With just two draws and ten victories in 12 matches, the team WR Chess won the inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Championship, securing the title with a round to spare. Team Freedom finished second, while the Indian squad of MGD1 was third

Altogether, WR Chess secured 22 matchpoints, Freedom finished on 20, and third-placed MGD1 had 18.

The champion was decided in round 11 after WR Chess won their match and second-placed Freedom drew, which meant they couldn’t catch up.

The first place in the event also comes with a cup, medals and a prize of 100,000 Euros. Second-placed Freedom received 60,000 Euros, while MGD1 won 40,000 Euros. There were three more prizes: Team Armenia received 25,000 Euros after clinching fourth place, while the team of Germany and Friends staged a great surprise, ending in fifth place and winning 12,500 Euros.

The energetic team of Columbus Energy Kings Of Chess from Kraków won 12,500 Euros as the best-performing team with a rating below 2400. The special prize for the best game by a youngster was won by eleven-year-old Christian Glöckler from Hesse, one of the great talents of German chess, who is ranked fifth in the world in his age group. The CEO of WR Group, Wadim Rosenstein, presented Glöckler with the “Rainer Niermann Cup” for his victory over South African GM Kenny Solomon.

In an event that saw amateurs play side by side with world champions and super strong grandmasters, where even the president of FIDE took part (on the amateur board), the spirit of FIDE’s motto Gens Una Sumus (“We are one family”) shined throughout.

The CEO of WR Group (the event sponsor) and player, Wadim Rosenstein, expressed his satisfaction with the positive reception of his idea for an open-world rapid chess championship:

“It was marvellous to gather so many chess stars in one place, and I believe everyone not only appreciated it but also truly enjoyed the experience.”

When asked about his feelings on winning the inaugural World Championship title, Rosenstein’s response was succinct yet candid: “It was stressful.”

Reflecting on the effort he and his team invested in securing first place in this fiercely competitive field, Rosenstein further shared: “We dedicated extensive hours of hard work. I am deeply grateful to [team captain] Jan Gustaffson, whose guidance was instrumental in enhancing my understanding of chess. I personally devoted countless hours to chess preparation. My gratitude extends to the entire team whose collective support brought us to this point. Every moment spent together was enjoyable, and I cherish the incredible time we had as a team.”

Final standings:

The complete final standings of the World Rapid Team Championship can be found here.

How WR Chess won first place

WR Chess won in 10 of the 12 matches, defeating all of the top-placed teams except Armenia, who held them to a draw in round 10. This includes convincing victories over runners-up Freedom (5:1, in Round 5) as well as the exceptionally strong teams of Kompetenzakademie Allstars (5.5-0.5, in Round 8) and ASV AlphaEchecs Linz (5-1, in Round 11).

The first time Jan Gustafsson’s team had problems was in Round 10 when Vincent Keymer made a last-minute save to avoid losing to team Armenia.

Round 11 was crucial – WR Chess defeated ASV AlphaEchecs Linz with 5:1, coming up to 21 matchpoints. Meanwhile, Freedom, the sole team with the potential to challenge the lead, had to settle for a draw in their match against the Chess Pensioners. This outcome assured WR Chess of clinching the championship title regardless of the final round’s outcome – a remarkable feat in the face of a highly competitive field of players.

The sweet taste of victory almost turned sour as the team were struggling in the last round against the squad of the Berlin Chess Federation but managed to hold a draw.

Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, R Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer, Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk (ranked in the order of the boards they were playing) are all giants of chess. To see them play together as a team is a thrilling spectacle, captivating for any lover of the black-and-white game.

The team started preparing early – meeting in Dubai in June for a training camp and building up the team spirit, getting a feel for one another.

With the help of businessman Wadim Rosenstein on the board 6 and steered by the great German GM Jan Gustaffson as team captain, the ten proved to be the Dream Team of chess, almost gliding through the event in the face of serious competition from a host of teams made up of super Grandmasters and strong players on all boards.

 How rounds 9 to 12 unfolded:

With four rounds left to play, the final leg of the inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Championship saw several twists and turns as the teams were having their final chance to improve their performance.

WR Chess – which had won all eight matches in the previous two days – started strongly in Round 9, defeating Chess Pensioners with 3.5-2.5. In that match, WR’s Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Peter Svidler in an impressive game. The second-placed team, Freedom, defeated Ashdod Elit Chess Club by 4.5-1.5. The round also saw an Indian duel between third-placed Team MGD1 and Six-pack, which ended 5-1. Following Round 9, WR Chess maintained their lead with a three-matchpoint advantage over the second-placed team, Freedom and were five points ahead of third-placed MGD1.

Round 10 brought an upset: After a nine-match victory run, WR Chess were finally stopped. The very strong team of Armenia took them by surprise and was on the brink of winning. First, WR Chess Wesley So had a quick draw with Gabriel Sargissian. Then, Alberto Atoyan defeated WR’s Wadim Rosenstein to help Armenia take the lead. Kosteniuk managed to strike back for WR by defeating Elina Danielian, but then Shant Sargsyan held Jan-Krzysztof Duda to a draw with black pieces. Now, Vincent Keymer had to win his game against Samvel Ter-Sahakyan just to save a team draw. In a tense duel where Black ended up with a rook and a knight for a queen, despite time trouble, Keymer managed to secure victory and save his team’s face.

In the meantime, Freedom continued their push and defeated Six-pack 3,5:2,5 while third-placed Team MGD1 were held to a draw by the Germany and Friends squad. Despite the order of the top three teams not changing after this round, Freedom was trailing WR by one matchpoint, while Team MGD1 maintained third position and Armenia sprung to fourth place.

Round 11 turned out to be decisive for first place. WR Chess comfortably defeated ASV AlphaEchecs Linz (5:1), coming up to 21 matchpoints and Freedom – the only team who had a chance to catch up – drew their match against the Chess Pensioners. With 18 matchpoints, they were three points behind the leaders, meaning that even if Freedom won and WR Chess lost in the final round, team WR would still be first. Team MGD1 was confident against Columbus Energy Kings Of Chess from Kraków, defeating them 5:1 and solidifying their third place. Still, to get the bronze medal, the Indian team had to win in the last round as the teams of Armenia and Germany and Fiends were just one matchpoint behind.

In the final round, WR Chess faced a challenging match against the Berlin Chess Federation. Alexandra Kosteniuk managed to save a lost game against Elisabeth Paehtz, while Vincent Keymer suffered a defeat at the hands of more than 300 points lower-rated IM Lagunov, with WR’s last board Wadim Rosenstein also losing. As Wesley So drew on board one, the team was saved by youngsters Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov, who won their games. 

Freedom’s captain Emil Sutovsky decided to get involved directly and play but only managed only a draw after misplaying in a better position against more than 250 points lower-rated IM Christian Braun. Still, Freedom won their match against Düsseldorfer Schachklub 1914/25, securing second place. Team MGD1 defeated the Chess Pensioners 4:2 to clinch third place. The Pensioners finished the event in sixth place.

Here follows a closer look at some of the games from the first day of the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship:

In Round 9 Ian Nepomniachtchi outplayed his compatriot Peter Svidler in the King’s Gambit Accepted.

Nepomniachtchi was pushing from the very start, but Svidler was holding his ground. White has a better pawn structure and his pieces seem better coordinated for an attack. Still, Black is OK after the accurate 16…Re8. Svidler, however, missed a tactical subtlety and ended up losing.

16…Qb8?? 17.Nd6! Moving the knight to active position and attacking Black’s e5-knight. 17…f6 18.Qe4! White has a crushing attack.

18… g6 (if 18…Nxd3 then 19.Rxd3 f5 20.Qe6+ Kh8 21.Rb3 Qd8 22.h6! winning) 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Rh6 Qxd6 21.Bc4+ Kg7 22.Rxg6+ and here Svidler had enough of suffering and surrendered. 1-0

In the first setback for WR Chess, in round 10 they drew with team Armenia. During the match, they were losing and only equalized when Vincent Keymer won his game. While Nepomniachtchi has been a strong pillar of WR Chess’ success, in this match he suffered his first defeat in the tournament.

Playing as Black against team Armenia’s Haik Martirosyan, Nepomniachtchi was slightly weaker throughout.

Black has doubled pawns on the h-file and a more exposed king. Still, it looks like Black can hold after 29…Kc7, but it is not that easy to find. Nepomniachtchi’s focus finally broke as he started making mistakes.

29…Rg5? This active move failed to 30.Ne2! Be3 31.f4 Rg7? A costly error for Black. Ian’s only chance was 31…Bd5 although after 32.Bxd5 Rxd5 33.Rxh4 White is clearly better. Now, Black’s pieces are hanging all over the board.

32.Rh3 Nf6 33.Bc3 Nxe4 34.Bxg7 Nd2+ 35.Ka1 Nf1 36.Rf3 With another piece about to fall and already an exchange down, Nepo had no choice but to resign. 0-1

WR Chess’ R Praggnanandhaa defeated Etienne Bacrot ASV AlphaEchecs Linz in a miniature in round 11.

Bacrot (as Black) sacrificed a pawn in the London System and got sufficient compensation. However, a single mistake cost him dearly.

Black has nothing to complain about after 14…Bxd2 15.Rxc8 Rxc8 16.Nxd2 Bc2+, etc. Instead, Etienne played 14…Bd5?? which failed to 15.Ba6! Bxa2 Black can’t move the rook from the c-file, whereas 15…Rc6 is met by 16.Bb7.

16.Bxc8 Rxc8 17.Kd2 Nd6 White is now an exchange up and pinning Black’s pieces on the c-file. In the next few moves, White aligned his rooks and the c3-bishop was doomed.

Bacrot resigned on move 24. 1-0

Written by Milan Dinic

Photos: Mark Livshitz and Niki Riga

About the event

The World Rapid Team Championship is taking place between the 26th and the 28th August.

The event consists of 12 rounds played under the Swiss System. The first named team in a pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and the black pieces on the even-numbered boards.

The time control will be 15 minutes, with a 10-second increment from move one.

The scoring will be based on matchpoints: a win scores two points, a draw scores one point and a loss means zero points.

The team with the highest number of matchpoints in the relevant final standings shall be declared World Rapid Team Champion.

The tournament will feature a 250,000 Euro prize fund.

Event website: worldrapidteams2023.fide.com/

You can follow the event live on FIDE’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/watch?v=25bPhnrg9wc&ab_channel=FIDEchess

In a second day of total domination, WR Chess won all four matches and are the only team with a perfect 100 per cent score

With a total of 16 matchpoints, WR Chess maintains a three-matchpoint lead over the second-placed Freedom team. Following closely are three teams tied at 11 matchpoints: MGD1, Ashdod Elit Chess Club, and Six-pack. The current standings suggest that WR Chess, holding a three-matchpoint lead over Freedom and a five-matchpoint lead over the third-placed teams, could potentially secure victory before all rounds are completed.

Today’s direct duel between the frontrunners WR Chess and Freedom ended with a crushing 5-1 victory for the squad captained by GM Jan Gustafsson. WR Chess also defeated third-placed Team MGD1 – by 3.5-2.5 in Round 6. Given that Freedom and MGD1 were closest to catching up with WR Chess, the outcome of their direct duels will certainly have an impact on the final standings, even if WR slip on day three.

The key performers in the WR Chess team are Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan-Krzysztof Duda who are on 5.5 out of six games they have played. Additionally, WR Group’s CEO Wadim Rosenstein, who also sponsors the event, contributed significantly to the team’s success, winning five out of eight games as an amateur board.

After a crushing loss in round five, team Freedom rebounded, winning the remaining three matches of the day and solidifying their hold on the second place. Daniil Dubov is the top performer in the team, with 5.5 out of eight.

Team MGD1 experienced mixed results, finishing the day in shared third place after losing two out of four matches. With other teams closely trailing, MGD1 will need to maintain their momentum to secure a top-three finish.

Rounds five to eight: A closer look

The frontrunners from day one – WG Chess and Freedom met in round five, at the start of the second day of the championship. In a tense match, the tournament leaders WG Chess dominated the top-rated tournament team captained by Emil Sutovsky. Apart from Anand and Dubov who drew their games, all other Freedom boards lost. This was a significant milestone for WG Chess having scored a confident victory over their main competitor in the event.

The Indian team of MGD1 – who started the day in second place – had a narrow victory over ASV AlphaEchecs Linz (3.5-2.5), with Nihal Sarin losing to Alexander Grischuk after ending a piece down. In another slim victory, team Armenia prevailed over Columbus Energy Kings Of Chess from Kraków with 3.5-2.5. While there were no major surprises, among the top players, Fabiano Caruana found himself in serious trouble against Egypt’s Ahmed Adly but managed to win.

In Round 6, Team Freedom bounced back, scoring a convincing victory over the team of the Berlin Chess Federation, with 5.5-0.5. In that match, Freedom’s Polina Shuvalova won in great style against the top German women’s player Elisabeth Paehtz, sacrificing the same knight twice. WR Chess continued their winning streak, but this time only with a minimum margin – 3.5-2.5 – beating the very strong majority-Indian squad of Team MGD1, thus eliminating another contender for the top place.

The Chess Pensioners suffered a humiliating defeat in the round, losing 5:1 to Kompetenzakademie Allstars. Apart from Dominguez holding compatriot Caruana to a draw, Pensioners’ Peter Svidelr lost to Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik was beaten by Gukesh D. In a huge upset of the round, Egyptian GM Ahmed Adly (rated 2557) lost to more than 200 points lower-rated German FM Bennet Hagner, after misplaying in the middlegame. Following Round 6, the team of Germany and Friends sprung to second place, after winning two rounds – against Ashdod Elit Chess Club (in round five) and the very strong team of Armenia (in round six).

In Round 7, Freedom defeated ASV AlphaEchecs Linz while Team MGD1 outplayed the squad of Armenia. Both Freedom and MGD1 had an equal number of points and were sharing second place. WR Chess continued its impressive run, beating Germany and Friends by 4-2, and maintaining their 100% score in match victories. Despite the loss, Germany and Friends were fourth in the rankings. In this round, 2641-rated GM Pavel Eljanov lost to 200 points lower-rated Alexander Krastev.

In the final round of the day, WR Chess secured another convincing victory, defeated Kompetenzakademie Allstars (featuring superstars such as Caruana, Aronian and Gukesh) by 5.5:0.5 and finishing the second day in a row winning all of their matches. Freedom was better than Germany and Friends (4.5-1.5), managing to clinch second place and pushing the German team out of the top three. Team MGD1 slipped in the final round of the day against Ashdod Elit Chess Club. With all first five boards drawing their games, the balance shifted on the amateur board where Peter Anand (rated 1901) lost to 1600-player Daniel Blonder. The defeat relegated MGD1 from second to third place.

Standings after Day 2 (top 10):

Here follows a closer look at some of the games from the first day of the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship:

Fabiano Caruana (who is playing for the Kompetenzakademie Allstars team, alongside heavyweights Levon Aronian and Gukesh D), had another tricky start. After yesterday’s surprising draw in the first round with a significantly lower-rated player, today he was on the brink of losing with the white pieces to the well-known Egyptian GM Ahmed Adly.

The position is complicated but roughly even. Black’s queen is trapped in the centre and the king still hasn’t been moved to his castle. According to the computer, White has several interesting options maintaining the balance – 20.gxh4, Qe3 and Ne3 – to name a few.

Caruana decided to take on e4 and immediately entered an inferior position: 21.Bxe4? Bxe4 22.Nd2 Bc2 23.exd5. The best continuation for Black was to castle long with the idea of meeting 24.dxe7 with cold-blooded 24…Rde8! and Black wins an exchange by Bd3.

Now, however, Adly misplayed with 23…e5? letting a substantial part of his advantage slip away.  

24.Re3 0-0-0 And now another mistake by Caruana 25.Ne4?

According to the engines, the best way to play for both sides was: 25…Qxd5 26.Qa5 b6 27.Qxa7 Qb7 28.Qxb7+ Kxb7 29.f4 gxf3 30.Rfxf3 Bxe4 31.Rxe4 hxg3 with Black winning.

However, at this point, Adly not only dropped his advantage but misplayed so badly that turned his position from won to lost.

25…Bd3??

Caruana leapt at the opportunity with 26.Qa5! Kb8 27.Qc7+ Ka8 28.Nc5 Ba6 29.Nxa6 Qb6 If 29…bxa6 30.Rb1 and the black king is in a mating net.

30.Qxb6 axb6 31.Nc7+ and White is a piece up and completely winning. 1-0

A lucky break for Caruana at the start of the second day in Dusseldorf.

One of the most beautiful victories of the day was scored in round six by Freedom’s Polina Shuvalova who defeated top German woman player, Elisabeth Paehtz with a knight sacrifice.

Both sides made errors by the point when this position was reached, but Black (Paehtz) just moved her pawn to f6, which turned out to be fatal as it triggered a fierce attack-sacrifice combination.

23.Nf7!!

Black can’t take the “free” knight as after 23…Kxf7 24.e6+ Bxe6 25.Qxc7 and Black will lose her queen.

23…f5 was offering some hope for Black, but Paehtz played 23…fxe5 and now White was completely winning.

24.Nxe5 Be6 and now 25.Nxg6! Another sacrifice of the same knight.

25…Qxf4 26.Bxf4 Rb2 27.Nxh8 Bc8 28.Re7 Kxh8 29.Bh6 Ba6 30.Rce1 Rg8 31.Bf4 White is knitting a mating net around the black king which Paehtz could only stop by surrendering, which she did on move 36. 1-0

Round 7 saw another major upset where a notably lower-rated player defeated a strong GM. Pavel Eljanov (playing for the Ashdod Elit Chess Club) – who has won two team gold medals and one individual silver medal at the Chess Olympiads for Ukraine – lost to German IM Alexander Krastev rated 2460 (who is playing for Schachverein Hemer).

In an endgame where Black (Eljanov) was dominating, he misplayed allowing White first to equalise and then get into a winning position.

The position is even. White has an extra pawn but should be careful as the dark squares around his king are weak. With this in mind, 38.Qd5 offering the queen exchange was an optimal move for White. Krastev, however, completely ignored Black’s threats.

38.Bd5?? Bd6 Threatening checkmate. White is lost.

39.Kg1 f5 40.Rf3

Black is completely winning. After 40…Bc5, followed by Qa1+ or immediate 40…Qa1+ White’s king has no real protection. Instead of this, Eljanov went for a weaker move 40…Qh2+ 41.Kf1 Rb8 42.Bb7 Black now blundered with 42…Be5?? and the position is even.

43.exf5 exf5 44.d4 Bg3 45.Rxf5 Now both kings are exposed.

45…Qh1+ 46.Ke2 Qb1 47.Rf7 Rg8 48.Qf5 Qxf5 49.Rxf5

White now has the upper hand, with two extra pawns and is winning. Krastev struggled to convert but, eventually, came up with the right plan. He advanced his central pawn, king and rook before sacrificing a rook for a bishop and ending up completely winning. 1-0

In the final round of the day, the team WR Chess delivered a heavy blow to Kompetenzakademie Allstars, solidifying first place. Allstars’ Levon Aronian lost an even position after misplaying against Ian Nepomniachtchi.

The position is around even. Black has a very strong pawn on a2 and is threatening with 35…Bxc5+ followed by Rxc6. White has to think about how to proceed and the engines suggested 35.Bf3 as the most accurate.

Levon opted for more active but erroneous move that allowed Ian to deliver on his main threat.   

35.Bb5?? Bxc5+ 36.Bxc5 Ra5! 37.Bd4 Rxb5 and now Nepomniachtchi has removed all potential problems with the c-pawn, while a2-passer is rock solid. Despite the material equilibrium Black is winning as White’s pawns are too exposed. Nepomniachtchi had no problem in converting his advantage into a victory. 0-1

Written by Milan Dinic

Photos: Mark Livshitz and Niki Riga

About the event

The World Rapid Team Championship is taking place between the 26th and the 28th August.

The event consists of 12 rounds played under the Swiss System. The first named team in a pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and the black pieces on the even-numbered boards.

The time control will be 15 minutes, with a 10-second increment from move one.

The scoring will be based on matchpoints: a win scores two points, a draw scores one point and a loss means zero points.

The team with the highest number of matchpoints in the relevant final standings shall be declared World Rapid Team Champion.

The tournament will feature a 250,000 Euro prize fund.

Event website: worldrapidteams2023.fide.com/

You can follow the event live on FIDE’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/watch?v=25bPhnrg9wc&ab_channel=FIDEchess

From August 26-28, 2023, Düsseldorf will host a unique competition — the first World Team Rapid Chess Championship, organized by FIDE in partnership with WR Logistics GmbH.

The players will meet on August 26th at the Rheinterrasse, located on the banks of the Rhine in the heart of Düsseldorf.

Forty-three teams from all over the world will compete for a €250,000 prize fund, and the best team will receive the first prize of €100,000.

Each team consists of at least six players. It must include at least one female and one player who has never achieved a FIDE rating of 2000.

Match results depend on all players: 2 match points are given for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The team with the most match points will become the champion.

The World Rapid Team Chess Championship brings together teams with truly stellar lineups.

The championship will feature the world chess elite, including former world champions Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Mariya Muzychuk.

Contenders for the world chess crown, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, and Boris Gelfand, World Cup winners Levon Aronian, Peter Svidler, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda will participate in the event. Former world champions in rapid chess Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Daniil Dubov, will also come to Düsseldorf.

The reigning world blitz champion, Bibisara Assaubayeva, former world blitz champions Kateryna Lagno and Leinier Dominguez, will take part in the championship.

And finally, more than 15 winners of the Chess Olympiad registered. In total, about 300 participants are expected to fight for the world rapid team champion title.

According to the team average rating, clear favourites are:

WR Chess (Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R , Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Wadim Rosenstein);

Freedom (Richard Rapport, Viswanathan Anand, Daniil Dubov, Evgeniy Najer, Polina Shuvalova, Alexander Shapiro),

Kompetenzakademie Allstars (Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian,Gukesh D, Keti Tsatsalashvili, Rainer Becker, Manfred Schneider).

Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will lead the team with the funny name “Chess Pensioners“. Peter Svidler, Leinier Dominguez, Darmen Sadvakasov, Jovanka Houska, Christoph Barati, Dennis Koenig, Miron Ananiev, and Yaroslav Ananiev are the members of one of the strongest squads in the championship.

Let’s remember that in team competitions, the average rating is often not as important as team spirit and determination! With this in mind, several lower-rated teams also have a shot for the title. 

Given the long tournament distance of 12 rounds, all the top teams will definitely play against each other, so we are in for an exciting chess spectacle in Düsseldorf!

All info and media accreditation is available on the official website: 
worldrapidteams2023.fide.com

For additional media enquires please contact us at press@fide.com

 FIDE World Rapid Team Championship PROMO

WR Chess took the lead in the inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Championship after winning all of their matches

After four rounds of play, the team made up of top-world GMs such as Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, as well as two former Women World Champions, Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk, are in the lead having triumphed in all of their matches and have eight matchpoints. Notably, Wadim Rosenstein, the amateur board and CEO of event sponsor WR Group, significantly boosted team WR Chess’s performance by winning three out of four games.

In close pursuit are two teams, MGD1 and rating favourites Freedom, each with seven matchpoints after winning three matches and drawing one.

The top three are chased by Armenia, ASV AlphaEchecs Linz and Columbus Energy KingsOfChess from Krakówall garnering six points with three victories and one loss.

How the first four rounds unfolded

Round One saw favourites secure confident wins, including Freedom and ASV Alpha Chess Linz with perfect scores. Notably, several top grandmasters faced unexpectedly strong resistance, resulting in draws against lower-rated opponents.

In a dramatic upset, former World Champion Candidate Fabiano Caruana drew against FIDE Master Siem Van Dael, rated more than 500 points below him. But there were other notable surprises in round one: In the match between the exceptionally strong squad of Team MGD1 (which has an average rating of 2453) and the youth team of Deutsche Schachjugend 1, the 2320-eated IM Yevhenii Yelisieiev drew with the Indian super-GM Nihal Sarin who is rated 350 points higher. Team Armenia’s top player and very strong GM Gabriel Sargissian also surprised, drawing a 300-points lower rated MariusFrommof Doppelbauer Kiel.

Things started to get tougher in round two. Team Freedom had a tense match against Chessbrah OFM. Despite winning with 4:2, Freedom’s Polina Shuvalova misplayed against Sara Khadem. The WR Chess team won its second match with 4:2 but saw its top board Wesley So losing a game as Black against 236 points lower-rated Chithambaram Vr. Aravindh.

In the third round, the margin of victory became even thinner as the top teams started to clash: Freedom scored a narrow victory over team Armenia 3,5:2,5. The Indian squad Team MGD1 defeated the very strong Kompetenzakademie Allstars (who have Caruana and Aronian playing on the top two boards) with 4:2. ASV AlphaEchecs Linz (with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Grischuk as the top two boards) suffer a narrow defeat to Columbus Energy Kings Of Chess from Kraków who were led by Baadur Jobava. The outliers were the WR Chess team who had a comfortable 5,5:0,5 win against Ashdod Elit Chess Club (featuring some strong players, including Eljanov, Volokitin and Mariya Muzychuk).

Round four saw a first draw on the top boards: Freedom had a difficult battle with the Indian squad of Team MGD1 with the top three boards drawing (Anand – Harikrishna, Dubov – Sarin, Vidit – Erigaisi). Raunak Sadhwani scored a victory as Black against Richard Rapport but the victory on the amateur board saved Freedom from defeat. WR Chess, ASV AlphaEchecs Linz and team Armenia scored comfortable victories.

A curiously named team of Chess Pensioners – featuring former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik (on board three!) – and heavyweights Leinier Dominguez Perez (who is definitely not a chess pensioner as he most recently had a deep run in the World Cup in Baku) and Peter Svidler – had an interesting journey in the first day. They started slowly with two draws and then in round three had a convincing 5:1 victory against the team of Ukrainian amateurs, but in round four again drew their match. While Vladimir Kramnik finished the day with 3.5/4, their board one – Leinier Dominguez is only on 50% having lost two games.

Joining the buzz of the event, even FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich took part in the games, showing his chess skills. In round four, playing with FIDE’s Management Team on board six, as an amateur player, Dvorkovich won against Iga Jasinska from team Sharks. Despite achieving a better position, Dvorkovich blundered and allowed Black to equalise, but luckily for him, the opponent passed on the opportunity.

Round five will start with a direct clash of tournament leaders – WR Chess and Freedom.

The complete pairings of round five can be found here.

The games continue on Sunday, 27th August from 1.30 PM CET.

Here follows a closer look at some of the games from the first day of the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship:

The biggest surprise of round one was Fabiano Caruana’s draw with a more than 500 points lower-rated Dutch player Siem Van Dael. Even with the black pieces, the game should have been a walk in the park for the former World Champion Candidate and the recent World Cup bronze medallist. However…

In the Sicilian defence Caruana was better throughout and achieved a winning position twice, but both times he misplayed badly and allowed the Dutch player to equalise.

Caruana just pushed his pawn to h3 to attack the white king. White had only one good place to put the king – on f2. Instead, he played 33.Kf1 after which Black was completely winning.

The most obvious line ended with White having to give up his queen: 33…Rxa6 34.bxa6 Rb1+ 35.Ke2 Qb5+ 36.Kd2 Rb2+ 37.Rc2 Rb3 38.Qxb3 Qxb3 39.f4.

Instead of this, Caruana played 33…Rxb5 giving White an important respite in the position. 34.Bxb5 Qxb5 35.Kf2

Caruana again played a weak move – 35…Ra6 Qb3 36.Qxb3? Rxb3 and now the position is even.

Luckily for Caruana, in the proceeding moves White misplayed his position and Black was again on the verge of victory.

Caruana completely misplayed with 49…Bc7 allowing White to capture the e4 pawn and save his skin.

50.Nxe4 Ra6 51.Rc8 Be5 and now 52.Ng5+ and collecting the h3 pawn as well. If anything, it seemed that White ended with more activity than Black.

Caruana pushed on a bit more but in the end, had to settle for a draw.

Wesley So (rated 2789) lost in round two to the young Indian GM Chithambaram VR.Aravindh rated 2553.

In an even position, instead of reserved 29…Nf6 Wesley So went for a dubious attack plan which resulted in a defeat.

29…Qh4 30.Ne5 Bxe5? And White is now better. 31.Rxe5 Nf6 32.f3 Qxe1 33.Rxe1 Rb8 34.Rc1 Be8 35.b5 h6 36.Bxd4

White has an extra pawn, a pair of bishops and winning position. So tried his last chance 36…Bxb5 but after 37.Rb1 the b5-bishop is trapped as there’s no protection for the rook on b8. 1-0

Polina Shuvalova of the team Freedom lost an even position to Sara Khadem.

The position is even. White should have kept her knight centralised and proceeded with 64.Rd8 to attack the bishop and harass Black’s rear.

Instead, Shuvalova played 64.Nc6??

After 64…Bb7 65.h6 Bxc6 66.Rxc6 b4 67.h7 Rh1 68.Ke5 b3 And Black is winning. The h7 pawn is controlled by Black’s rook on h1 and the b- and c-pawns are marching down towards promotion. Shuvalova was visually upset with the defeat as the team captain Emil Sutovsky immediately rushed to talk to her and help Shuvalova regain her balance.

Germany’s Vincent Keymer suffered a surprising defeat in round four after misplaying in an even position.

The position, arising from the English opening, is even. The most natural move for Keymer was 20.e3 to push black knight. Instead, Keymer was lost in just one move:

20.cxd5?? And now, he is lost as Black has a commanding initiative.

20…f5! 21.gxf5 Nxf5 22.Qg5 Nxd5 23.Qh6 Nxc3 24.Rd7 Ne2+ 25.Kf1 Rxc1 26.Bxc1 Nxc1 27.Ng5 The last desperate attempt after which White is facing a checkmate.

27…Bxg2 28.Ke1 Qe5+ Here Keymer resigned as after 29.Kd2 Qe2+ 30.Kxc1 Ba3+ 31.Kb1 Qb2# or if 29.Kd1 then 29…Qe2+ 30.Kxc1 Ba3+ 31.Kb1 Qb2#

Text: Milan Dinic

Photos: Mark Livshitz and Niki Riga

About the event

The World Rapid Team Championship is taking place between the 26th and the 28th August.

The event consists of 12 rounds played under the Swiss System. The first named team in a pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and the black pieces on the even-numbered boards.

The time control will be 15 minutes, with a 10-second increment from move one.

The scoring will be based on matchpoints: a win scores two points, a draw scores one point and a loss means zero points.

The team with the highest number of matchpoints in the relevant final standings shall be declared World Rapid Team Champion.

The tournament will feature a 250,000 Euro prize fund.

Event website: worldrapidteams2023.fide.com/

You can follow the event live on FIDE’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/watch?v=25bPhnrg9wc&ab_channel=FIDEchess

The first-ever World Rapid Team Championship is set to start in Dusseldorf, bringing together spectacular players from all across the globe

The stage is set for an unprecedented showdown from the 25th until the 29th of August as the chess elite will gather in Germany for the inaugural world team championship in rapid chess. Forty teams from all corners of the world are registered to take part in the tournament.

Stellar line-up

A number of the world’s strongest players are scheduled to take part in the event. The list of contenders reads like a “who’s who” of the chess world: Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Dudam Richard Rapport, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Daniil Dubov. Joining them will be two former world champions – Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik (who will be playing for the humorously named Chess Pensioners team) as well as the former World Champion Candidate, Nigel Short.

Among women players taking part are former World Champions Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Mariya Muzychuk, as well as strong woman players such as Kateryna Lagno, Elisabeth Paehtz, Harika Dronavali and Polina Shuvalova.

The full list of players taking part can be found here.

The frontrunners

Among the 40 teams taking part, there are two very strong contestants for first place.

With an average rating of 2542, the top favourite of the event is team “Freedom”, headed by Emil Sutovsky. With the likes of Vidit, Dubov, Rapport and Najer in the team, as well as Polina Shuvalova, they are the top team vying for first place. 

Another strong contender is the WT Chess Team. Made up of former Women’s World Champions Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk, two-time World Championship candidate Ian Nepomniachtchi and a list of super-strong young talents – Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, Keymer and Duda, they will be the team to watch out for.

However, the fact that each team has to have a recreational player in their ranks who has never achieved a rating of 2000 in any FIDE category will have a huge effect on the results.

The full list of teams, including team composition, can be found here.

Team structure

Each team will consist of at least six but no more than nine players. Apart from having to include at least one female player, for the first time in a high-level club event, teams will have to include a recreational player, who has never achieved a Standard, Rapid or Blitz FIDE rating of 2000 or more. The teams are not required to assign board numbers in rating order, which allows a chance for some unique board matchups, setting the scene for potential surprises.

Each match is played on six boards, which means that the team captains (who may also be players) can decide who will play and who will rest in their nine-member squad.

The format

The event  is 12-round Swiss tournament. The first named team in a pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and the black pieces on the even-numbered boards.

The time control will be 15 minutes, with a 10-second increment from move one.

The scoring will be based on matchpoints: a win scores two points, a draw scores one point and a loss means zero points. A team with the highest number of matchpoints in the relevant final standings shall be declared World Rapid Team Champion.

The regulations of the event can be found here.

Prizes

The tournament will feature a 250,000 Europe prize fund, with the prizes distributed in the following order:

In case of a tie, the prize money shall be distributed according to the tie breaks.

Event coverage

FIDE will be providing its coverage of the event with a dedicated live programme on FIDE’s official YouTube and Twitch channels. Commenting on the games will be our-time US champion and one of the most prominent chess figures GM Yasser Seirawan. He will be joined by GM Maurice Ashley and the European Women’s Individual Chess Champion, and a seven-time French Women’s Champion WGM Almira Skripchenko.

The venue & spectators

The tournament will be played in Dusseldorf’s Rheinterrasse (Address: Joseph-Beuys-Ufer 33, 40479 Düsseldorf), located right in the heart of Dusseldorf, directly on the Rhine.

Spectators who wish to follow the event can attend free of charge from 26-28 August, from 13:00 until the end of the games.

The entrance to the playing hall with smartphones or any other electronic devices will be prohibited. Such devices should be left in the lockers, which will be located outside of the playing area.

To get fast-track access to the event, click here.

Schedule:

August 25 — Arrival

August 29 — Departure

The organisation

The event is organised by FIDE in partnership with WR Group Holding GmbH – an international provider of certification, project logistics and customs services.

All official information about the tournament can be found on the event website: worldrapidteams2023.fide.com/

Text: Milan Dinic

From August 25-28, 2023, German Düsseldorf will host a unique competition, the inaugural edition of the World Rapid Team Championship, organized by FIDE in partnership with WR Group Holding GmbH. The 12-round Swiss tournament with rapid time control will see the squads from all over the world fight for the €250,000 prize fund, with the winners taking home €100,000.

The playing venue is  Rheinterrasse located right in the heart of Düsseldorf, directly on the Rhine.

The format

Each team shall be composed of at least six and not more than nine players, and it must include at least one female and one recreational player, who never achieved FIDE rating of 2000. 

Each match is played on six boards, with at least one female and one recreational player in every match. 

The time control: 15 minutes for the first with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from move 1. 

Matches are scored by match points, with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The team with the most match points will become the champion.

The teams 

The World Rapid Team Championship attracted several dozen squads, with some of them assembling stellar lineups. Based on average rating, there are as many as four clear favourites: WR Chess (Duda, So, Nepomniachtchi, Abdusattorov, Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R, Hou Yifan and Kosteniuk), Freedom (Rapport, Anand, Dubov, Najer, Shuvalova and Shapiro), Team MGD1 (Erigaisi, Sarin, Harikrishna, Sadhwani, Dronavalli) and Kompetenzakademie Allstars (Caruana, Aronian, Gukesh D, Tsatsalashvili).

Let’s not forget that in team events, average rating often is not as important as team spirit, camaraderie, grit and determination. Take, for example, Armenia’s three gold medals in the 2006, 2008 and 2012 Chess Olympiads. Another critical factor is the participation of recreational players in every match, which can add an element of unpredictability and serve as an equalizer in critical moments.

With this in mind, squads like Ashdod Elit Chess Club (headed by Pavel Eljanov), Armenia (that can easily represent the country in Chess Olympiads), ASV AlphaEchecs LINZ, Uzbekistan (basically the country’s national team minus Nodirbek Abdusattorov) and some other teams also have a shot for the title. 

Since this democratic competition is open to all, many teams consisting of low-rated and recreational players will participate. For them, the World Rapid Team Championship is a unique opportunity to face the best players in the world over the board and gain valuable experience. 

Given a long 12-round tournament distance, all the top teams are bound to play each other, so we can expect a riveting chess spectacle in Dusseldorf.

Check out all the registered teams and lineups on the official website.