The qualifying tournament for the Rapid World Championship has started in Astana. 30 players will decide the best three in a Swiss tournament over two days (2 and 3 July); those three will get places in the final.
Five out of nine rounds happened yesterday, but the official site didn't show them live. The Russian Igor Kurnosov is leading with 4 points out of 5. The rating-favourite Dmitry Andreikin has 3.5 points, same as Alexander Moiseenko, Vladislav Tkachiev, Aleksey Dreev and Nikolai Chadaev.
The remaining four rounds will be played today.