Day two of the FIDE World Teams Rapid Championship brought unexpected turns, as underdogs broke through and favourites faltered.
With six match victories, one draw and one loss each, Hexamind and team MGD1 share first place with 13 matchpoints. Freedom and Uzbekistan follow closely behind, on 12, with Germany and Friends joining them after a standout performance. Tournament favourites WR Chess are in sixth place, with their title hopes dented by back-to-back losses.
More intensity and pressure
The stakes went up, and the matches became tougher as the FIDE World Rapid moved to its second day, with four more rounds taking place. The ceremonial first move was made by Lord Dafydd Wigley, a prominent Welsh and British politician between 1980 and 2000 and Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on chess in the British parliament.
Team MGD1 continued their strong performance, maintaining the lead through the day, winning two matches and drawing one. A key factor in MGD1’s success so far has been their amateur board player, Atharvaa P Tayade (rated 1952; pictured below), who has won all eight of his games.
After a draw with Freedom in round five, the Indian-led team overcame top seeds WR Chess in round six with 4:2. In round seven, following a tough match, MGD1 scored a narrow 3.5:2.5 victory over Germany and Friends (which moved up the scoreboard, stunning Freedom in round six and finishing the day with a confident 4.5:1.5 victory over Malcolm’s Mates).
However, in the final-eight round of the day, MGD1 was facing Hexamind. The team led by Levon Aronian had a great run on day two, drawing with Freedom and defeating WR and Turkish Airlines with 4:2, to reach second place before the final round.
Rating favourites WR had a bruising day. They started well with a victory over Malcolm’s Mates, but then had two back-to-back defeats in rounds six and seven, to MGD1 and Hexamind. A 4.5:1.5. victory in round eight against Barys from Kazakhstan helped salvage some ground.
In the final match of the day, Hexamind (with Volodar Murzin on board one instead of Levon Aronian) came out as winners, delivering a crushing 4:2 blow to MGD1, tying for first place.
Here follows a closer look at the developments in rounds five to eight in the FIDE World Rapid Teams Championship:
In round five, playing on the top tables, day one leaders Team MGD1 faced Freedom. Former World Champion Vishy Anand secured Freedom an early lead after dismantling world number three player, Arjun Erigaisi with black pieces. The match finished 3:3, with all other games ending in a draw, and Freedom’s non-professional player Sarbartho Mani succumbed to Atharvaa Tayade of MGD1.
The British squad Malcolm’s Mates put up a fierce fight against the tournament favourites WR Chess. WR’s top player Alireza Firouzja found himself with seconds on the clock in a very sharp position against Gawain Jones, but still managed to win. Hikaru Nakamura defeated England’s Michael Adams after playing better in time trouble. WR’s team owner and player on the non-professional board, Wadim Rosenstein – lost on the last board, but his team still won: 3.5:2.5, securing two matchpoints. With this victory, WR tied with MGD1 for first place.
KazChess dropped a win against Rishon LeZion Chess Club. The team from Kazakhstan were in the narrow lead as the last game of the match was played between former world champion candidate Boris Gelfand and world-class player Richard Rapport. Gelfand was pushing to swing the result in his team’s favour and, eventually, under time pressure, Rapport made a slip and lost.
Hexamind Chess Team drew with the squad of Uzbekistan, with Levon Aronian losing to Uzbek superstar Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
In other notable results from the round, Vincent Keymer lost to Alan Pichot despite playing with the white pieces. Nihal Sarin lost to the rising Argentinian prodigy Faustino Oro in a tense game. The 2702-rated super-GM Alexei Shirov lost as white to more than 200 points lower-rated Ameet K Ghasi.
Round six started with a minute of silence for the tragedy in India which happened on Thursday morning, after a London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 people crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, Western India.
After a draw with Freedom, Team MGD1 was playing WR Chess. The Indian team was pressed hard by WR as they created promising positions on most of the boards. However, as the round progressed, WR got only four draws and MGD1 scored a victory on board three, where David Anton outplayed Duda.
The last game of the round to finish was between WR’s Wadim Rosenstein and Atharvaa P Tayade of MGD1. Rosenstein found himself in a difficult position, but there was also a complaint from the opposing team relating to touch and play. The game ended with Rosenstein losing, securing a 4:2 victory for MGD1.
The round’s biggest upset came as Germany and Friends stunned Freedom, 3.5:2.5. Germany’s top player Vincent Keymer led his black pieces to victory against Freedom’s Rauf Mamedov on board one.
After starting the day with a loss, Malcolm’s Mates came back with a crushing 5.5:0.5 victory over Team Hungary.
One of the most exciting games of the day was played in the match between Hexamind and the Turkish Airlines Sports Club. On board one, 11-year-old Argentine prodigy Faustino Oro put up stiff resistance against the experienced heavyweight Levon Aronian. In a sharp endgame, Aronian (playing as Black) emerged with an extra pawn.
Under extreme time pressure, both played very precise moves, but Oro ultimately blundered. The final moves of the game saw Oro playing with a queen and a knight against two queens, with no pawns on the board. Despite the pressure, Aronian kept his nerves and scored a victory. Hexamind won the match 4:2.
In round seven, MGD1 continued their strong form in round seven, defeating Germany and Friends 3.5:2.5, though it was not without its challenges. Their top board, Arjun Erigaisi, lost to Vincent Keymer after blundering in an even endgame. On board three, Rasmus Svane also scored for Germany and Friends against David Anton. However, MGD1’s Pentala Harikrishna was confident against Matthias Bluebaum on board two. Again, the lower boards proved decisive for MGD1, as Leon Luke Mendonca and Atharvaa P Tayade secured victories.
The story was completely different for WR who, after a stumble against MGD1 in round six, lost again – this time to Hexamind. WR’s Alireza Firouzja was the only player to score a victory for his team, defeating Levon Aronian. However, Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So and Rosenstein all lost. Coupled with two more draws, the final score presented a crushing defeat.
On table three, Malcolm’s Mates held Uzbekistan to a 3:3 draw, allowing the British team to remain close to the top of the standings.
After losing in round six, Freedom rebounded with a dominant 4.5:1.5 victory over Hetman GKS Katowice, led by David Navara (who defeated Anand on the top board).
Round eight delivered the day’s biggest twist. Hexamind defeated MGD1 4:2 to draw level at the top.
Hexamind’s Anish Giri had a quick draw with David Anton and MGD1’s Atharvaa P Tayade continued their perfect performance, scoring their eighth victory. However, things then started to change for the Indian team: MGD1 lost on board two, where Leinier Dominguez Perez defeated Pentala Harikrishna. As Vidit drew with Pranav, Hexamind’s Divya Deshmukh defeated Stavroula Tsolakidou, ending her solid run of six draws. Finally, on board one Hexamind’s Volodar Murzin, with less than 10 seconds on the clock, refused a draw against Arjun Erigaisi and emerged victorious, finishing the match 4:2 in Hexamind’s favour, putting them in shared first place.
Freedom finished the day strong, with a 5:1 victory over KazChess. The only point scored for KazChess was by Rapport who defeated Rauf Mamedov on board one. WR made a comeback after two losses, defeating Barys.kz with 4.5:1.5. Still, WR’s 2718-rated Jan-Krzysztof Duda lost as White to 2324-rated IM Edgar Mamedov.
One of the last games to finish was between seasoned heavyweight Alexei Shirov and Uzbekistan’s prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The two drew following a marathon 112-move game which culminated in an endgame where Abdusattorov had a knight and a queen against Shirov’s queen and two pawns.
The final four rounds of the rapid take place on Friday, 13th June. The games start at 2 PM London time.
Written by Milan Dinic
Photos: Rafal Oleksiewicz
Official website: worldrapidblitzteams2025.fide.com/
About the event:
The third edition of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships is taking place in London, United Kingdom, between June 10 and 16, 2025.
The event is open to teams from all over the world. Teams can be made of club members, members of different federations or any other chess players. Altogether, 52 teams are taking part in the Rapid World Championship.
The total prize fund is €500,000 (£421,000), €310,000 will go to the Rapid tournament, €190,000 is earmarked for the Blitz.
