&w=3840&q=100)
Hikaru Nakamura's WR Chess wins World Blitz Team Championship in controversial fashion: 'This whole appeal thing was a mess'
Hikaru Nakamura's WR Chess won the World Blitz Team Championship for second time in the row but their victory came after an appeal drama which saw one of the ties in the quarter-finals being replayed. read more
World No.2 Hikaru Nakamura's WR Chess won the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship on Sunday for a second time in a row. However, their victory didn't come without a controversy as Vincent Keymer's Germany and Friends defeated WR Chess 4-2 in the quarter-finals, with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja and Nakamura all losing, but the result was later annulled after an appeal.
WR Chess's appeal was regarding some of their players coming late to the matches, as the organisers forgot to announce the start time. In fact, some of the players from the WR Chess team were almost two minutes late for the three-minute blitz games.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
'They always put the start time in this captains' admin group that we have, and this time the last communication was that 15:17 is when the line-ups are due, which was written at 15:15, and after that nothing, so we were waiting for the start time to be in the group. Nothing happened, we went, but you can't put the last communication 15:17, line-ups are due, and then start 15:22 without informing us. It's a fairly obvious case, in my opinion,' said WR Chess team captain Jan Gustafsson, while explaining the whole situation.
WR Chess' victory leads to controversy
Russian Grandmaster Nepomniachtchi, who represented WR Chess, was relieved that the match was replayed, but he wasn't impressed with how the decision was made.
'This whole appeal thing was a mess, to be honest, and I wasn't sure if the appeal would be successful or not. Eventually they allowed us to replay the match, but I don't think there was a good decision.'
Germany and Friends' player Bohdan Lobkin believed the decision would have been different if his team had been the one making the appeal.
After Germany and Friends accepted the annulment, 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.
Arjun Erigaisi's Team MGD1, who won the World Rapid Team Championship, lost to Hexamind in the quarter-finals. After a 3-3 draw, Hexamind clinched a 4-2 victory in the next round.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Fabiano Caruana: Indian youngsters very strong, but I don't find them scary yet, whatsoever
Over the last few years, there has been plenty of talk in chess about an Indian take over at the top of the rankings. There are currently four Indian players among the top 10 spots in the FIDE ratings and a 19-year-old from Chennai, Gukesh, occupies the world champion's throne. But Fabiano Caruana has said on his podcast after the Norway Chess tournament that there is still time for Indian prodigies like Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi taking over the top spots in the sport from the likes of world no 1 Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Caruana himself. The recently-ended Norway Chess tournament was a clash of generations in that sense with Carlsen, Caruana and Nakamura representing their generation while Gukesh and Erigaisi were flying the flag for Indian prodigies. Gukesh even went into the final day of the event with a chance to win the title, trailing Carlsen by half a point. But in the end, it was Carlsen who won his 7th title at Stavanger while Caruana pipped Gukesh to second spot. Nakamura was fourth ahead of Erigaisi. Caruana believes that the Indian stars are great players, but they're 'not scary' yet. '(These Indians players are) very strong. I think that we'll be competing on more or less equal terms for a while. But I don't find them scary yet. Whatsoever!' Caruana said on his C Squared Podcast. At Norway Chess, Caruana beat Gukesh in the final game to deliver a cruel heartbreak on the Indian teenager who had started the day with hopes of winning the tournament. In the previous game, the duo had drawn their classical duel. Caruana had beaten Arjun once at the tournament and lost the second time with colours reversed to the Indian. Caruana, who finds himself on 4th spot in the FIDE June ratings between Erigaisi and Gukesh, then explained why the world of chess was unlikely to see a changing of guard in the near future. 'If Levon Aronian is 10 years older than me and he's competing on completely equal terms with these young guys… or Hikaru, who's five years older than me, and it feels like he's still a stronger player than these young guys for the most part… then why would there be this theory that they're going to take over anytime soon. Especially if you consider that Magnus is, I would say, clearly stronger than them,' he said. He praised the Indians as fighters, but pointed out that they were giving their opponents plenty of chances too in games. 'When I play for example Arjun or Gukesh, I do get this feeling — not just based on this Norway Chess tournament, but on many tournaments — that I can really outplay them very significantly and get a lot of winning chances. I don't think they can outplay me in the same way. Although they will get winning chances and then it's about some other factors. Really this is my honest opinion. It's not me trying to play them down or anything. I'm not doing that. They can definitely outperform me in various ways. But my feeling is that if it's a long match, they're great fighters, but they also give a lot of chances and (for them) it can be very frustrating to play against someone who doesn't give many chances.'
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Naomi Osaka Suffers Another Early Exit! Eliminated In First Round Of WTA Berlin Open
Last Updated: Naomi Osaka faced another early exit, losing to Liudmila Samsonova 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Berlin Open. Naomi Osaka's challenging year continues, marked by another early exit. Russia's Liudmila Samsonova overcame a set deficit to defeat Naomi Osaka 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in the first round of the Berlin Open WTA event on Tuesday. The world number 20, who won the tournament in 2021, took two hours and 36 minutes to surpass the four-time Grand Slam champion. Samsonova's victory sets up a last-16 clash with American world number three Jessica Pegula on Wednesday. Osaka broke her opponent twice in the opening set, but Samsonova held her serve in the second set before winning a tie break, clinching the final four points. Both players exchanged breaks in the final set before the 26-year-old Russian broke a second time, securing her path to victory. Osaka's defeat is the latest setback in the former world number one's comeback since returning from maternity leave last year. Osaka was also defeated in the first round of the French Open. This is the fourth meeting between the two since Osaka returned to the circuit at the beginning of 2024, with each player having two wins. One of the oldest women's tournaments in the world, the Berlin Open switched from clay to grass courts in 2021 and has since become a popular warm-up event for Wimbledon, which starts at the end of the month. The top four seeds at the tournament, including French Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, along with Pegula and Jasmine Paolini, all enter at the last 16 stage on Wednesday. (with inputs from agencies)
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Liudmila Samsonova Downs Naomi Osaka In Berlin WTA First Round
Russia's Liudmila Samsonova came from a set down to beat Naomi Osaka 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in the first round of the Berlin Open WTA event on Tuesday. The world number 20, who won the tournament in 2021, took two hours and 36 minutes to get past the four-time Grand Slam winner. Samsonova's victory sets up a last 16 clash with American world number three Jessica Pegula on Wednesday. Osaka broke her opponent twice in the opening set but Samsonova held her serve in the second before winning a tie break, winning the final four points. Both exchanged breaks in the final set before the Russian 26-year-old broke a second time, putting her on track for victory. Osaka's defeat is the latest setback in the former world number one's comeback since returning from maternity leave last year. Osaka was also defeated in the first round of the French Open. This is the fourth meeting between the two since Osaka returned to the circut at the beginning of 2024, with the ledger standing at two wins each. One of the oldest women's tournaments in the world, the Berlin Open switched from clay to grass courts in 2021 and has since become a popular warm-up event for Wimbledon, which starts at the end of the month. Later on Tuesday, world number four Qinwen Zheng faces 2022 Wimbeldon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. The top four seeds at the tournament, including French Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, along with Pegula and Jasmine Paolini, all enter at the last 16 stage on Wednesday.
