Latest news with #WRChess
The Guardian
a day 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.
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First Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
Anish Giri hilariously trolls Ian Nepomniachtchi after controversy at World Blitz Team Championship: 'The good thing with Ian is'
The 2025 FIDE World Blitz Team Championship ended with WR Chess lifting the title, but not without controversy. Anish Giri has now trolled Ian Nepomniachtchi online after confronting him at the venue during the event. read more The 2025 edition of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships recently wrapped up in London, where Team MGD1 won the rapid title and WR Chess ended up winning the blitz title. However, the tournament didn't end without its fair share of controversy that happened after the WR Chess team got a chance to replay their quarter-final match , which they had originally lost. The original loss came after WR players, including Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Hikaru Nakamura, arrived late to their games against Germany and Friends due to alleged confusion over round timings. Vincent Keymer's team handed a 4-2 defeat to WR Chess, following which the latter protested and got a re-match arranged. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The match was replayed and WR Chess won 4.5-1.5 and 4-2. They then defeated Hexamind Chess Team in the semi-finals and KazChess in the final to win the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship 2025. However, Hexamind's Anish Giri wasn't happy with how things went and exchanged words with WR players, including Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi. Giri mocked by Nepo and Nakamura In a video shared by ChessBase India, Giri was seen confronting the WR players, repeatedly asking, 'Would you have replayed the match if you had won?' That triggered a heated exchange with Nepomniachtchi, who hit back by saying things like, 'Big expert in law, Anish. Since when? Next FIDE president. Anish seems so smart, but whenever he opens his mouth… it's already questionable.' Nakamura was heard saying, 'Why does he care so much?' Giri takes fresh jibe at Nepomniachtchi Meanwhile, American GM Hans Niemann joined in on X, joking: 'I think Anish and Nepo should settle things on the chess board. Happy to sponsor a match on Endgame!' Giri has now fired back at Nepomniachtchi with a fresh jibe referencing a previous World Blitz Championship where the Russian GM and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen agreed to share the title after multiple draws. 'The good thing with Ian is, one doesn't even need to beat him. Just hang in there long enough and he will probably accept to share the title. What do you think, Ian?" The good thing with Ian is, one doesn't even need to beat him. Just hang in there long enough and he will probably accept to share the title.🙈 What do you think @lachesisq?😅 — Anish Giri (@anishgiri) June 16, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Time of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'Future FIDE President:' Anish Giri involved in an heated argument with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri was involved in a heated exchange with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura. (Screengrabs) The quarterfinals of the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship in London were marred by controversy after top-seeded WR Chess lost their opening match to Germany and Friends due to a delayed arrival. Star players Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura reached the venue with mere seconds left on their clocks and soon resigned, later claiming they were not informed about the round's start time. Their appeal was upheld — and while other matches moved on, WR Chess was allowed a replay, which they won decisively. Amid the chaos, Anish Giri confronted Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi on camera: 'If you'd won the first time, would you have appealed?' The remark implied WR's protest stemmed from the loss, not principle. Giri's challnge quickly turned into a tense exchange. 'Since when did you become so prominent in law? Future FIDE President!' Nepomniachtchi shot back. While Nakamura didn't respond immediately, once Giri left, he turned to Nepo and asked: 'Why does he care so much?' Nepomniachtchi replied dryly: 'Because it's Anish. That's his job. Whenever he starts talking, he's not as smart as we think he is.' Later, Nepomniachtchi admitted the situation was 'messy,' saying the appeal 'could have gone either way' and that 'there was no good solution.' Despite the drama, WR Chess bounced back with a 4.5–1.5 win in the replay and a 4–2 win in the reverse match. They went on to beat KazChess in the final, clinching their second blitz title.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Good thing with Nepo is one doesn't even need to beat him': Anish Giri takes fresh shots at Ian Nepomniachtchi
The controversy which began at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team event last week with WR Chess being allowed to replay a game seems to have spawned a new chess feud. Anish Giri has taken potshots at Ian Nepomniachtchi via X after he had remonstrated with the WR Chess team and exchanged words with these Russian in particular at the London event. The issue had started when WR Chess had lost the first match of the two-match quarter-finals to the Germany and Friends team. But WR Chess had then protested, claiming they were not informed officially of their start times for the round, which had led players to arrive late at the board. Alireza Firouzja had arrived for his game 15 seconds late for a three-minute game. Meanwhile, Nepo arrived with just 1 minute, 4 seconds left on his clock for his game against Vincent Keymer. Hikaru Nakamura arrived with just 38 seconds left on his clock for his clash with Matthias Bluebaum. Consequently, all three lost their games. The organisers had allowed the teams to replay the first match of the quarter-finals after lengthy deliberation. But not everyone was happy with the decision. A video from ChessBase India had shown Anish walking up to the WR Chess team and exchanging words with Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura. Anish was repeatedly asking the players if they would have replayed the game if they had won. Nepo, in response, had thrown comments like: 'Big expert in law, Anish. Since when?' and 'Next FIDE president' at the Dutch GM. 'Anish seems to smart, but whenever he opens his mouth… it's already questionable,' said Nepo. 'Why does he care so much,' Nakamura had asked. The tournament had ended with WR Chess winning the blitz title. Reacting to the incident, American GM Hans Niemann posted on X: 'I think Anish and Nepo should settle things on the chess board. Happy to sponsor a match on Endgame!' To this, Anish replied, while tagging Nepomniachtchi: 'The good thing with Ian is, one doesn't even need to beat him. Just hang in there long enough and he will probably accept to share the title. What do you think, Ian?' Anish's dig about 'sharing the title' was a reference to Nepo and Magnus Carlsen agreeing to share the FIDE World Blitz title late last year after playing out multiple draws. Niemann then posted: 'Perhaps if the winner becomes FIDE president, you can be CO FIDE Presidents.' In another tweet, Anish had responded to the comment about becoming FIDE president. 'My FIDE presidency will have to wait for a long-long while, but the first seed has evidently been planted today,' she posted.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
WR Chess claim FIDE World Blitz Team Championship title after controversial replay of lost quarter-final match
After controversially making it to the title round, WR Chess claimed their second title at the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship on Sunday after edging past KazChess in both matches with 4:2 scoreline. This is the team's second blitz crown since the competition began in 2023. Rating favourites Team WR Chess beat KazChess in a tight final, with Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scoring crucial wins in the final match to secure the crown. There was some controversy in the way WR Chess had claimed the title. In the quarter-finals, WR Chess had been handed a 2-4 defeat by Germany and Friends in the first match. WR's top stars like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and Firouzja lost their games. But WR then lodged an appeal claiming that they were not informed by the organisers of the exact time when the round was going to start. The team claimed that this made them reach the playing venue two minutes late for the blitz game. After this complaint, the match was replayed, with some reluctantance from Germany and Friends. WR Chess won the replayed match 4.5:1.5 and then claimed a 4:2 victory with colours reversed to enter the semi-finals. India-based Team MGD1 had claimed the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship title earlier in London after starting the event as the sixth seeds. MGD1 had racked up 10 wins from 12 rounds played over three days to be crowned champions following an intense battle for supremacy with Team Hexamind. From 53 teams that started the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship on Saturday, 16 made it to the knockout stage (where teams played a round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and the final). In each knockout pairing, teams played at least two blitz matches, where colours were reversed after the first game. If the score was level after two matches, additional games were played until a winner emerged. Third place in the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship went to the Hexamind Chess Club, who defeated the Uzbekistan team in both matches with 3.5:2.5. The winners of this year's rapid tournament, MGD1, defeated Freedom in the duel for fifth place. In the round of 16 stage, the WR Chess Team had claimed wins in both matches, as had Freedom and MGD1 Team. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan had one victory and one draw. (With inputs from FIDE)
