive.org/web/20130809021811/http:/www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4006165/rich%C3%A1rd-rapport-grandmaster-at-thirteen.aspx”. Archived from http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4006165/rich%C3%A1rd-rapport-grandmaster-at-thirteen.aspx on 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
6. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705390. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjan_Kova%C4%8Devi%C4%87 (4 January 2018). https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/395914/Sportske-price/Zbog-velemajstorske-ljubavi-stanovnik-naseg-glavnog-grada”. Politika (in Serbian).
8. ” https://worldchess.com/news/all/rapport-and-nakamura-qualify-for-the-2022-candidates-tournament/”. worldchess.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
9. http://sakkblog.reblog.hu/cimke/Zalakarosi+Sakkfesztiv%C3%A1l+2017