After three days and 12 rounds of Rapid, things got hotter in London as the FIDE World Blitz Team kicked off. Following 13 rounds of fast-paced action, 16 out of 53 teams have advanced to the final playoff stage on Sunday.
The blitz competition is split in two stages. On day one, the teams were divided into four equally strong pools, playing in a round-robin format. There were four pools – three had 13 teams, while Pool D had 14. The top four teams in each pool qualified for the knockout playoffs, which are taking place on Sunday, June 15.

In Pool A, WR Chess, Ashdod Elit Chess Club, Knight Dance and FIDE Management Board Tram advanced to the knockouts.
WR Team won all of their matches, with the closest they came to a struggle being the round six match against The MongolZ squad, which ended with a narrow win, 3.5:2.5. In that match, WR’s Hou Yifan, the world’s top-rated female player, lost to more than 500 points lower-rated Khishigbat Ulziikhishig.

WR was significantly strengthened by the late arrival of Ian Nepomniachtchi, who received his UK visa just in time to play in the Blitz. The big hero of the day for WR was Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda who scored 11.5 points out of 12 games on one of the top boards.
In a big surprise of the day, 13-year-old IM Ahmad Khagan (2290) from Turkish Airlines stunned GM Hikaru Nakamura (2837) in round five. Visibly upset, Nakamura didn’t even set up his pieces back, as is customary after the game, and just walked out of the playing hall. During the day, Khagan proved his victory was not an accident – he won 9 out of 13 games, facing strong grandmasters.

Ashdod dropped just one match – a 1.5:4.5 loss to WR Team – drew another and won the rest to comfortably secure second place, with 21 matchpoints. Their standout performer was Aldiyar Sailaubay on the amateur board, who scored 9.5/12.
Knight Dance finished third with 19 matchpoints, despite two losses and a draw. Close behind were the FIDE Management Board Tram, who secured fourth place on 17 matchpoints. Zhu Chen and non-professional standout Stepan Zaiarski played key roles in their qualification.
From Pool B, Freedom, Hexamind, Theme International Trading and Malcolm’s Mates moved to the knockout phase. In round 10, Freedom suffered a defeat at the hands of Theme International Trading, but that didn’t endanger their spot in the knockouts. Freedom’s Le Quang Liem and Haik Martirosyan were the best performers, scoring 8.5 points out of the nine games they played.

Despite losing a match to Freedom (4.5:1.5), Hexamind stormed through in all other matches to enter the knockouts in shared first place in Pool B. Both Freedom and Hexamind ended the day with 22 matchpoints.
Theme International Trading recovered from a stunning 6:0 opening loss to Hexamind to finish third with 19 matchpoints. Fourth place went to the British squad Malcolm’s Mates, with 18 matchpoints which was greatly helped by GM Luke McShane who won 10 out of 12 games.
In Pool C, the most consistent performance was delivered by Team Uzbekistan, who entered the final round with two matchpoints ahead of the field. Their star player, Nodirbek Yakubboev, had a great run, scoring 9.5 points out of 12.
Germany and Friends, led by Vincent Keymer, came in second place after losing just one match – to Uzbekistan. They finished on 22 matchpoints.
Rookies took third place with 20 matchpoints, despite losses to the top two teams. Generation XYZA claimed the final qualifying spot with 17 matchpoints, even after losing to all three teams above them. Notably, XYZA’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus topped individual scoring in Pool C with 10/12.
Pool D saw the favourites – 2025 World Rapid champions MGD1 – advance alongside KazChess, Hetman GKS Katowice, and Barys.kz.

MGD1 made just one draw (with fifth-placed Team Hungary) and won all other matches, ending the day on 23 matchpoints. The Indian team scored five match victories in which they won all six games – the most of all top-placed teams in the Blitz, across all groups. Their top-performing player was board one Arjun Erigaisi, who made 11 points out of 13 games.
With 22 matchpoints, KazChess was second. Their non-professional player Islam Aiten made the biggest contribution having won 12 out of 13 games.

Hetman GKS Katowice took third place with 20 matchpoints. Their top board, GM David Navara, was instrumental in their success with a score of 11/13.
Barys.kz clinched the final knockout spot in Pool D with a commanding 6:0 win over Perfect in the last round, finishing on 17 matchpoints.

The knockouts
With the pool stages now concluded, the focus shifts to Sunday’s knockout rounds, where the 16 qualifiers will battle for the title of the 2025 FIDE World Blitz Chess Champion.
With the stakes rising and a sharper, knockout format – it promises to be an exciting closing to a spectacular week of chess.
Text: Milan Dinic
Games
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Qc7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Be2 b6 8.0-0 Bb7 9.f3 d6 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.Qd2 Be7 12.Rfc1 0-0 13.b4 Rfc8 14.Nb3 Qd8 15.a3 Ne5 16.Na4 Nfd7 17.Bf1 Rab8 18.c5 dxc5 19.bxc5 b5 20.Nb6 Nxb6 21.cxb6 Qxd2 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Nxd2 Bd8 24.Nb3 Nd7 25.Rd1 h6 26.Na5 Bxb6 27.Bxb6 Nxb6 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.e5 g6 30.h4 Kg7 31.Bd3 Nd7 32.Nc6 Ra8 33.Ne7 Nxe5 34.Be4 Bb7 35.Rxa8 Bxa8 36.Bxa8 Nc4 37.Nc6 a5 38.Nd4 Nxa3 39.Bc6 b4 40.Nb3 Nc4 41.Bb5 Nd6 42.Bc6 Kf6 43.Nxa5 Ke5 44.Nb3 Nf5 45.Be8 Kf6 46.h5 gxh5 47.Kf2 h4 48.Nc5 Ke7 49.Ba4 Nd4 50.Ke3 e5 51.Ke4 Kd6 52.Nb7+ Ke6 53.Nd8+ Ke7 54.Nb7 Ke6 55.Nd8+ Ke7 56.Nc6+ Nxc6 57.Bxc6 1–0
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Nepomniachtchi,I | 2757 | Hansen,E | 2609 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.1 |
Gan-Erdene,S | 2454 | Abdusattorov,N | 2767 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.1 |
Harvey,M | 2445 | Sevian,S | 2687 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.1 |
Skytte,R | 2367 | Grischuk,A | 2667 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.1 |
Le,Q | 2729 | Willow,J | 2470 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.2 |
Rapport,R | 2714 | Kistrup,N | 2381 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.2 |
Sindarov,J | 2710 | Bilguun,S | 2451 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.2 |
Ragnarsson,D | 2349 | Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2736 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.2 |
So,W | 2745 | Delaney,K | 2275 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.3 |
Czopor,M | 2423 | Sarana,A | 2686 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.3 |
Batkhuyag,M | 2356 | Yakubboev,N | 2659 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.3 |
Nilssen,E | 2160 | Sadvakasov,D | 2629 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.3 |
Vokhidov,S | 2644 | Mungunzul,B | 2337 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.4 |
Martirosyan,H | 2635 | Wadsworth,M | 2481 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.4 |
Ansat,A | 2489 | Skytte,R | 2015 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.4 |
Vincent,T | 2226 | Duda,J | 2725 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.4 |
Kosteniuk,A | 2474 | Garcia Martin,M | 2339 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.5 |
Sodbilegt,N | 2363 | Khamdamova,A | 2326 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.5 |
Orlovska,M | 2059 | Injac,T | 2457 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.5 |
Derlich,S | 1926 | Kaliakhmet,E | 2218 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.5 |
Imomkuzieva,N | 2066 | Enkhbayar,G | 1837 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.6 |
Aiten,I | 1950 | Andries,L | 1830 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.6 |
Grose,K | 1907 | Rosenstein,W | 1722 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.6 |
Mani,S | 1847 | Barwick,C | 1915 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.6 |
Navara,D | 2657 | Erigaisi Arjun | 2782 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.7 |
Rodshtein,M | 2645 | Aronian,L | 2742 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.7 |
Pert,N | 2509 | Samadov,R | 2522 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.7 |
Oro,F | 2465 | Hong,A | 2589 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.7 |
Giri,A | 2748 | Steinberg,N | 2554 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.8 |
Anton Guijarro,D | 2642 | Klimkowski,J | 2508 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.8 |
Short,N | 2587 | Ahmad,K | 2394 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.8 |
Sapenov,D | 2405 | Pert,R | 2416 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.8 |
Sokolovsky,Y | 2542 | Vidit,S | 2720 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.9 |
Seemann,J | 2450 | Pranav,V | 2595 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.9 |
Mortazavi,A | 2333 | Shogdzhiev,R | 2402 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.9 |
Southcott-Moyers,I | 2289 | Bologan,V | 2601 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.9 |
Dominguez Perez,L | 2738 | Bronstein,O | 2443 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.10 |
Mendonca,L | 2603 | Saduakassova,D | 2435 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.10 |
Al-Mudahka,M | 2542 | Lohia,S | 2364 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.10 |
Nurman,A | 2339 | Sivanandan,B | 2109 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.10 |
Lu,M | 2452 | Zhu,C | 2423 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.11 |
Efroimski,M | 2372 | Divya Deshmukh | 2463 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.11 |
Tsatsalashvili,K | 2305 | Tsolakidou,S | 2428 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.11 |
Pert,M | 2277 | Suleimen,E | 2302 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.11 |
Dauren,D | 2008 | Mortazavi,S | 1805 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.12 |
Atharvaa P Tayade | 1956 | Smolinski,W | 1987 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.12 |
Zaiarski,S | 1932 | Yildiz,A | 2089 | ½–½ | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.12 |
Muradyan,D | - | Lapushnian,E | 1993 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.12 |
Mamedyarov,S | 2746 | Tan,J | 2512 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.13 |
Jumabayev,R | 2546 | Madan,A | 2259 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.13 |
Chinguun,S | 2415 | Nihal Sarin | 2696 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.13 |
Orozbaev,E | 2367 | Grahn,V | 2239 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.13 |
Gledura,B | 2668 | Reimanis,R | 2355 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.14 |
Derakhshani,B | 2348 | Gurel,E | 2636 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.14 |
Frank,A | 2183 | Degenbaev,A | 2286 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.14 |
Bansal,R | 2005 | Le,T | 2598 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.14 |
Solak,D | 2591 | Haydon,D | 2284 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.15 |
Tin,J | 2583 | Bharat Kumar,B | 2052 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.15 |
Itgelt,K | 2425 | Volokitin,A | 2626 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.15 |
Zhakshylykov,E | 2362 | Strom-Engdahl,A | 2320 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.15 |
Eljanov,P | 2669 | Nomin-Erdene,D | 2293 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.16 |
Balaji,A | 2346 | Erdogmus,Y | 2626 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.16 |
Nilsson,O | 2129 | Iunusov,N | 1953 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.16 |
Bansal,S | 1979 | Siddharth,J | 2461 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.16 |
Salimova,N | 2385 | Camp,I | 1915 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.17 |
Ulziikhishig Khishigbat | 2266 | Manakova,M | 2253 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.17 |
Gong,Q | 2228 | Ding,Y | 1793 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.17 |
Lesbekova,A | 1948 | Ostensson,J | 1996 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.17 |
Sailaubay,A | 1910 | Araya Fuentes,C | 1921 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.18 |
Letoret,T | 1907 | Zhunusbekova,A | 1890 | 1–0 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.18 |
Ivanov,E | 1738 | Yontar,S | 1941 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.18 |
Ding,Y | 1536 | Zhang,C | 1808 | 0–1 | 2025 | | FIDE-WRBC Blitz-Pool 2025 | 13.18 |
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