Team MGD1, led by Indian superstar Arjun Erigaisi on board one, was the only team to win all four matches on the first day of the World Rapid Team Championship, making them the overnight leaders. They were followed closely by WR Chess, Freedom, and Malcolm’s Mates, who each scored three wins and one draw.
In the first round of day two — round five overall — MGD1 dropped its first team point, drawing their match against Freedom. On the top board, Erigaisi lost to Anand after a failed mating attack.
| Erigaisi Arjun2782 | 0–1 | Anand, Viswanathan2743 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | FIDE-WRBC Rapid 2025 London12.06.2025[Schulz,A] | | |||||||||||||||||||||
In the duel between amateurs—players rated under 2000 Elo on board six—Anand’s young teammate Mani Sarbartho lost, resulting in a drawn match overall.
Before the round, 9-year-old Mani Sarbartho had greeted his idol and teammate. In India, Anand is regarded as something of a chess god, and the young chess fan’s approach reflected that admiration. The chess god couldn’t help but smile.
What a moment for the young boy ♥️🤗
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) June 12, 2025
Edit: @ram_abhyudaya#chess #chessbaseindia #vishyanand #WRBTeams pic.twitter.com/3eaOut8auG
In the other top match of the round, WR Chess edged out Malcolm’s Mates with a narrow 3.5–2.5 victory.
Round six saw a clash between MGD1 and WR Chess, which ended in a clear 4–2 win for MGD1. Meanwhile, the German top team, Germany & Friends, continued their climb up the standings with a victory over Duobeniajan Costa Calida ESJ in round five, and then faced Anand’s team, Freedom. The Germans came out on top, thanks in part to Vincent Keymer’s win on board one against Rauf Mamedov. Anand sat out the round.
A notable success came from the Turkish Airlines team, which had placed the young prodigy Faustino Oro on board one. The 11-year-old scored a victory over Nihal Sarin, helping his team secure a 3–3 draw against Ashdod.
🇦🇷 11-year-old IM Faustino Oro (2457) stuns 🇮🇳 GM Nihal Sarin (2676) — and emotions overflow as his teammates rush to celebrate!
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) June 12, 2025
His crucial win helped secure a 3–3 draw for the team (Turkish Airlines Sports Club) — a result that meant everything. And it showed! pic.twitter.com/iWV7zQTWSK
In the next round, the 11-year-old Argentinian faced an even stronger opponent in Levon Aronian. He played an impressive game but ultimately had to concede defeat.
Faustino Oro has to stand to reach all pieces
In the top match of round 7, MGD1 faced Germany & Friends. The encounter was extremely close. Vincent Keymer defeated Arjun Erigaisi, and Rasmus Svane scored a win against David Anton.
| Keymer, Vincent2649 | 1–0 | Erigaisi Arjun2708 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany and Friends | Round 7: Keymer, Vincent - Erigaisi Arju 10.06.2025[Schulz,A] | Team MGD1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Matthias Blübaum lost to Harikrishna, and Alexander Donchenko was defeated by Leon Luke Mendonca. The deciding point for MGD1 came on the amateur board, where Atharvaa P Tayade beat Bohdan Lobkin, sealing a 3.5–2.5 victory for MGD1 over Germany & Friends.
On the second table, WR Chess suffered a clear 2–4 defeat against the Hexamid team.
On board three, Malcolm’s Mates and Uzbekistan played a 3–3 draw.
How are things?
And so, Team MGD1 entered round eight—the final round of the second day—with 13 points and a two-point lead. Their opponent was the Hexamid team, which played with Vidit and Giri on the middle boards. On board one, Volodar Murzin played. Aside from Hexamid, there were five other teams going into round eight with two draws and one loss—three points dropped in total.
Germany & Friends, with two losses, led the group of teams with four points dropped and were paired up for the final round of the day against Malcolm’s Mates. The match ended 4.5–1.5 in favor of the German team, though the score didn’t reflect how close the contest really was. Only Bohdan Lobkin won convincingly. Frederik Svane secured a hard-fought victory against Nikita Vitiugov, and Vincent Keymer was on the verge of losing after an incautious move against Luke McShane. But things turned out differently:
| McShane, Luke J2702 | 0–1 | Keymer, Vincent2649 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Malcolm's Mates | Round 8: McShane, Luke J - Keymer, Vince 12.06.2025[Schulz,A] | Germany and Friends | |||||||||||||||||||||
At the top table, MGD1 suffered its first defeat, falling to Hexamid. Meanwhile, Anand’s Freedom team scored a dominant 5–1 win over Kazchess, Uzbekistan defeated the Global Ramblers, and WR Chess secured a clear victory against Barys.kz.
Well dressed: Vidit Gujrathi from Team Hexamid
The Danish Futures, by the way, have gone beyond the tournament’s requirement of fielding one women’s board and are competing with a balanced gender lineup: three men, three women, plus female support staff. The Danish Futures have won two of their matches so far.
Danis Futures
Standings after 8 rounds
| Rk. | Snr | Team | Matches | + | = | - | Tb1 | Tb2 | Tb3 | Tb4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Team MGD1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 285 | 30,5 | 79 |
| 2 | 9 | Hexamind Chess Team | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 260 | 31,5 | 72 |
| 3 | 5 | Freedom | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 292 | 33 | 76 |
| 4 | 4 | Uzbekistan | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 282 | 33 | 75 |
| 5 | 7 | Germany and Friends | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 246 | 29 | 70 |
| 6 | 1 | WR Chess Team | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 248 | 29 | 78 |
| 7 | 8 | Ashdod Elit Chess Club | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 226 | 30 | 65 |
| 8 | 3 | Malcolm's Mates | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 243,5 | 27 | 77 |
| 9 | 10 | Knight Dance | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 215,5 | 29 | 67 |
| 10 | 2 | KazChess | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 209,5 | 26 | 71 |
| 11 | 11 | Team Hungary | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 208 | 26,5 | 65 |
| 12 | 18 | Barys.kz | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 195,5 | 28,5 | 68 |
| 13 | 15 | Global Ramblers | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 189 | 27,5 | 62 |
| 14 | 16 | Hetman GKS Katowice | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 178,5 | 25 | 64 |
| 15 | 17 | FIDE MB Team | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 163 | 27 | 59 |
| 16 | 14 | Duobeniajan Costa Calida ESJ | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 224 | 30,5 | 66 |
| 17 | 19 | Theme International Trading | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 217,5 | 27 | 68 |
| 18 | 21 | Rookies | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 208 | 30 | 62 |
| 19 | 13 | Generation XYZA | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 199,5 | 26,5 | 64 |
| 20 | 25 | Mongolia-A | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 186 | 28,5 | 57 |
| 21 | 12 | Rishon LeZion Chess Club | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 184,5 | 25 | 68 |
| 22 | 32 | The MongolZ | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 162 | 25 | 60 |
| 23 | 26 | ChessbrahTV | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 158 | 27 | 55 |
| 24 | 20 | e-therapeutics | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 148 | 25,5 | 48 |
| 25 | 28 | Turkish Airlines Sports Club | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 189 | 26 | 70 |
| 26 | 37 | English Knightmares | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 149,5 | 24 | 59 |
| 27 | 24 | Sharks 4NCL | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 148 | 24 | 59 |
| 28 | 35 | Wood Green Youth | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 143,5 | 23 | 58 |
| 29 | 36 | ¡Ållez-Y Initiative! | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 137,5 | 23,5 | 59 |
| 30 | 29 | Mongolia-B | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 178 | 26,5 | 62 |
| 31 | 22 | Wood Green | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 139 | 20,5 | 63 |
| 32 | 34 | Noval Group Kyrgyzstan | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 125,5 | 23 | 55 |
| 33 | 33 | Chess Rising Stars | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 124 | 20 | 62 |
| 34 | 39 | ANI | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 110,5 | 21,5 | 45 |
| 35 | 31 | Mother Continent | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 105,5 | 18,5 | 56 |
| 36 | 23 | Perfect | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 105 | 19 | 47 |
| 37 | 41 | Berlin Lasker Legends | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 86,5 | 17,5 | 50 |
| 38 | 48 | xChess.AI | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 80 | 21 | 43 |
| 39 | 38 | OlalaStars | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 127 | 21 | 53 |
| 40 | 30 | Berlin Chess Federation | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 118 | 21 | 54 |
| 41 | 42 | Uppsala SSS | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 101,5 | 19,5 | 51 |
| 42 | 49 | Satranc Istanbul | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 98,5 | 21,5 | 42 |
| 43 | 46 | UK Chess Challenge Masters | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 96 | 19,5 | 49 |
| 44 | 51 | Youth KG | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 135,5 | 20,5 | 56 |
| 45 | 40 | Chess Trust Accelerators | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 124,5 | 20 | 52 |
| 46 | 43 | Oxbridge | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 107,5 | 19 | 51 |
| 47 | 27 | Sassy Seniors | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 96 | 18 | 48 |
| 48 | 47 | Hammersmith Chess Club | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 94,5 | 17 | 53 |
| 49 | 44 | The London Legends | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 90 | 18,5 | 52 |
| 50 | 45 | Danish Futures | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 91,5 | 21 | 46 |
| 51 | 50 | Desert Penguins | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 69,5 | 14,5 | 44 |
| 52 | 52 | Equity Bank, Kenya | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 52,5 | 11,5 | 45 |
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