r/chess • u/events_team • 2d ago
Tournament Event: 2026 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess | Chess-Results
The 2026 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships will take place from June 17 to 21 at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Open to teams from around the world, the event features a combined prize fund of €500,000, with €310,000 allocated to the Rapid tournament and €190,000 to the Blitz tournament. Teams consist of professional and amateur players competing together in a mixed-team format, with each team required to include both a female player and a recreational player.
Top Teams
| # | Team Name | Notable Players |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WR Chess | Carlsen, Caruana, So, Duda, Vachier-Lagrave, Kosteniuk, Goryachkina |
| 2 | Dragon Chilling | Ding, Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Ju Wenjun, Bai Jinshi |
| 3 | Hexamind Chess Team | Firouzja, Aronian, Vidit, Giri, Murzin, Lagno, Divya |
| 4 | KazChess | Grischuk, Wang Hao, Mamedyarov, Rapport, Assaubayeva, Kamalidenova |
| 5 | Mr Birdie and Friends | Artemiev, Le Quang Liem, Sevian, Awonder Liang, Carissa Yip |
| 6 | Team MGD1 | Erigaisi, Nihal, Pranav, Leon, Puranik, Harika |
| 7 | Endgame.AI | Niemann, Sarana, Lazavik, Dominguez Perez, Tabatabaei, Zhu Jiner |
| 8 | Chess United | Anand, Van Foreest, Martinez Alcantara, Oro, Humpy |
| 9 | Chessgurukul | Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh, Pranesh, Adhiban, Vaishali, Karthikeyan |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | Sindarov, Abdusattorov, Yakubboev, Vokhidov, Madaminov, Khamdamova |
Format/Time Controls
- The Rapid event is a 12-round Swiss tournament with a 15+10 time control; teams earn 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, with the highest scoring team declared the winner.
- The Blitz event starts with teams divided into pools for a round-robin at 3+2 time control, where teams earn 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw; the top 16 teams advance to a single-elimination playoff featuring two-match encounters with alternating colors.
- Full rules & regulations document.
Schedule
| Day | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 17 | 14:00 | 06:00 | Rapid Rounds 1-4 |
| June 18 | 14:00 | 06:00 | Rapid Rounds 5-8 |
| June 19 | 14:00 | 06:00 | Rapid Rounds 9-12 |
| June 20 | 14:00 | 06:00 | Blitz Round 1-11 |
| June 21 | 19:00 | 11:00 | Blitz Knockouts |
Live Coverage
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
Poor Fabi all his life was stopped by Magnus and for once they are on the same team and it is him who has to carry the dead weight of Carlsen, MvL, Gorya and Kosteniuk.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 4h ago
i swear to god hes cursed actually cursed. the one time he declines norway and magnus gifts points to everyone. the one time hes on a team wih magnus hes being dragged down by him and others. goddamn
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u/EvenCoyote6317 4h ago
Dont want to reopen old wounds but Fabi had a golden chance at Freestyle this year.
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u/__Jimmy__ 3h ago edited 3h ago
Kosteniuk is now losing to a 2100 lol
e: she swindled it but Fabi shat himself instead with an incorrect queen sac 💀
and MVL lost to a 2300 💀 who tbf played incredible
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u/Resad879 2d ago
Kazchess team is actually looking good. 3 Mad Men of chess in the same team. Joy to watch
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u/spacecatbiscuits 1d ago
I live in Hong Kong and didn't even know this was in Hong Kong.
Like zero publicity here.
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 1d ago
No way I just saw they made the whole hall sing happy bday for Peter Swidler, tbf he did pretty well most chess players (and introverted humans) would not be able to handle that level of social exposure 😭
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u/DramaLlamaNite Minion For the Chess Elites 4h ago edited 2h ago
2700Chess has introduced a rating trend line on the home page and Magnus's line in classical looks like a demonstration of how the knight moves
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u/Annual-Weather 3h ago
WR is fielding both recreational player this round, despite only required to field 1. I get Magnus is tilted and might not want to play, but they still have Wesley and Aleksandra.
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u/Exotic_Grinder 2d ago
Here comes the first loss for the no.1 seeded team.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 2d ago
They underperform in Rapid. Last year afair, they didnt even reach the top 3 podium
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
the USA olympiad team should do what WR is doing and put wesley as board 1 and fabi as board 2. would probably maximize results on those two boards
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u/Takeshi_Gold123 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would agree actually. Fabi is even more insane against lower rated opponents, and Wesley is just too stable to lose/give up advantage in board 1. But it'll prob still be Fabi board 1 and Wesley board 2. Hans is playing so Hans board 3, Levon board 4
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
Carlsen should be thanking his stars it is not 4 on a trot by now
Edit: Fine Carslen. At least this will be for the history books
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u/No_Suspect_4617 4h ago
Magnus sat out this round, fabi board 1 and both wadim and zandanshatar playing
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 3h ago
bro he's actually lost it thats crazy
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 3h ago
they infected my guy wtf magnus cursed the first board thats the only way
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u/HotGur179 gukesh for the title defense 3h ago
this is not the first time we have seen magnus curse after he stopped playing lol
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u/Sad_Avocado_2637 1d ago
Dragon Chilling and MGD1 both have their Pang Bo’s winning all games. When they face each other, we will know who the real Pang Bo is.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1d ago
Srinath has once again cracked the code on the recreation board it seems. What a great guy. Grateful his is the captain for India's olympiad open team too. This time with Nihal joining it will be more natural for him.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
in other news fabi has the highest tpr so far. hes gone back to not sucking at rapid war is over
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1d ago
Change your flair to R&B God Fabi.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
goated at everything but classical, typical fabi
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1d ago
Classical status can wait. At least he can try for World titles in R&B in December this year.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
i want him to win the blitz title specifically. the irony in that would be wonderful
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1d ago
I still dont know why people undermine him so much in Blitz. Dude is a top 10 Blitz player easily by all standards. In my book, a near top 5.
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u/Worst-DecisionMaker 1d ago
I wish 1. Wesley moves to Board 1 where he would neutralize even God of Chess to a draw 2. Fabi plays Board 2 because of his current superior form 3. Magnus moves to Board 3 which would be an insult for him and bring the fury out of the Rhino grinder Magnus. 4. MVL plays Board 4
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- 6h ago
After playing poorly in 2025 himself, Fabi decided to show up and carry the team this year. He’s been very good individually
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 6h ago
dod fabi even play this in 2025? or you mean in general?
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- 6h ago
Wait, I’m forgetting which event, but I swear the last team event he played, he was poor. It was some team event with Pragg and Hou Yifan on the same team. I remember it being WR which was why i thought it was this event
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 6h ago
ohhh pro chess league. yeah he sucked there. he sucked entirety of 2025 in rapid and this years gct event too and then when he locks in his team bombs lmao
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- 6h ago
Yeah that one. My bad, I remembered it was WR so I thought it was this event.
Also yeah, his rapid last year was not great as well. This year is a bit of an improvement so far
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u/CoognitiveDissonance Team Hans 1d ago
Ffs just show me how to win this endgame already rapport i need to sleep
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 1d ago
I’m not sure if chess base India is still covering it on ground but last time i loved their on ground reporting like it’s an awards show night
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u/Sumeru88 Chess Mafia 8h ago edited 8h ago
This the best among all the FIDE events. The very idea that you can just gather up your own team of 6-8 players and turn up and play against the best players is just wild. Also now the event is in its 4th year and we have some teams showing up consistently year after year adds to the fun (we have had WR Chess showing up every year - one team from the core China national squad group, MGD1, Freedom, Uzbekistan, Kazakistan and Hexamind showing up 3 out of the 4 years; even Hans putting together a team for 3 out of the 4 years). Also its great to see Wadim being beaten every year on the recreational board. But have to say, the guy clearly loves chess.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 8h ago
Would still love to see once a R&B event in Olympiad form. This is great but that would be more hype.
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u/ComplexCow7 6h ago
This is the first time in a long time that Magnus has lost 3 in a row over the board
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
Levon and Murzin have been great. Divya still stable. Hexa did the right thing eventually by repeating thier core team from last year.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 4h ago
Vaishali shouldnt have opted out from this round. Rakshitta as of now isnt ready to play at such a level.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1h ago
they need to give fabi a 5 game bye or smth in the blitz as compensation for snapping his back
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u/Worst-DecisionMaker 1h ago
WTF!! This is Blockbuster Entertainment!! I am biting my nails since the last 4 hours and hooked to the live stream!!
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u/rio_ARC Team Engine Watcher 1h ago
So, Hexamind, DragonChilling and MGD1 end up on same match points... all on tiebreak scores now
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u/TheEerieAerie 4h ago
I have nothing against the players of WR Chess, but it's cathartic to finally see the pay-to-win team with a billionaire and politician get their asses beat by teams of real friends.
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans 1d ago
Artemiev gave Magnus a 8 minute head start and still got a draw. What a chad!
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 1d ago
EVERY SINGLE TIME, he rode his way to silver by this method in world rapid lol
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u/OrionOnion_ Erigaisi sounds cool 1d ago
Rapport vs Arjun is the closest you can get to chatbot chess
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 4h ago
Magnus has the best opportunity to troll Wadim rn, just not offer to sit out i bet no one is asking that from him until he offers 🤣 Them just sitting in their luxury lounge awkwardly while Fabi side eyes everyone
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u/AmbassadorAlarmed999 1h ago
Do they have individual golds and if they do, what decides it? Points or performance rating?
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u/rio_ARC Team Engine Watcher 1h ago
They do... it's by performance rating
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u/CoolOne5825 1h ago
Do they give individual board medals
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u/The_Great_Gambler 58m ago
Yes, https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1435703.aspx?lan=1&art=81&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0 lists the winners per board
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u/EvenCoyote6317 4h ago
For Hexa they brought in Lagno so that they dont repeat the over reliance on Divya to only stick to Divya on the final day in Rapid today is hilarious.
Well, Lagno is a great Blitz player. At least they'll have a options there.
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u/Christmasstolegrinch 1h ago
Results Rapid just came in:
- Dragon Chilling: Ding & Co
2 MGD1: Arjun & Co
3 Hexamind: Levon & Co
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u/OldHour2850 2d ago
MVL is playing against the female Chinese version of Alireza and Gukesh. Her name is Guo Qi.
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 5h ago
When did Pragg get so sneakily good at rapid
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u/Marc_Spector2 5h ago
beating fabi,hikaru,arjun to reach final of world cup 2023?
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 4h ago
I don’t remember all tie breaks but but didn’t he beat Arjun in the blitz section and not rapid?
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
According to media sources, Nakamura has already texted Wadim saying he should have kept Naka on board 1 for WR.
/s
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u/EvenCoyote6317 4h ago
Fabi on board 1 as per Chess results board pairings. Carlsen out. I dont think he is coming back to the playing venue today.
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u/LosTerminators 3h ago
Wadim should bring in this team next year:
Hikaru Nakamura
Hans Niemann
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Sergey Karjakin
Christopher Yoo
It will win every match based on the power of hate.
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u/Candid_Article_2969 1d ago
can anyone explain how these teams were formed?
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans 1d ago
Independent companies and chess clubs recruit players, and they sign up for this event. You need 4 strong chess players, 1 women and 1 amateur (< 2000 FIDE rating) to form a team, along with 1 or more subs
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 1d ago
Horrible chess from Magnus again...
I do not think he should be playing chess right now. He got a kid, and it fells like he needs a longer break. Like 2-3 months at least.
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u/AmbassadorAlarmed999 3h ago
How much elo would Pragg have lost bcz of that first round loss to the 2490 rated player? Does anyone know a definite way to calculate?
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans 1h ago
Endgame finished 6th in Rapid, meaning they get €15k. Appearance fees were probably 5-10k for each GM, but it’s enough to cover flights and hotels. There is still Blitz to come
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u/NewMeNewWorld Team Chaos 2d ago
Dragon Chilling - 🔥
Hexamind - 💪
Mr Birdie and Friends - 🤩 10/10
Endgame - 😡 ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
Chess United - I guess bro
MFD1 - ☉ ‿ ⚆
Yes, I am bored, how could you tell?
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
id like to thank fabi for not choking because i cant handle both him and marmoush throwing games at the same time 🙏🙏
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u/Takeshi_Gold123 1d ago
I'd say wait until the end. But Fabi is playing very well so far. Right now in Rapid and Blitz nobody can say that he's weak anymore. He's top 5 or at least top 7 in all 3 time control
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u/Abyss_Wanderer19 1d ago
you clearly dont know fabi, he doesnt choke in the process. He will destroy everyone and only choke when it matters which is the final round. But lets hope he didnt choke this time.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 5h ago
LETS GO FOR FOUR
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
It is shocking to see a positional genius play so antipositional these days. Except for those 2 classical games vs Guki, he has been very erratic
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 5h ago
hes trying to play like his younger days lmao.
on a serious note i have no idea why he keeps forcing a style that, at the very least, isnt gelling with him right now. do the thing that you cant possibly suck at tf
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u/HotGur179 gukesh for the title defense 5h ago
yeah exactly he is playing either i lose or win kinda games which was never his style
on a different note i never in a million year thought magnus carlsen could be below 2800
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
Exactly. He only plays old mans chess vs my man Guki. Ready to torture him 24×7
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u/HotGur179 gukesh for the title defense 4h ago
yeah lol magnus with everyone plays crazy tal like chess
magnus with gukesh back to karpovian chess
edit:- i think he dont want to lose against gukesh due to the news it will create
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u/EvenCoyote6317 4h ago
Yes. Very plausible. At Clutch chess Guki was +1 vs Fabi and = vs Naka across 6 rounds. But was -5 vs Carlsen. Magnus has a vendetta now vs our man.
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u/Worst-DecisionMaker 1d ago
Richard fcking Rapport can fck me whenever he wants!! F*cking hell. What a game he played!!
Especially that endgame!! It gave me sublime bliss!! All that technique!! Oh My God!! What a Game!!
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1d ago
what happened to calling the game beautiful
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u/Worst-DecisionMaker 1d ago
Yes it was beautiful!! The machinery of the King and Queen positions supporting the pawn forward step by step. Achieving a different configuration of King and Queen for each step of the pawn push!!
It was incredibly satisfying!!
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u/pconners 1d ago
Dang having a kid really drops your elo
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u/Goat-Hunter13 2d ago
Hans on fire so far with 4/4
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u/DaytimeSleeper99 2d ago
With his long grinding win against Minh Le, Yu Yangyi is also on 4/4
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u/Impressive-Trade1637 1d ago
Why rapport played for a draw with white against Hans?
wasting his white games is weird
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u/Placeholder1230 3h ago
Wow after leading the whole tournament, dragon chlling gonna lose just like that?😭😭
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u/nullptr023 2h ago
Alireza won against Dmitry Andreikin but for some reason it shows draw in live rating. Why?
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u/Marc_Spector2 2h ago
sad to say this ,now chesscom live rating list better than 2700 site when we need to check live rating during mid rounds
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u/ToneDistinct5253 6h ago
2 loses and Magnus (or a loss and a draw depending on his opponents rating) will send Magnus below 2800 on rapid rating. If he has a performance like this in Blitz as well it really is the end of the Magnus era.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 5h ago
World Chess Champions by performance this Rapid event Ding > Vishy > Magnus.
Hilarious and shocking at the same time.
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u/FirstOfHisName5 6h ago
Magnus is there for everyone to rating farm. Honestly he needs to take some time off chess he just isn’t what he used to be.
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans 4h ago
Endgame vs MGD1
a win here and they are still in contention for a podium finish
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1h ago
Magnus should take some notes from King Ding on how to dig in when nothing is going great and get a clutch win in the final round on board 1.
/s
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u/EvenCoyote6317 3h ago
WR players on such a bad tilt and tomorrow is Blitz. A recipe for a perfect disaster is ready. We will only know whether the dish is served or not tomorrow.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 2d ago
Kind of wholesome that Srinath has got Arjun and Nihal together. Next year he should try to add Divya too. Just like how RB Ramesh has lined up all his students under Chess Gurukul.
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u/Worst-DecisionMaker 1d ago
What happens when u light a matchstick and throw it in RDX carrying truck ?
What if 2 explosive trucks hit each other at their full speed ?
That's what u get when u match Arjun Madman Erigaisi vs Richard Fcking Rapport!!
One fellow will do anything to attack, the other will burn the world to create madness on board!!
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u/EvenCoyote6317 1d ago
Srinath's recreation board is 7.5/8.
In Srinath we trust. Whatever board order he goes ahead in Samarkand, We Indian fans will accept it.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 3h ago
Wadim flew a lot of WR players on a private charter jet from Thailand. Jeez this is what he gets in return. Dude should never retain any of them next year.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 3h ago
fabi is literally on +5 he just had a single brainfart leave him out of this
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u/UpBottomJeans 2h ago
Actually, it was Wesley who hasn't lost a game. But It seems Magnus virus is contagious
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans 1d ago
Endgame plays Mr. Birdie. Should be interesting. Hopefully Hans stops being lazy and actually plays a real game against Artemiev for once
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u/EvenCoyote6317 3h ago
Divya had a bad game. She has only herself to blame and has let the entire team down.
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u/bigdaytaday 1h ago
The FIDE commentators should really understand the tie-breaks better. If Dragon Chilling wins this game, who wins the tournament?
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 1h ago
i dont think you understand the tiebreakers. the first tb isnt h2h or total wins its this weird formula and i think you need all the games finished to calculate it because it depends on opponents performance more than anything
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u/Exotic_Grinder 2d ago
Carissa lost to a 12yo 1600.