Latest news with #ArjunErigaisi
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Star-studded WR Chess repeat World Blitz title amid controversy in London
WR Chess, the star-studded world top 10 team, retained their World Team Blitz crown in London last week, but only after an almighty scare and with significant help from the appeals committee. WR had already been beaten for the World Rapid title by MGD1, a Pune-based group led by India's Arjun Erigaisi. WR lost 2-4 to Germany in their Blitz quarter-final, but got the match annulled on the grounds that they had been advised of the wrong start time so had arrived two minutes late for a three-minute game. All the other teams arrived on time. Advertisement WR stands for Wadim Rosenstein, a tech billionaire who plays on the amateur board of his team and who persuaded Fide to launch this new competition two years ago. His squad even included Magnus Carlsen until the No 1 fell out with Fide. WR Chess defeated Kazakhstan in the gold medal blitz match, with Hexamind third. Earlier, Erigaisi's MGD1 won Rapid gold, with Levon Aronian's Hexamind taking silver and Vishy Anand's Freedom winning bronze. Leading English teams disappointed, although all gained valuable experience against top opposition. The national squad, named Malcolm's Mates after England's international director, Malcolm Pein, suffered on the top boards in the Rapid as Luke McShane scored 2/9 and Gawain Jones 3/8, and never looked like matching their seeding of third. The Blitz went better, but in the last 16 Malcolm's Mates were paired against the WR Chess heavyweights and were overwhelmed 9.5-2.5. WR Chess had an epic group match against the all-junor Turkish Airlines squad, who rose to the occasion with an impressive performance. Advertisement Argentina's 11-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro drew easily with Russia's No 1, Ian Nepomniachtchi, then forecast himself to become world champion in 2032. The English teenagers Sohum Lohia and Indy Southcott-Moyers fought well against the world stars Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, China's Lu Miaoyi drew with the all-time No 2 woman, Hou Yifan, and, most remarkable of all, a little-known 13-year-old from Azerbaijan, Khagan Ahmad, beat the US world No 2 and popular streamer, Hikaru Nakamura, in a marathon 112-move queen ending. All six games of this match are here. Unknowns of all ages very occasionally catch top stars out, but it normally occurs due to a sudden tactic that the great one overlooks, not after a prolonged marathon with the loser fighting tooth and nail. For a historic comparison to Ahmad v Nakamura, whose final stages were filmed here, I think of David Bronstein Hugh Alexander, Hastings 1953-54. Several of the best-known world talents made significant advances in London. Besides Oro, the Turkish pair of Ediz Gurel and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus both totalled 8.5/12 in Rapid, while Russia's 10-year-old youngest ever IM, Roman Shogdzhiev, who Carlsen recently named, along with Erdogmus, as a potential world champion of the future, achieved a 2500 rating performance in Rapid. Many England juniors gained experience in the World Rapid and Blitz, but few could boast successes on the score table. The dedicated squads from Chess Trust Accelerators and the UK Chess Challenge could not match their more experienced opponents. Advertisement There was one exception, though. Bodhana Sivanandan, England's youngest ever Olympiad player, had her best result for many months. The 10-year-old, competing for her sponsor GM Ali Mortazavi's firm e-therapeutics, unleashed a blitz sequence that included the best individual score for her team, an unbeaten 10-game run and five wins in a row, plus a 2307 rating performance. 3977: It's mate on six by 1…g4+! 2 hxg4 (if 2 Kxh5 Qxh3 mate) Qh1+ 3 Kg5 f6+ 4 Kg6 Qe4+ 5 Kxh5 Qh7+ 6 Qh6 Qxh6 mate.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Star-studded WR Chess repeat World Blitz title amid controversy in London
WR Chess, the star-studded world top 10 team, retained their World Team Blitz crown in London last week, but only after an almighty scare and with significant help from the appeals committee. WR had already been beaten for the World Rapid title by MGD1, a Pune-based group led by India's Arjun Erigaisi. WR lost 2-4 to Germany in their Blitz quarter-final, but got the match annulled on the grounds that they had been advised of the wrong start time so had arrived two minutes late for a three-minute game. All the other teams arrived on time. WR stands for Wadim Rosenstein, a tech billionaire who plays on the amateur board of his team and who persuaded Fide to launch this new competition two years ago. His squad even included Magnus Carlsen until the No 1 fell out with Fide. WR Chess defeated Kazakhstan in the gold medal blitz match, with Hexamind third. Earlier, Erigaisi's MGD1 won Rapid gold, with Levon Aronian's Hexamind taking silver and Vishy Anand's Freedom winning bronze. Leading English teams disappointed, although all gained valuable experience against top opposition. The national squad, named Malcolm's Mates after England's international director, Malcolm Pein, suffered on the top boards in the Rapid as Luke McShane scored 2/9 and Gawain Jones 3/8, and never looked like matching their seeding of third. The Blitz went better, but in the last 16 Malcolm's Mates were paired against the WR Chess heavyweights and were overwhelmed 9.5-2.5. WR Chess had an epic group match against the all-junor Turkish Airlines squad, who rose to the occasion with an impressive performance. Argentina's 11-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro drew easily with Russia's No 1, Ian Nepomniachtchi, then forecast himself to become world champion in 2032. The English teenagers Sohum Lohia and Indy Southcott-Moyers fought well against the world stars Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, China's Lu Miaoyi drew with the all-time No 2 woman, Hou Yifan, and, most remarkable of all, a little-known 13-year-old from Azerbaijan, Khagan Ahmad, beat the US world No 2 and popular streamer, Hikaru Nakamura, in a marathon 112-move queen ending. All six games of this match are here. Unknowns of all ages very occasionally catch top stars out, but it normally occurs due to a sudden tactic that the great one overlooks, not after a prolonged marathon with the loser fighting tooth and nail. For a historic comparison to Ahmad v Nakamura, whose final stages were filmed here, I think of David Bronstein Hugh Alexander, Hastings 1953-54. Several of the best-known world talents made significant advances in London. Besides Oro, the Turkish pair of Ediz Gurel and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus both totalled 8.5/12 in Rapid, while Russia's 10-year-old youngest ever IM, Roman Shogdzhiev, who Carlsen recently named, along with Erdogmus, as a potential world champion of the future, achieved a 2500 rating performance in Rapid. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Many England juniors gained experience in the World Rapid and Blitz, but few could boast successes on the score table. The dedicated squads from Chess Trust Accelerators and the UK Chess Challenge could not match their more experienced opponents. There was one exception, though. Bodhana Sivanandan, England's youngest ever Olympiad player, had her best result for many months. The 10-year-old, competing for her sponsor GM Ali Mortazavi's firm e-therapeutics, unleashed a blitz sequence that included the best individual score for her team, an unbeaten 10-game run and five wins in a row, plus a 2307 rating performance. 3977: It's mate on six by 1…g4+! 2 hxg4 (if 2 Kxh5 Qxh3 mate) Qh1+ 3 Kg5 f6+ 4 Kg6 Qe4+ 5 Kxh5 Qh7+ 6 Qh6 Qxh6 mate.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Chess infrastructure gets major push to elevate competitive set-up through esports ecosystem
With the ever-growing popularity of chess and esports, the best of both worlds come together to develop chess infrastructure and push chess as an esports in the country. For this, Nodwin Gaming has partnered with and ChessBase India to collaborate on competitive chess development in India. The partnership brings together three organisations involved in esports production, online chess platforms, and grassroots community engagement. Under this arrangement, Nodwin Gaming will oversee production, broadcasting, and commercial planning. ChessBase India will contribute its network within the Indian chess community, while will provide platform support, tournament infrastructure, and creator tools. The partnership is aimed at focusing on creating new tournament formats, community events, and content initiatives aimed at expanding participation and viewership. This comes on the back of chess' inclusion in the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC), where multiple Indian stars have signed contracts with Esports organisations. Arjun Erigaisi was among the first few players in the world to sign such a contract. He signed the deal with Gen.G. Earlier, Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram also signed contracts with the Indian Esports organisation S8UL. At the time of writing, from India, only Arjun has confirmed his qualification in the EWC. Nihal and Aravindh participated in the qualifiers but failed to book their spot for the mega showdown in Riyadh. Aravindh participated in the first tier of 'Last Chance Qualifier' (LCQ) and can still participate in EWC through this. The Esports World Cup will be an event where the world's biggest esports clubs compete across 24 of the most popular esports titles. For the first time, the World Cup will also feature chess, which will be played online. The first edition of the Esports World Cup was held in 2024 and saw teams compete over eight weeks. The Esports World Cup 2025 is set to be the largest multi-title esports event in history which is expected to have at least 2,000 players and 200 teams competing for a combined prize pool of $70 million (approx. Rs 602 crore).
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
2025 FIDE Rapid & Blitz Team Championships: Erigaisi's MGD1 in knockouts, chases historic double
Arjun Erigaisi's Team MGD1 and Viswanathan Anand's Freedom powered into the knockouts on Day 1 of the Blitz leg at the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships. Freedom advanced from Pool B along with Hexamind Chess Team, Theme International Trading, and Malcolm's Mates. MGD1, which won the Rapid leg in historic fashion, made it through a challenging Pool D, joined by KazChess, Hetman GKS Katowice, and Pool A qualifiers were WR Chess, Ashdod Elit Chess Club, Knight Dance, and FIDE Management Board. Pool C saw Uzbekistan, Germany and Friends, Rookies, and Generation XYZA make the cut. Also read | Indian boxer Nishant Dev wins second pro bout by unanimous decision What happens next? With the pool stage complete, the tournament now enters the knockout phase. Here's what lies ahead: - The 16 qualified teams (top four from each pool) will battle it out in a single-elimination format. - Each encounter consists of two games, with players alternating colours. - The time control is 3+2. And if teams are tied? - If a match ends level, teams will play up to three additional matches at 3+2, alternating colours each time, until a match is decided. - If still tied after three matches, a sudden-death game follows: a random pair of players (who've already faced each other) contest a bidding Armageddon game starting at 4+2. The tournament is taking place at the Novotel London West in London, England. WR Chess. The Blitz title last year was won by WR Chess, led by Magnus Carlsen, who is absent this year.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
With Arjun Erigaisi as their star player and a strong Indian presence, Team MGD1 wins FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2025
Team MGD1, with Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi as their star player and N Srinath as the non-playing captain, won the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2025 in London on Saturday. A Pune-based chess management firm, Team MGD1 became the first Indian team to achieve this feat in the tournament's brief three-year history. Team MGD1 also featured the most Indian players in their squad. Alongside Erigaisi and Srinath, the team included Harikrishna Pentala, Pranav V, Leon Luke Mendonca, Atharvaa Tayade, and Hariharan Raghavan. Spanish GM David Anton Guijarro and Greek IM Stavroula Tsolakidou completed the roster as overseas players. In the 12-round Swiss-format tournament with a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment from move one, Team MGD1 won 10 of 12 rounds, with one loss and one draw, finishing with 21 points. They closely edged out Hexamind Chess Team, which finished with 20 points and featured two Indian players — Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh. The title was secured in a close final round against Malcolm's Mates, with crucial wins from Erigaisi, Pranav, and Tayade. Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand's Freedom team took third place with 17 match points. Another Indian participant, Nihal Sarin, represented Ashdod Elit Chess Club alongside strong players like Pavel Eljanov and Benjamin Gledura. Anand hailed the format of the event. 'What is commendable is that so many teams composed of fans and club players chose to participate, giving it a slight festival feel,' the five-time World Champion and India's greatest ever chess player told The Indian Express from London. With this victory in the tournament's third edition, Team MGD1 matched the title wins of inaugural champions WR Chess and 2024 winners Al-Ain ACMG UAE. WR Chess Team were the top seeds with big names like Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Hou Yifan, but they finished fifth. The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships 2025 is an event open to any team around the globe that meets the official requirements. According to FIDE, the teams can be made of club members, members of different federations or any other chess players. This structure has been designed to ensure an inclusive, level playing field where each team must have at least six and no more than nine players. The teams also have to include at least one female player and one recreational player who is defined as 'one who never achieved FIDE Standard, Rapid or Blitz Rating of 2000 (or an equivalent national rating, as determined by FIDE's Global Strategy Commission) Elo points (or unrated) up to and including the March 2025 rating lists.' Over 110 GMs competed across 52 teams in the rapid event. Some teams — like Noval Group Kyrgyzstan, Oxbridge, and Berlin Lasker Legends — had no grandmasters. Others, such as The London Legends and Rey Ahogado, featured no titled players. 'It's a very attractive format with all the expected excitement, and I believe this event will grow in strength in coming years,' Anand added. For FIDE, the international chess body, the event holds great significance. President Arkady Dvorkovich stated: 'This pivotal event distinguishes itself as the largest team tournament featuring both professional and non-professional players. The immense value of events like the WRB Teams lies in providing unique opportunities for recreational players and new chess talents to play alongside — and directly against — stars in genuine tournament settings. We're already seeing significant interest from potential hosts for next year's edition, and we're optimistic about this event's future and similar competitions globally.' Srinath, after the win, said: 'I'm absolutely elated. This is definitely one of the most special wins of my career. It's a fun event that has already fit into the cycle by its third year. While more relaxed than classical events, it remains intense nevertheless.' The total prize fund is €500,000, with €310,000 allocated to the rapid event and €190,000 to the blitz event.
