Hong Kong: Dragon Chilling lead, Team MGD1 and Barys in the hunt

Carlsen loses twice, as his team WR Chess fall to eleventh place in the standings

Dragon Chilling moved into sole first place after the second day of the World Team Rapid Championship in Hong Kong, as rounds five to eight left the all-Chinese team alone at the top of the standings with 14/16 match points.

Led by former world champion Ding Liren, Dragon Chilling also feature two of the strongest female players in the world: reigning women's world champion Ju Wenjun and world number two Lei Tingjie. The team finished day one tied for first place with Kazchess on 8/8, and followed up with two wins and two draws on Thursday, and are now the only team to remain undefeated in matches after eight rounds.

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Leinier Dominguez (Endgame.Ai) and Wei Yi (Dragon Chilling) drew their round-five encounter | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

A former Women's World Championship challenger, Lei Tingjie (Dragon Chilling) facing the next challenger for the world crown, Vaishali Rameshbabu (Chessgurukul) - Lei won the game | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Team MGD1, who ended the opening day on 6/8, produced one of the strongest performances of day two. The all-Indian squad, headed by Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, collected 7/8 on Thursday and climbed to sole second place with 13/16, one point behind Dragon Chilling.

Their run began with a victory over Chessnut Nova in round five, before they caused one of the day's main upsets by defeating top seeds WR Chess. Erigaisi beat Magnus Carlsen on the top board in an eye-catching encounter, while Aryan Abhijeet Shah scored a crucial win on the recreational board. Team MGD1 then drew with Dragon Chilling, a match in which Pranav Venkatesh defeated Yu Yangyi, before beating former co-leaders Kazchess in round eight thanks to wins by Nihal, Leon Luke Mendonca and again Abhijeet Shah.

Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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Puranik Abhimanyu and Leon Luke Mendonca (Tram MGD1) working hard against Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (WR Chess) - Puranik lost and Mendonca drew | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Team MGD1 scored a 3½-2½ upset win in the end | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Barys also gained ground on Thursday, scoring 6/8 to move into sole third place, one point behind Team MGD1. The team have experienced GMs Dmitry Andreikin and Peter Svidler on the top boards, supported by seven Kazakh representatives, including Alua Nurman, currently ranked second in the world among female under-20 players.

Barys defeated Theme International Trading, Shenzhen Qiyu Chess Club and WR Chess, while their only loss of the day was a heavy 5-1 defeat against Kazchess in round six. Their 4-2 win over WR Chess was particularly important, with Svidler beating Fabiano Caruana, while Nurman and recreational-board player Ailin Zarkmyn also added victories.

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Despite losing what was an objectively drawn rook endgame against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Kazchess), the expressive Peter Svidler (Barys) is performing remarkably well in Hong Kong | Photos: FIDE / Michal Walusza

The recreational board has again proved to be a major factor in the team standings, as was already clear in previous editions of the event.

• Dragon Chilling's Wang Zihao, rated 1763, has scored 6½/7
• Team MGD1's Aryan Abhijeet Shah, rated 1932, has collected 7½/8.
• Barys have not had quite the same output on that board, with Ailin Zarkmyn on 4/8, though her win against WR Chess was a key result.
• Ning Yunlong, rated 1927, has also been one of the standout performers for Mr Birdie and Friends, scoring 7/8 and helping his team stay in contention.

Mr Birdie and Friends are among seven teams sharing fourth place, one point behind Barys.

The Mr Birdie and Friends squad! | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Endgame.AI, with Hans Niemann (6/8) and Leinier Dominguez (3½/8) on the top boards, are tied for fourth place on 11/18 match points | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Second seeds Hexamind, who had struggled on day one, recovered by scoring 7/8 on Thursday and climbing into the group in shared fourth place. Their improvement came mostly against lower-rated opposition, however, and they missed a chance to gain further ground when they were held to a draw by Chessnut Nova in round seven. In that match, Levon Aronian lost to Daniel Dardha and Kateryna Lagno was defeated by Lu Miaoyi.

Alireza Firouzja was the main bright spot for Hexamind. The French grandmaster scored 4/4 on day two and is currently one of only two players in the event with a 2800-plus tournament performance, alongside Hans Niemann of Endgame.AI.

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Hexamind's Alireza Firouzja (5½/7) | Photo: FIDE / Andrei Anosov

Levon Aronian (4½/7) is playing on board two for Hexamind | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Top seeds WR Chess had a very difficult second day. After starting Thursday on 6/8, they managed only 4/8 on day two and now trail Dragon Chilling by 4 match points. With only four rounds left, they will need a strong finish even to fight for a place on the podium.

Naturally, Magnus Carlsen's individual results attracted particular attention. The Norwegian scored only ½/3 on Thursday, losing to Erigaisi and Shant Sargsyan, the latter after blundering an exchange in the endgame. His only half-point came against Vladislav Artemiev of Mr Birdie and Friends, who reportedly arrived almost eight minutes late for the 15-minute rapid game but still managed to hold the draw.

WR Chess have had solid showings from Wesley So, who is on 5/7, and Fabiano Caruana, who has scored 6½/8, but this has not been enough to offset setbacks elsewhere. The top seeds have also struggled on the recreational board, where Wadim Rosenstein has scored 2½/6 and Gombojav Zandanshatar ½/2.

The round has started and Magnus Carlsen's opponent, Vladislav Artemiev, has not arrived | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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Vladislav Artemiev finally made it to the playing hall - "completely drenched" since it has been raining in Hong Kong, as reported by ChessBase India - and held a draw with the white pieces | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Full regulations | Team composition, pairings and results

Standings after round 8

...48 teams

Top 10 teams' composition

...48 teams

All available games

Links

• Official website
• Hong Kong takes centre stage
• Chess superstars headline World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships in Hong Kong