The second edition of the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship began today in Goa, alongside the FIDE World Cup, bringing together leading international companies to compete for a World Championship title. The event highlights how chess is becoming part of modern workplaces and offers employee teams a global stage to represent their organisations.
This year’s finals feature 11 teams, selected from hundreds of companies through online qualifiers and joined by a few invited wild cards. The field spans technology, finance, consulting, engineering, and fast-growing firms from emerging markets. The FWCCC has a clear identity: only true corporate teams take part. Every player is a full-time employee, manager, or board member, and organisations directly connected to chess are not eligible.
At the opening ceremony, FIDE Secretary General Lukasz Turlej welcomed participants, saying: “On behalf of the International Chess Federation, I am happy to welcome everyone to Goa. This championship connects the corporate world with the universal language of chess in a special way. We appreciate the All India Chess Federation, the Goa Chess Federation, the Government of Goa, and the Prime Minister of India for enabling us to hold this event here. The corporate chess community is growing quickly, and I am confident we will keep developing these initiatives together in the future. I wish all the teams great games in this unique place, the home of the World Cup and many of the world’s top players this month.”
Format
The 11 teams play a two-day group stage followed by knockout playoffs on Sunday. All matches use a rapid time control of 10 minutes plus a 3-second increment across four boards. The group stage is a round-robin, with match points deciding the standings and game points as the secondary tiebreak.
After Saturday’s group stage, the top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals.
POOL A — Morgan Stanley sets the pace
Pool A completed the first half of its double round-robin today. Standings after Day 1:
- Morgan Stanley — 10 MP / 17 GP
- Deloitte 1 — 7 MP / 13.5 GP
- Microsoft — 7 MP / 12 GP
- UBS — 4 MP / 10 GP
- Tech Mahindra — 2 MP / 7 GP
- Equity Bank Kenya — 0 MP / 0.5 GP
Morgan Stanley swept all five matches, scoring 4–0 against Tech Mahindra and Equity Bank Kenya and earning decisive wins over Microsoft, Deloitte 1, and UBS. GM Peter Acs, GM Joshua Sheng, IM Peter Lizak, and FM Gabor Szamoskozi collected 17 gamepoints, the highest of the day.
Deloitte 1 and Microsoft remain close in the race for second, drawing their head-to-head match. UBS secured an important victory over Tech Mahindra, while the wild-card teams from India and Kenya fought hard throughout the round.
POOL B — GRECO perfect, Google and J.P. Morgan close behind
With five teams, Pool B played four rounds today. Standings after Day 1:
- GRECO — 10 MP / 15 GP
- Google — 8 MP / 10.5 GP
- J. P. Morgan — 6 MP / 6.5 GP
- Deloitte 2 — 4 MP / 6 GP
- ERG — 2 MP / 2 GP
GRECO delivered a flawless day, winning all four matches and conceding only half a gamepoint across the entire pool. GM Volodymyr Onyshchuk led the team on board one, supported by three International Masters who ensured stability on every board.
Google secured second place with a 4–0 win over J.P. Morgan in the last round. J.P. Morgan, featuring FM Agustin Ambrogi and FM Ramon Lorente Pupo, finished third after solid results against Deloitte 2 and ERG.
Although none of the players are professionals, the level of play was high, with experienced club players and titled competitors representing some of the world’s most recognisable companies. The games were sharp, the atmosphere focused, and the engagement evident.
The group stage concludes on Saturday morning with the second half of the double round-robin. With Morgan Stanley and GRECO leading their pools and several challengers still within reach, the race for the title of The Smartest Company in the World remains wide open.
Written by Charlize van Zyl, FIDE Press Officer (Goa, India)
Photos: Michal Walusza