MGD1 convincingly clinches World Rapid Team 2025 Championship, Hexamind second and Freedom third

At least two Indians in each of the podium finishers

MGD1 became the first Indian team to win World Rapid Team Championship and etch their name in history. GM Pentala Harikrishna has been part of many teams which have won various leagues all over the world. He was also part of the historic Gold medal winning Indian team at the 45th Chess Olympiad. If one goes by statistics only, then they will find him to be the ultimate team player. He added another Gold to his illustrious career. Team events are not about putting an all-star team. Bonding and cohesion are the keys to a team's success. Captain of Team MGD1, GM Srinath Narayanan made a great find in the form of Atharvaa P Tayade who won eleven games in-a-row. He tied the record of Pang Bo's performance in 2024. Atharva might have lost his Round 12 game, due to tiredness or fatigue but nevertheless, his contribution certainly made a deep impact towards the Gold medal performance.

Round 9: MGD1 beats KazChess, Hexamind draws against Freedom

Team MGD1 defeated KazChess 3.5-2.5. GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Pranav Venkatesh and Atharvaa P Tayade scored the wins for MGD1. Hexamind Chess Team held Freedom to a 3-3 draw. It helped MGD1 regain sole lead 15/18.

Replay MGD1 - KazChess games

Replay Freedom - Hexamind Chess Team games

Round 10: Nihal misses against Arjun as Ashdod loses to MGD1

Ashdod Elit Chess Club lost to MGD1 by a minimum margin 2.5-3.5. However, the most exciting and quite possibly most important game of the round and the day was between GM Nihal Sarin (2676) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2708).

Nihal - Arjun

37...Be3+?? is a big mistake as it forces the bishop trade 38.Kh3 Bxh6 39.Rxh6? instead of recapturing the bishop immediately, computer recommends to first give an intermediate check 39.g4+ to gain valuable tempo Kf4 40.Rf6+ Ke5 now White should take it 41.Rxh6. The game continued 39...e3 40.g4+ Kf4 41.Rf6+ Ke5 42.Rf5+ Ke4 43.Kg3 Ra1 44.Rf4+ Kd3 45.Rf3 Rg1+?? another mistake by Black.

Black is already low on time. 45...Rg1+?? does not help his case. If anything, it helps White 46.Kf4+- Re1 47.h5 Kd2 48.Rxe3! White had to sacrifice now Rxe3 now 49.g5 is winning but h6?? is not. Nihal was low on time, so he could not precisely calculate and differentiate. 49...Rh3 and the game ended in a draw in the next few moves.

Replay Ashdod Elit Chess Club - MGD1 games

Hexamind Chess Team defeated Germany and Friends convincingly 4.5-1.5. GM Leinier Dominguez Perez, GM Vidit Gujrathi and IM Divya Deshmukh scored the key victories to help their team Hexamind win the match.

Replay Hexamind Chess Team- Germany and Friends games

Uzbekistan and Freedom had a 3-3 draw. All six games ended in draws. The most notable one was between GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and GM Vishy Anand. It ended in a draw via 50-move rule (No capture or pawn moves for 50 moves).

Replay Uzbekistan - Freedom games

Round 11: MGD1 crushes Theme International Trading

Team MGD1 defeated Theme International Trading by 4.5-1.5. GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Pranav Venkatesh, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou and Atharvaa P Tayade scored a win each. Pranav was completely lost for the better part of the endgame. However, in the final moments his opponent, GM Tuan Minh Le made a terrible one-move blunder which completely swinged things in Pranav's favor. Even if Tuan won that game, the match result would not have changed.

Replay MGD1 - Theme International Trading games

Hexamind Chess Team defeated Barys.kz 3.5-2.5

Replay Hexamind Chess Team - Barys.kz games

Freedom drew against Ashdod Elit Chess Club 3-3. GM Samuel Sevian and Sarbartho Mani scored the wins for Freedom. GM Nihal Sarin and IM Yuliia Osmak scored the victories for Ashdod.

Replay Freedom - Ashdod Elit Chess Club games

Round 12: MGD1 beats Malcolm's Mates to become champion

Team MGD1 defeated Malcolm's Mates 3.5-2.5 to become World Rapid Team 2025 champion. GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM Pranav Venkatesh scored the two crucial wins for the winning team. Atharvaa P Tayade suffered the sole loss of the event against Murat Omarov.

Replay MGD1 - Malcolm's Mates games

Ashdod Elit Chess Club lost to Hexamind Chess Team 1.5-4.5. Thus, Hexamind secured second place.

Replay Ashdod Elit Chess Club - Hexamind Chess Team games

Knight Dance lost to Freedom 1.5-4.5 and the latter finished third.

Replay Knight Dance - Freedom games

For more photos, click here.

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Venue

The venue for the event is Novotel London West in London, England.

Prize

The total prize fund is €500000 combining Rapid and Blitz, €310000 in Rapid and €190000 in Blitz. There are six prizes in Rapid - top five and two rating categories. The top three prizes are: €110000, 70000 and 50000 each respectively. Best U2400 and U2200 will earn €10000 and €5000 each respectively. For Blitz, the number of prizes got increased to five from four. The top three are - €75000, €50000 and €30000 each.

Replay Round 9-12 games

Round 12 results

Details

Final standings

Details

Links

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Tournament Regulations

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