MGD1 advance to knockout round of World Blitz Team chess

A day after becoming the first Indian side to clinch the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship title, Team MGD1 gave another commanding performance to secure a spot in the knockout round of the 'Blitz' tournament, keeping it in contention for a golden double here. With 16 teams moving into the knockouts from four Pools, Team MGD1 in Pool D, played out just one draw, against Team Hungary, and won all their other matches to end the day on 23 match points.

A total of 53 teams competed in the round-robin pool stage, with the top-four from each group making it to the knockout. The Indian team, comprising Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, P Harikrishna, V. Pranav, Leon Luke Mendonca, Stavroula Tsolakidou and Atharvaa Tayade, scored five match victories in which they won all six games -- the most of all top-placed teams in the Blitz, across all groups.

Erigaisi, who recently defeated Magnus Carlsen in Norway Chess, was their top-performer earning 11 points in 13 games. KazChess was second in Pool D with 22 match points, with their non-professional player Islam Aiten making the biggest contribution of 12 points in 13 games. Freedom, with five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand playing on the top board, also made it to the knockout round after finishing in joint lead with Hexamind in Pool B with 22 match points.

Freedom suffered a defeat at the hands of Theme International Trading in round 10, but that did not 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. Hexamind, despite losing a match to Freedom 1.5-4.5, also moved into the knockouts.A prize fund of 190,000 Euros is up for grabs in the 'Blitz' competition.

Teams in Knockout: WR Chess Team; Malcolm's Mates, Hetman GKS Katowice, Germany and Friends, Team MGD1, Generation XYZA, Knight Dance, Hexamind Chess Team, Freedom, FIDE MB Team, Rookies, KazChess , Uzbekistan, Barys.kz, Theme International Trading, Ashdod Elit Chess Club. PTI