The rapid section of the 2025 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Teams ended with a commanding finish by MGD1, who won all four matches on the final day to claim sole first place.

The FIDE World Rapid Teams Chess Championship wrapped up in London on Friday, with the last four of the 12 rounds played. As the competition neared its end, MGD1 and Hexamind distinguished themselves as the prime contenders for the title.

In the decisive four rounds of the day, the Indian squad of Team MGD1 won every match, rightfully claiming the championship. Out of 12 matches, MGD1 won in 10, drew one and lost one, finishing with 21 matchpoints. A key factor in MGD1’s sustained success was the consistent performance of their amateur board player, Atharvaa P Tayade, who held a perfect record throughout the three-day-long tournament, only to spoil it in the last round with his only loss. In the final round, MGD1’s Pranav V defeated Ivan Šarić of Malcolm’s Mates, to secure the match – and sole first place for his team.

Second place went to Hexamind Chess Team, who sprung to the top on day two and maintained their strong performance until the end, chasing MGD1 all the way through to the final round. They started the day with a draw with Freedom, but then won all three remaining matches, securing sole second place, on 20 matchpoints, just one behind MGD1.

Freedom, a team featuring the former world champion Vishy Anand, had a mixed performance on the final day, with three draws. It was only thanks to their dominant 4.5:1.5 final round victory over Knight Dance that they managed to tie for third place, alongside the teams of Uzbekistan and WR Chess, all on 17 matchpoints.

Rating favouries of the event, team WR Chess, had a strong performance winning in rounds nine, ten and eleven. But in the final round – in a game full of twists – Alireza Firouzja slipped against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, handing Team Uzbekistan the match and a share of third place.

Here follows a closer look at the decisive four rounds of the FIDE World Rapid Team Chess Championship:

U.S. Grandmaster Kenneth Rogoff – a renowned Harvard economist and the former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund – made the first ceremonial first move at the start of the day.

Playing on the top tables, Freedom split two points with Hexamind who had surged to the top after a great run on day two. Sam Sevian defeated Volodar Murzin with the black pieces, giving Freedom the advantage. Despite the promising start for Freedom with a win and good positions, most of the remaining games ended in draws. On the women’s board, Freedom’s Anna Muzychuk was an exchange down against Divya Deshmukh, but miraculously escaped with a draw. David Muradyan, beat Sarbartho Mani on the amateur board and helped Hexamind to save the match – 3:3.

Tournament leaders MGD1 defeated KazChess 3.5:2.5 which allowed them to again take the sole lead in the tournament. Arjun Erigaisi beat Richard Rapport on the top board, but MGD1’s Pentala Harikrishna lost on the second. As on several occasions during the tournament, MGD1 were rescued by their amateur board, Atharvaa P Tayade, who maintained a perfect record since round one.

Following a very long and complicated game, Vincent Keymer prevailed over Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov to secure victory for Germany and Friends 3.5:2.5. WR Chess edged past Knight Dance, led by Jorden van Foreest, keeping them close to the top. Malcolm’s Mates lost to the Ashdod Elit Chess Club 3.5:2.5, falling lower in the standings.

Then came round 10 and Team MGD1 narrowly defeated Ashdod Elit Chess Club with 3.5:2.5. Ashdod’s Andrei Volokitin got into trouble early on against Pranav and ended up losing. However, on the women’s board, MGD1’s Stavroula Tsolakidou, lost (recording her third defeat in a row), leveling the score for Ashdod. With the other top boards ending in a draw, it came down to the non-professional player, Atharvaa P Tayade who – once again – saved the day for MGD1, winning the game and securing a victory for his team.

While MGD1 struggled but gritted out a victory, team Hexamind cruised through round 10, clearing Germany and Friends with 4.5:1.5. Save for Keymer and Svane who drew their games, the other top player of Germany and Friends – Bluebaum, Donchenko and Wagner all lost, while the non-professional player Bohdan Lobkin drew.

WR delivered a dominating performance against Tema Hungary, defeating them 5.5:0.5. On the other hand, Freedom had another draw – splitting two points with the team of Uzbekistan, with all six games ending in draws.

Round eleven brought another win for Team MGD1: they played Team International Trading, defeating them with 4.5:1.5. Having faced all the best performing and top-rated teams in the tournament, MGD1 was paired against squads which were slightly lower on the scoreboard at the finish, making things somewhat easier. Atharvaa P Tayade won his ninth game in a row.

Hexamind continued chasing MGD1, as they also won – defeating Barys.kz 3.5:2.5. Leinier Dominguez Perez was the only Hexamind player to stumble, losing to nearly 200 points lower-rated Denis Makhnev. WR Chess scored their third victory in the day – overpowering Germany and Friends 4:2, winning on all three top boards.

Freedom, on the other hand, suffered a setback against the squad of the Ashdod Elit Chess Club. Rauf Mamedov blundered a pawn and lost to Nihal Sarin. Freedom also dropped the non-professional board. While Sam Sevian struck back against Pavel Eljanov, Freedom’s women’s board Teodora Injac found herself a piece down in a difficult endgame, losing to Yuliia Osmak. Luckily, Freedom’s last board came through to level the match.

Malcolm’s Mates beat the strong squad of KazChess 4:2, catching up with the top teams ahead of the final round.

A notable moment from Round 11 came in the match between Knight Dance and Team Hungary. On the women’s board, Hungary’s IM Zsoka Gaal successfully claimed a draw – remarkably, the repeated position occurred on moves 72, 74 and again on move 94. Spotting this across such a long game, under extreme time pressure, requires razor-sharp memory and focus.

In the 12th and final round, leaders MGD1 played the British team of Malcolm’s Mates. All eyes were on this match as, despite being the leaders through the event, MGD1 had to win to claim sole first place. On board one, MGD1’s Arjun Erigaisi defeated Luke McShane to give his team the edge. With board two, three and the women’s board all drawn – and two games still in play – everything was up in the air. The decisive blow in the match came from Pranav V on board four, who outplayed the Croatian GM Ivan Šarić to seal the match – and the championship – for MGD1.

One of the best performing players in the tournament, MGD1’s Atharvaa P Tayade – lost his final game, spoiling the perfect score of 11 straight wins.

Hexamind scored a dominating 4.5:1.5 victory over Ashdod, with Aronian, Santosh, Giri and Muradyan all winning their games. Team Freedom scored a comfortable 4.5:1.5 victory over the squad of Knight Dance.

In one of the toughest matchups of the round, WR Chess faced Uzbekistan. With WR’s Rosenstein losing on the non-professional board, Uzbekistan took the lead. Wesley So then equalised for WR, beating Shamsiddin Vokhidov. With all other games ending in a draw, the outcome of the match hinged on the game on board one, between Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Playing as Black, Abdusattorov emerged with two rooks for a queen. In a sharp endgame, under severe time pressure for both, the Uzbek star blundered and was completely lost. Just a few moves later, Firouzja returned the favour with a disastrous mistake of his own from which there was no coming back. The match ended 3.5:2.5 in favour of Uzbekistan.

Text: Milan Dinic

Final standings after 12 rounds

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