Pragg, Hou, Nepo and Duda shine
The sponsor of the World Rapid Team Championship, Wadim Rosenstein, put together a strong squad, captained by Jan Gustafsson and with Wesley So on the top board. Rosenstein himself, playing on the amateur board, has so far scored 5 out of 8 points. WR Chess has a perfect 16/16 score and has a 3-point lead over second-placed Freedom.
While So and Rosenstein could have done better on their respective boards, there are four players in the team that have more than made up for any shortcoming in the roster — i.e. Praggnanandhaa, Hou Yifan, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
The Indian chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi with an ELO of over 2700 (June 2023) is one of the best 20 players in the world. For the first time, the sympathetic top player presents himself in a video course. Let a world-class player show you tactical moti
Importantly, the leading team got to beat its two strongest contenders in rounds 5 and 6. First, they got the better of top seeds Freedom by a whopping 5-1 score, with wins for Duda, Pragg, Hou and Rosenstein. Immediately afterwards, they beat the all-Indian MGD1 squad. Losses by So and Rosenstein were compensated by the full points scored by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Duda and Pragg for a final 3½-2½ score.
Freedom, led by Vishy Anand (5/7 so far in Düsseldorf), bounced back in style from the painful defeat in round 5 by winning its three remaining matches of the day. MGD1, on the other hand, beat Armenia in round 7 and lost to Ashdod Elit Chess Club in the final round of the day.
With four rounds to go, Freedom stands 3 match points behind WR Chess, while MGD1 is one of three teams sharing third place with 11/16 points — the Indian team is tied with Ashdod Elit Chess Club (Pavel Eljanov, Andrei Volokitin, Mariya Muzychuk) and Six-pack (Aravindh Chithambaram, Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh, Priyanka Nutakki).
The 5-team group standing just behind on 10/16 match points includes the over-performing Chess Pensioners (28th seeds according to rating averages). The top scorers in the Pensioners’ squad are Vladimir Kramnik (6/8, 48 y.o.), Peter Svidler (5½/8, 47 y.o.) and Darmen Sadvakasov (5½/8, 44 y.o.).
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.

Pavel Eljanov plays on the top board for Ashdod Elit Chess Club | Photo: Niki Riga

Commentator extraordinaire Jovanka Houska is representing the Chess Pensioners | Photo: Niki Riga

The ever-photogenic Alexander Grischuk has so far scored 6/8 for the ASV AlphaEchecs Linz | Photo: Niki Riga

Players of all ages in Düsseldorf | Photo: Niki Riga
Assorted highlights
by Klaus Besenthal
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 Nh5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Bg3 7.g4! Nhf6 8.Bg3 Nxg4 9.h4 7...Bg7 8.e4 c5 9.d5 Qa5 10.Nd2 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qxc3 12.Be2 Ndf6 13.0-0 Nxg3 14.hxg3 g4 15.Rb1 h5 16.Rb3 Qe5 17.Nc4 17...Qd4 17...Qxe4?? 18.Nxd6+ exd6 19.Re3 18.e5 Ne4?! 18...dxe5 19.Qc1 Qxd5 20.Rd1 Qe6 21.Qd2= 18...Qxd1 19.Rxd1 dxe5 19.Bd3?! 19.Re3!± 19...h4 19...dxe5! 20.Qe1 Bf5 21.Bxe4? 21.Qe3= 21...Bxe4 22.Nd2 Bxc2 23.exd6 23...e5? 23...0-0-0! 24.dxe7 Rde8-+ 24.Re3?! 24.dxe6= 24...0-0-0 25.Ne4? 25.Qc1 25...Bd3? 25...hxg3 26.Nxg3 Bd3 26.Qa5! Kb8 27.Qc7+ Ka8 28.Nxc5 Ba6 29.Nxa6 Qb6 30.Qxb6 axb6 31.Nc7+ Kb8 32.Ra3 1–0
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

Fabiano Caruana (Kompetenzakademie Allstars) beat Ahmed Adly (Africa) in the fifth round | Photo: Niki Riga
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 e6 8.0-0 Nc6 9.d4 dxe5 10.dxe5 Be7 11.Bc2 11...0-0? 12.Qd3 g6 13.Bh6 Re8 14.Nbd2 Nd5 15.Ne4?! 15.Rfe1 15...b5? 15...Qb8 16.Bg5 Bxg5 17.Nexg5 Qc7 18.Qe4 18...f5 19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Qh4 e5 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.Bxe4 Rad8? 22...Kg7 23.Ng5 Bf5 24.Bxc6 1–0

Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: Niki Riga
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.h3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 Nc6 9.Qe3 Be6 10.Nc3 Nd7 11.Rb1 Qb6 12.Nd5 Qxe3 13.Bxe3 Rac8 14.b3 h6 15.b4 Rfe8 16.Nf4 b6 17.Rfc1 Nf8 18.a3 g5 19.Nxe6 Nxe6 20.Rd1 Rc7 21.g3 Ne5 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 23.Kg2 Kg7 24.a4 Rec8 25.Rd5 Rc6 26.a5 Nc7 27.Rd2 bxa5 28.bxa5 a6 29.Rb7 Kf8 30.Rd1 Ne6 31.Bb6 Nc5 32.Ra7 Nxe4 33.Rxa6 Nc3 34.Rd2 Nxe2 35.Rxe2 Rxc4 36.Ra2 Bd4 37.Bxd4 Rxd4 38.Rb6 Rcc4 39.a6 Ra4 40.Rc2 Rd5 41.Rc7 Ra2 42.a7 42...Rf5?? 42...Rda5 43.Rbb7 Kg7 44.Rxe7 Rf5 45.Kg1 Ra1+ 46.Kg2 Ra2 43.Rb8+ 43.Rb2! 43...Kg7 44.a8Q Raxf2+ 45.Kg1 Rf1+ 46.Kh2 R1f2+ 47.Qg2 Rxg2+ 48.Kxg2 48...Re5 49.Rb2 Kf8 50.Rf2 Re3 51.g4 Re5 52.Rcc2 Re3 53.Rfe2 Rxe2+ 54.Rxe2 e6 55.Kf3 Kg7 56.Ke4 h5 57.Rd2 hxg4 58.hxg4 d5+ 59.Ke5 Kg6 60.Ra2 1–0
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Vishy Anand | Photo: Niki Riga
Standings after round 8
1 |
2 |
WR Chess |
8 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
338 |
36,5 |
74 |
2 |
1 |
Freedom |
8 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
245,5 |
31 |
74 |
3 |
3 |
Team MGD1 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
276 |
30,5 |
79 |
4 |
6 |
Ashdod Elit Chess Club |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
197 |
28,5 |
69 |
5 |
12 |
Six-pack |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
191 |
28,5 |
65 |
6 |
4 |
ASV AlphaEchecs Linz |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
279 |
32 |
69 |
7 |
10 |
Germany and Friends |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
238 |
27 |
78 |
8 |
5 |
Armenia |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
235 |
30 |
68 |
9 |
7 |
Kompetenzakademie Allstars |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
225 |
29 |
71 |
10 |
28 |
Chess Pensioners |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
204 |
25,5 |
65 |
11 |
11 |
Berlin Chess Federation |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
188,5 |
24,5 |
65 |
12 |
15 |
Rishon LeZion Chess Club |
8 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
177 |
27 |
61 |
13 |
13 |
Düsseldorfer Schachklub 1914/25 e.V. |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
171,5 |
27 |
60 |
14 |
14 |
Team Chessemy.com |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
132,5 |
24 |
55 |
15 |
8 |
Columbus Energy KingsOfChess Kraków |
8 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
211 |
28 |
72 |
...36 teams
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