The World Blitz Team Championship featured a two stage format: a pool stage and a knockout stage. The 40 teams were divided into 5 pools with 8 teams each. The top 3 from each pool, and the 4th placed team with the best score qualified for the knockouts. Team MGD1 was placed in Pool B, where we cruised through by winning all our matches, including two 6/6 victories in rounds 4 and 7.
In round of 16, we faced Astana-2 and secured a convincing 2-0 victory. The quarterfinals match was against team Ashdod Chess Club. The two Indian prodigies Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin clashed on Board 1. Although Nihal won the first game, our team won the match with a 4-2 score. Arjun struck back in game 2 and led us to a 4.5-1.5 victory. Team MGD1 had thus secured a spot in the semi finals with yet another 2-0 win in the knockouts.
In the semi finals, we faced the world rapid team champions, Al-Ain ACMG. The first two matches ended in draws, leading us to a tie break round. With wins from Arjun, Pranav and Mihir and a crucial draw from Harika, we clinched a 3.5-2.5 victory, advancing to the finals.
The final match was against WR Chess Team. This ensured another top board clash between the India number 1 Arjun Erigaisi and World number 1 Magnus Carlsen. Arjun got the better of Carlsen in game 1 with the white pieces. However, we narrowly lost the match with a score of 3.5-2.5. Match 2 ended in a draw, securing our team’s silver medal!
Hereby presenting, Team MGD1- World Blitz Team Championship Silver Medalists!
Photo Credits: FIDE/Maria Emelianova (Arjun vs Magnus- Game-1)
