WR Chess clinches FIDE World Rapid Team 2023 with a round to spare, Freedom second and MGD1 third
WR Chess won FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2023 when they defeated ASV AlphaEchecs Linz 5-1 in the penultimate round. Before that, Armenia held them to a 3-3 draw in Round 10. In the final round, the eventual winner, WR Chess drew against Berlin Chess Federation 3-3, as the outcome of it would not have changed their final rank. They finished with a score of 22/24. Düsseldorfer Schachklub 1914/25 e.V. lost to Freedom 1.5-4.5 in the final round. Thus, Freedom finish second 20/24. Chess Pensioners lost to MGD1 2-4. MGD1 secured Bronze 18/24. Pentala Harikrishna (Bronze), Vidit Gujrathi (Silver), Raunak Sadhwani (Silver), Pranesh M (Bronze), Harika Dronavalli (Silver) and Peter Anand A (Silver) are the individual medal winners for their respective boards. Photo: FIDE/Niki Riga
Indians claim both team and individual medals
The top three podium finishers consisted at least one Indian in each team. WR Chess had one, Freedom two and MGD1 eight. When it comes to individual medals for board prizes, as many as seven Indians won either a Silver or Bronze medal. The total prize fund was €250000. Top three prizes were €100000, €60000 and €40000.
Standing (L to R) - GM Wesley So, GM Yifan Hou, GM Jan Gustafsson (Captain), GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, GM Vincent Keymer and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Sitting (L to R) - GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wadim Rosenstein and GM R Praggnanandhaa.
L to R: GM Vishy Anand, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Emil Sutovsky (Captain), Alexander Shapiro, GM Daniil Dubov, IM Polina Shuvalova, WGM Jovanna Rapport, GM Richard Rapport and GM Evgeniy Najer.
L to R: WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola (FIDE Management Board), GM Aditya Mittal, GM Srinath Narayanan, GM Pentala Harikrishna, GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Raunak Sadhwani, GM Nihal Sarin, GM Harika Dronavalli, IM Gunay Mammadzada and Peter Anand A.
Round 9: WR Chess scores a triple hat-trick
GM Vidit Gujrathi (Freedom) scored a fantastic win over GM Ilia Smirin (Ashdod Elit Chess Club). GM Vishy Anand (Freedom) drew against GM Pavel Eljanov (Ashdod Elit Chess Club).
Smirin - Vidit
19...Nxe3! is an excellent move. It takes advantage of White's king being stranded at the center of the board. 20.fxe3 b6 21.Qg5 f3 22.Bf6 Bxc4 23.Bxd8 f2+ 24.Kf1 Qd2 25.Bxc7+ Kb7 and Black won as White cannot defend both c1-rook and e2-bishop at the same time.
Replay Ashdod Elit Chess Club vs Freedom: 1.5-4.5 games
Round 10: Aravindh beats Anand, draws for MGD1 and WR Chess
After starting the day with a draw against GM Pentala Harikrishna (MGD1, 2630), India's first triple crown champion, GM Aravindh Chithambaram (Six-pack, 2553) defeated the maestro, GM Vishy Anand (Freedom, 2751). MGD1 and WR Chess drew against Germany and Friends, and Armenia respectively.
Aravindh - Anand
Where should Black move his king? 39...Ke6 was the best way to keep the fight going as it defends the e5-pawn. 39...Kf8 40.Rxc7 Nxc7 41.Nf6 Kf7 42.Ng4 drops another pawn and it is difficult to save the game.
Replay Six-pack vs Freedom games
Round 11: WR Chess wins the tournament with a round to spare
MGD1, Six-pack and WR Chess defeated Columbus Energy KingsOfChess Kraków, Schachverein Hemer and ASV AlphaEchecs Linz respectively by 5-1 each without suffering a single game loss. Thus, WR Chess won the tournament with one round to spare 21/22. Top seed Freedom was at 18/22.
Round 12: WR Chess draws against Berlin Chess Federation
WR Chess had already won the tournament in the previous round. The last round result was immaterial towards their championship. They drew the final round match against Berlin Chess Federation 3-3.
Individual Board prizes
Photo Gallery
Replay live stream
Video Gallery
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They named their kid Nihal after Nihal Sarin!
Team composition
Each team will consist of at least six and maximum nine players. Apart from having to include at least one female player, for the first time in a high-level team event, teams will have to include a recreational player, who has never achieved a Standard, Rapid or Blitz FIDE rating of 2000 or more. It is not mandatory for the teams to have board order as per rating. For more details, please check the tournament regulations, link provided at the end of the article.
Format
The 12-round Swiss League team event has a time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move no.1. There is no default time. No penalty shall be imposed on a player if he/she is late for any of his/her games. Scoring is usual for a team event. Match points: Win = 2, Draw = 1 and Loss = 0.
Replay Round 9-12 games
Round 12 results
| No. | SNo | Team | MP | Res. | : | Res. | MP | Team | SNo |
| 1 | 13 | Düsseldorfer Schachklub 1914/25 e.V. | 13 | 1½ | : | 4½ | 18 | Freedom | 1 |
| 2 | 28 | Chess Pensioners | 13 | 2 | : | 4 | 16 | Team MGD1 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 | Armenia | 15 | 3½ | : | 2½ | 13 | Six-pack | 12 |
| 4 | 10 | Germany and Friends | 15 | 2½ | : | 3½ | 12 | Columbus Energy KingsOfChess Kraków | 8 |
| 5 | 6 | Ashdod Elit Chess Club | 13 | 1½ | : | 4½ | 12 | ASV AlphaEchecs Linz | 4 |
| 6 | 9 | Chessbrah OFM | 12 | 3 | : | 3 | 11 | Schachverein Hemer | 18 |
| 7 | 15 | Rishon LeZion Chess Club | 12 | 2½ | : | 3½ | 11 | Team Chessemy.com | 14 |
| 8 | 21 | Deutsche Schachjugend 1 | 11 | 2 | : | 4 | 11 | Kompetenzakademie Allstars | 7 |
| 9 | 11 | Berlin Chess Federation | 13 | 3 | : | 3 | 21 | WR Chess *) | 2 |
| 10 | 22 | Wensing & Pöbel | 11 | 2 | : | 4 | 11 | FIDE Management Board | 20 |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 |
| 1 | 2 | WR Chess | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 702 | 51 | 164 |
| 2 | 1 | Freedom | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 582,5 | 46,5 | 165 |
| 3 | 3 | Team MGD1 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 628,5 | 47,5 | 167 |
| 4 | 5 | Armenia | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 544,5 | 44 | 165 |
| 5 | 10 | Germany and Friends | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 533 | 39,5 | 169 |
| 6 | 4 | ASV AlphaEchecs Linz | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 549 | 45 | 164 |
| 7 | 8 | Columbus Energy KingsOfChess Kraków | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 482 | 41,5 | 159 |
| 8 | 11 | Berlin Chess Federation | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 449,5 | 37,5 | 156 |
| 9 | 12 | Six-pack | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 497 | 39,5 | 169 |
| 10 | 28 | Chess Pensioners | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 485,5 | 37,5 | 167 |
Schedule
Venue
The venue for the event will be Rheinterrasse, Düsseldorf by Stockheim
Prize
The total prize fund is €250000. There are six prizes in total - top five and one rating category. The top three prizes are: €100000, 60000 and 40000 each respectively. Best U2400 will earn €12500.
Links
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FIDE World Rapid Team 2023 R5-8: WR Chess increases their sole lead, Praggnanandhaa wins four in-a-row
@ 28/08/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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FIDE World Rapid Team 2023 R1-4: Aravindh and Nihal shine
@ 27/08/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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Anand, Vidit, Arjun, Nihal, Praggnanandhaa, Harikrishna, Gukesh, Harika and many Indians set to play at the inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2023
@ 26/08/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |