Latest news with #MGD1
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First Post
13 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
'Hikaru has such a bloated ego': Fans celebrate as Nakamura is humbled by 13-year-old at World Blitz Team Championship
Hikaru Nakamura suffered a surprising defeat to 13-year-old Khagan Ahmad from Azerbaijan at the World Blitz Team Championship 2025 on Saturday. A few fans were seen celebrating Nakamura's defeat on social media. read more World No.2 Hikaru Nakamura suffered a stunning loss to a 13-year-old chess player on day one of the 2025 World Blitz Team Championship on Saturday. Nakamura was in top form, winning 6 out of his games as top-seed WR Chess clinched all 12 of their matches on the opening day of the Blitz championship. But the American Grandmaster's only defeat on the day came against International Master Khagan Ahmad from Azerbaijan, who is only 13 years old. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The victory over Nakamura helped Khagan Ahmad (Turkish Airlines Sports Club, 2232) complete a hat-trick of wins. He ended the day with a triple hat-trick – winning nine games in a row. Fans stunned as Nakamura loses to a 13-year-old Nakamura's defeat quickly became a viral discussion topic among the fans as FIDE shared the video on X. One of the fans noted the 'Chess humbles us all,' while another took a dig at the American GM, stating that Hikaru will soon start 'commenting about the quality of Blitz and why it doesn't make sense to play it anymore.' Another chess fan remarked: 'Yess! Hikaru has such a bloated ego and is a cheap braggart. So glad a kid put a checkmate to it.' 🇦🇿 13-year old IM Ahmad Khagan (2290) stuns 🇺🇸 GM Hikaru Nakamura (2837) in Round 5 of the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship! 🔥#FIDERapidBlitzTeams — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) June 14, 2025 Meanwhile, most of the top teams finished in the top four of their groups to qualify for the 16-team knockout on Sunday. In 2024, the World Blitz Team Championship was played on the same day, but in the ongoing edition, the pool stage and knockout rounds have been separated over two days. On Saturday, GM Jan Krzysztof Duda of WR Chess emerged as the best performer among all 53 teams. He registered a score of 11.5/12, while Sarbartho Mani (Freedom), GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Generation XYZA) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (MGD1) scored an unbeaten 11/12 each. GM Andrey Esipenko (KazChess) and Islam Alten (KazChess) also managed a score of 11/12, but after suffering one defeat each. Erigaisi shines as India's MGD1 top Pool D Talking about the Indian team MGD1, which is led by Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi. The Rapid championship winners won all 12 matches to reach the knockouts. Besides Erigaisi, who registered a score of 11/12, the other top performers were IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (10.5/13) and GM Leon Luke Mendonca (9.5/10). World Blitz Team Championship pool stage standings Pool A Rank Team Matches + = - MP BP 1 WR Chess Team 12 12 0 0 24 60 2 Ashdod Elit Chess Club 12 10 1 1 21 56.5 3 Knight Dance 12 9 1 2 19 49 4 FIDE MB Team 12 8 1 3 17 44.5 5 Turkish Airlines Sports Club 12 6 2 4 14 42 6 ¡Ållez-Y Initiative! 12 7 0 5 14 34 7 Global Ramblers 12 6 1 5 13 42 8 The MongolZ 12 5 1 6 11 39.5 9 ChessbrahTV 12 4 2 6 10 29.5 10 Chess Trust Accelerators 12 3 0 9 6 22 11 Satranc Istanbul 12 1 1 10 3 16 12 12 0 2 10 2 18 13 Berlin Lasker Legends 12 1 0 11 2 15 Pool B Rank Team Matches + = - MP GP 1 Freedom 12 11 0 1 22 62 2 Hexamind Chess Team 12 11 0 1 22 57 3 Theme International Trading 12 9 1 2 19 46 4 Malcolm's Mates 12 9 0 3 18 55 5 Wood Green 12 7 1 4 15 39.5 6 Rishon LeZion Chess Club 12 6 2 4 14 41 7 Sharks 4NCL 12 6 1 5 13 33.5 8 Mother Continent 12 3 3 6 9 32.5 9 Sassy Seniors 12 4 1 7 9 29 10 UK Chess Challenge Masters 12 1 3 8 5 22 11 Hammersmith Chess Club 12 2 1 9 5 20 12 Oxbridge 12 1 2 9 4 22.5 13 Desert Penguins 12 0 1 11 1 8 Pool C Rank Team Matches + = - MP GP 1 Uzbekistan 12 12 0 0 24 58 2 Germany and Friends 12 11 0 1 22 55 3 Rookies 12 10 0 2 20 51 4 Generation XYZA 12 8 1 3 17 52.5 5 Duobeniajan Costa Calida ESJ 12 7 1 4 15 46.5 6 Mongolia-B 12 7 1 4 15 41 7 Wood Green Youth 12 4 3 5 11 31 8 e-therapeutics 12 4 1 7 9 29.5 9 Berlin Chess Federation 12 3 1 8 7 20.5 10 ANI 12 3 1 8 7 19.5 11 OlalaStars 12 2 0 10 4 21.5 12 Chess Rising Stars 12 1 1 10 3 23.5 13 Youth KG 12 1 0 11 2 18.5 Pool D Rank Team Matches + = - MP GP 1 Team MGD1 13 12 1 0 25 65.5 2 KazChess 13 12 0 1 24 62.5 3 Hetman GKS Katowice 13 10 0 3 20 52 4 13 9 1 3 19 54.5 5 Team Hungary 13 8 2 3 18 51.5 6 Noval Group Kyrgyzstan 13 8 1 4 17 48 7 Mongolia-A 13 8 0 5 16 44.5 8 English Knightmares 13 6 0 7 12 40.5 9 The London Legends 13 4 2 7 10 35 10 Danish Futures 13 4 0 9 8 26.5 11 Perfect 13 2 2 9 6 29 12 Uppsala SSS 13 2 1 10 5 25 13 Equity Bank, Kenya 13 1 0 12 2 9.5 14 REY AHOGADO 13 0 0 13 0 2
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First Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
Lesser-known Indian chess players Atharvaa, Pranav help Erigaisi's Team MGD1 win World Rapid Team Championship 2025
It was double joy for India as Viswanathan Anand's Freedom won the bronze medal besides Arjun Erigaisi's Team MGD1 clinching the 2025 World Rapid Teams title. read more Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi's Team MGD1 has won the 2025 World Rapid Teams title after a perfect four match wins on the final day in London. While Team MGD1 won gold, Levon Aronian's Hexamind clinched silver and legendary Viswanathan Anand's Freedom were bronze medal winner. The tournament favourites WR Chess missed out on a medal after Alireza Firouzja lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov on the last day. The Blitz starts from Saturday. Atharvaa, Pranav inspire Team MGD1 to World Rapid Team Championship title MGD1 and Hexamind were the co-leaders of the World Rapid Team Championship before the start of the final day. However, MGD1 won the gold medal after clinching their final match 3.5-2.5 against KazChess, while Hexamind were held to a 3-3 draw by bronze medal winner Freedom. For MGD1, Erigaisi won his match against Richard Rapport, Bengaluru's Pranav V defeated Aldiyar Ansat and Atharvaa P Tayade thumped Islam Aiten. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This crucial win allowed MGD1 to take the sole lead in the standings and they went onto win the World Rapid Team Championship 2025 by winning their next three matches. Besides Erigaisi, who is the second Indian to cross 2800 Elo rating after Anand, lesser-known Pranav and Atharvaa emerged as the biggest match-winners for MGD1 in the World Rapid Team Championship 2025. The 18-year-old GM Pranav, who scored 7.5/8 in total, won the gold medal on board five. Amateur chess player Atharvaa had a mind-boggling score of 11/12 and earned high praise from Erigaisi. 'Yes, clearly. I actually didn't know him, but funny thing is that back in the day, in a tournament in 2012, we played a game and he beat me there," Erigaisi told Take Take Take recalling a match against Atharvaa. 'And I did not remember about that game, but yes, it was a bit funny to do that. And, Srinath did a great job of finding him. And also, he's done IIT and he's doing IIM. So it's like, two of the toughest ones in education in India.'
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Arjun Erigaisi hails amateur Indian chess player for Rapid Team display, reveals ‘we played in 2012 and he beat me'
Arjun Erigaisi's MGD1 team was the star attarction during the rapid section of the 2025 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship. MGD1 won all four matches on the final day, finished in first position. The final day of the rapid section saw the last four decisive rounds being played, where the Indian MGD1 squad won every match. Out of 12 matches, MGD1 won 10, drew one and lost one, ending their rapid campaign with 21 match points. One of the star attactions within the MGD1 team was amateur player Atharvaa P Tayade, who also had a perfect record throughout the rapid tournament, and had only one defeat. Speaking to Take Take Take, Erigaisi was asked about his amateur teammate, and he was full of praises. Giving a sneak peek into Tayade's life, Erigaisi also revealed that the pair faced each other in a game in 2012. 'Yes, clearly. I actually didn't know him, but funny thing is that back in the day, in a tournament in 2012, we played a game and he beat me there. And I did not remember about that game, but yes, it was a bit funny to do that. And, Srinath did a great job of finding him. And also, he's done IIT and he's doing IIM. So it's like, two of the toughest ones in education in India,' he said. When asked if Atharvaa could become a professional chess player, Erigaisi revealed, ' I'm not sure if he has time for that.' The second position in the rapid tournament went to Hexamind Chess Team. Meanwhile, third position went to Freedom, which had Viswanathan Anand in their ranks. The blitz tournament begins on Saturday, and will have some of the strongest players in the world, including two-time world champion candidate, Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Viswanathan Anand spellbound by India No. 1 Arjun's ability to ‘generate tactics out of thin air': ‘Said he was sorry…'
Considered to be among the greatest GMs in history, Viswanathan Anand clinched a vintage victory over India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi in Round 5 of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships, in London on Thursday. The five-time World Champion won the game in 31 moves, and had the last laugh as Erigaisi was also late when he turned up for the showdown. After the match, Anand lavished praise on Erigaisi's playing style and also hailed his ability to 'generate tactics out of thin air'. Speaking to Take Take Take, Anand said, 'I'm obviously delighted with the result. But it was chaotic, and there were moments where I wasn't sure what was going on. Somehow, he just generates tactics out of thin air.' Analysing Erigaisi's pieces on the board, he said, 'I don't even know how the battery queen d4 got set up. It got set up by itself almost. How does he even manage? But then I found this plan with f6 and played knight to c5. I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. There were a lot of details.' The key moment of the game was when Erigaisi went for bishop to d3, and it was a defining moment. 'I had not worked out every detail after bishop to d3. I spent like two minutes there and I felt it was a critical moment. After thinking it through, I found queen g4. It took me maybe 20 seconds to believe what I found and then I could play it.' Commenting on his opponent's late arrival, he said, 'He said he was sorry, and that's it. It didn't affect me.' The 55-year-old also revealed that there is extra pressure, when facing a fellow countryman. 'Well, there is a little extra. I can't pretend otherwise. But it's also true that he and Gukesh are at the top in India right now. So I'm happy with the result. Let's put it that way,' he said. The rapid section of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team C'ship finished with victory for Erigaisi's team, MGD1, who clinched victory in all four matches on the finla day to bag first place.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship: Arjun Erigaisi and Team MGD1 win historic Rapid title
It was a landmark day for Indian chess as Team MGD1, led by Arjun Erigaisi, clinched the Rapid title at the third edition of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship, becoming the first Indian-sponsored team to achieve this feat in the event's history. MGD1 is not only a chess team but also a Pune-based chess management and investment firm that nurtures talent, organises tournaments, and fields Team MGD1 as its flagship venture. Distinct from other teams that feature one or two Indian players, MGD1's line-up is predominantly Indian, and includes Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, Leon Luke Mendonca, Pranav V, and Atharvaa P. Tayade. In a tense final round against Malcolm's Mates, it was Erigaisi, Pranav, and Tayade who delivered crucial victories to secure the title after an intense day marked by a neck-and-neck contest with Hexamind Chess Team, featuring the likes of Levon Aronian, Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh. Hexamind ultimately finished just one match point behind MGD1, while Viswanathan Anand's Freedom claimed third place with 17 match points. Day 1 highlights After four rounds of rapid chess on the opening day, Team MGD1 emerged as the sole leader, maintaining a flawless 4/4 match record. WR Chess, led by stars including Alireza Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura, and Alexandra Kosteniuk, finished the day tied for second after drawing a fiercely contested match against Freedom, captained by Viswanathan Anand. ALSO READ | Gukesh reminds me of myself from 2008-2009, says Magnus Carlsen Notable absentees from this year's competition are Magnus Carlsen, who spearheaded WR Chess's triumph in the 2023 Blitz Team Championship, and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who couldn't attend due to passport trouble. Day 2 highlights The second day was a treat to all chess fans in India as Viswanathan Anand, showing flashes of his timeless brilliance, defeated Arjun Erigaisi in a pivotal Round 5 clash between Freedom and the dominant MGD1. This marked the first time MGD1 failed to win in this edition. But MGD1 swiftly regrouped in the next round, delivering a commanding performance against WR Chess. Meanwhile, Hexamind continued its rise in the standings, matching MGD1's tally of 13 match points after eight rounds. Close on its heels stood Freedom, Uzbekistan, and Germany & Friends, each poised within striking distance as the rapid stage approached its final day. In the end Team MGD1 held its nerve to seal the title and script history. About the event The third edition of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship commenced in Hammersmith, London, on Wednesday and will run till June 15. This year's event features an extended five-day format featuring 55 teams: three days dedicated to rapid chess (a 12-round Swiss system) followed by two days of blitz. The tournament has drawn grandmasters, prodigies, and amateur enthusiasts from around the world, all vying for the €500,000 prize fund, with €310,000 allocated to the rapid section and €190,000 to the blitz. Each team consists of six players per match, with the requirement to field at least one female player and one recreational player (rated below 2000 FIDE).
