Al-Ain emerge as new leaders in day two of World Rapid Team Championship
Day two of the World Rapid Team Championship in Kazakhstan concluded with a new leader: Al-Ain from UAE, who now have 14 matchpoints, one more than Decade China in second place. They are followed by day one leaders, Chessy, and the Indian team MGD1, both with 12 matchpoints The second day featured the toughest matchups as the top-rated teams faced off against each other. Chessy, who finished day one in first place, started with two drawn matches. After a victory over Kazchess in round seven, they suffered a defeat in the final round of the day against Team MGD1. Two other teams emerged as the day’s favorites, trading top positions between rounds: Al-Ain and Decade China. The UAE team, Al-Ain, began the day impressively by defeating the defending champions WR Chess 4:2, marking WR Chess’s second consecutive defeat in the tournament. After a round six draw with Chessy, Al-Ain defeated Royal Chess 4.5:1.5 and edged out Kings of Chess from Krakow 3.5:2.5 in the final match, ending the day as sole leaders with 14 matchpoints. Decade China drew with Chessy in round five before stunning MGD1 with a 4:2 victory in round six. They continued strongly by crushing Ashdod Chess Club 4.5:1.5 in round seven. However, in the final eighth round of the day, Decade China drew with title defenders WR Chess, causing them to slip from the leading position. The final round of the day featured the most anticipated game of the entire event: a duel between world number one Magnus Carlsen and defending World Champion Ding Liren. Carlsen, playing with the white pieces, gained an early advantage and, despite resistance from Ding and time pressure, secured a victory. This was the first defeat for Ding in the tournament. While Carlsen’s win ensured that WR Chess did not lose the crucial match, the team failed to achieve the breakthrough needed to return to the top, making it increasingly unlikely they will defend their World Championship title. Standings after Day 2 Complete standings after Day 2 Despite the top world GMs playing in the tournament, one amateur player has drawn a lot of attention: 1400-rated Pang Bo who plays for the Decade China team, has won all eight games in the tournament, having a perfect score so far. The conclusion of the tournament unfolds on Sunday, with the final four rounds set to determine the ultimate champions. A closer look at the second day of the 2024 World Rapid Team Championship Round 5 The sole leaders from day one, Chessy, who clinched first place after a spectacular 5-1 victory in round four against defending champions WR Chess, faced newcomers Decade China. The all-Chinese squad, led by World Champion Ding Liren, finished the first day just a point behind Chessy. Despite losing a pawn in the opening as Black, Ding Liren managed to hold Richard Rapport to a draw on board one. The day did not start well for Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, who blundered against Anna Muzychuk and lost, giving Chessy an early lead. Team China bounced back quickly with a victory on the non-professional board. Alexey Sarana beat Xu Xiangyu in time trouble, and Jorden van Foreest drew with Yu Yangyi. However, on board two, Chessy’s Haik Martirosyan made a critical blunder in the endgame against Wei Yi, allowing him to promote a pawn and secure a victory. The match ended in a 3:3 draw. Defending champions WR Chess had a rough start on Day 2. Despite having Magnus Carlsen on their team, WR Chess lost 4:2 to Al-Ain. Carlsen made a strong comeback as White against Daniil Dubov, squeezing out a victory in a complicated endgame. However, Ian Nepomniachtchi lost on board two to Iranian star Parham Maghsoodloo, and WR also suffered losses on the women’s board—where Hou Yifan was defeated by Kateryna Lagno—and on the non-professional board. With this victory, Al-Ain tied with Chessy for first place. The Indian team of MGD1 won their match against Kings of Chess from Krakow 5:1, while Ashdod Chess Club edged out a 3,5:2,5 victory against the notably lower-rated but resilient team of Astana-1, ensuring both MGD1 and Ashdod Chess Club ended the day in shared third place, alongside Decade China. One surprising result of the round was Uzbek Olympic gold medallist Nodirbek Yakubboev, rated nearly 2600, suffering a defeat to 2125-rated FM Erzhan Zhakshylykov. Despite this, the Uzbek team Royal Chess won their match against Noval Group from Kyrgyzstan, 3.5:2.5. Round 6 In the next round, it was time for both teams that had previously defeated the defending World Rapid Champions, WR Chess, to face each other and decide who would take the lead halfway through the tournament. The game between Richard Rapport and Daniil Dubov ended quickly, with a draw after just ten moves. Rapport got up to check the other boards before agreeing to split the point with Dubov, who is not having a great tournament. Soon afterwards, Andreikin and Sarana also drew their game. The match ended 3:3, with two more draws and Al-Ain’s Parham Maghsoodloo defeating Jorden van Foreest on board two, while Chessy won on board six in a game where both sides traded completely winning positions several times. Decade China continued strongly, defeating the Indian team of MGD1 4:2. It started with an early gift for the Chinese when Raunak Sadwahani blundered a piece on board three against Wei Yi. Things didn’t go MGD1’s way on board two either, where Narayanan dropped a dominating advantage against Wei Yi and ended up drawing. To compensate, on board five Xu Xiangyu allowed Pranav to save the game, while Harika Dronavalli held out as Black against Ju Wenjun. Ding split a point as White with India’s top-rated player Arjun Erigaisi. On board six, in a duel between two players who by this point had a score of 100%, Pang Bo emerged victorious against Shah Mihir, securing Decade China a comfortable score in the match, propelling them to a shared first place with Chessy and Al-Ain.