The World Rapid Team Chess Championship 2023 was a team chess tournament organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to determine the world team champions in chess played under rapid and blitz time controls.
The first tournament took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from August 26 to 28, 2023.International Chess Federation (FIDE), 2023. Inaugural World Rapid Team Championship: Registration open for all. Available at: https://www.fide.com/news/2354]
Overview The 2023 edition consisted only of a rapid section, with no blitz section.
The FIDE World Rapid Team Championship followed the Swiss system with 12 rounds. The tournament rules required each team to include at least one female player and at least one player who had not achieved a FIDE Standard, Rapid, or Blitz Rating of 2000 Elo points or was unrated.International Chess Federation (FIDE), n.d. Regulations for the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2023. Available at: https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/WRTC2023Regulations.pdf [Accessed on August 05, 2023]
Participants The list of participants of the championship included former world champions, such as Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Hou Yifan, Mariya Muzychuk and Alexandra Kosteniuk, as well as World Championships runners-ups, World Cup winners, and former world champions in rapid and blitz chess.ChessBase, 2023. Star-studded World Team Rapid Chess Championship. Available at: https://en.chessbase.com/post/star-studded-world-team-rapid-chess-championship
Approximately 300 participants worldwide, including over 15 Olympic champions, formed up 36 teams to compete.Chess-Results.com, n.d. 2023 World Rapid Team Championship. Available at: https://chess-results.com/tnr802387.aspx [Accessed on August 16, 2023]
+The highest-rated participantsAchievementPlayerTeamRating, Rapid(Aug 1, 2023)International Chess Federation (FIDE), n.d. Top chess players. Available at: https://ratings.fide.com/ [Accessed on August 1, 2023].Former world champions in classical chessGreen, N., 2023. All The World Chess Champions. Available at: https://www.chess.com/article/view/world-chess-championsViswanathan AnandFreedom2751Vladimir KramnikChess pensioners2739Hou YifanWR Chess2537Alexandra KosteniukWR Chess2523Mariya MuzychukAshdod Elit Chess Club2470World Championships runners-upIan NepomniachtchiWR Chess2762Fabiano CaruanaKompetenzakademie Allstars2763Boris GelfandRishon LeZion Chess Club2619World Cup winnersMcGourty, C., 2021. Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins the FIDE World Cup. Available at: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/jan-krzysztof-duda-wins-the-fide-world-cupLevon AronianKompetenzakademie Allstars2763Peter SvidlerChess pensioners2737Jan-Krzysztof DudaWR Chess27602022 Women's World Blitz ChampionHarding, T., 2016. A Brief History of Fast Chess. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170103172317/https://worldchess.com/2016/12/25/a-brief-history-of-fast-chess/Bibisara AssaubayevaUzbekistan2432Former world champions in rapidInternational Chess Federation (FIDE), 2016. The winners of FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships. Available at: https://old.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/9975-the-winners-of-fide-world-rapid-a-blitz-championships.htmlNodirbek AbdusattorovWR Chess2724Daniil DubovFreedom2723Former world champions in blitzMaxime Vachier-LagraveASV AlphaEchecs LINZ2762Alexander GrischukASV AlphaEchecs LINZ2724Leinier DominguezChess pensioners2705Kateryna LagnoASV AlphaEchecs LINZ2483
Favorites and standouts
Prior to the start of the tournament, FIDE pointed out the following teams as some of the strongest and clear favorites, due to the squad experience and average team ratingInternational Chess Federation (FIDE), 2023. Düsseldorf hosts the inaugural World Team Rapid Championship. [Online] Available at: https://www.fide.com/news/2548 Freedom (Richard Rapport, Viswanathan Anand, Daniil Dubov, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, Evgeniy Najer, Polina Shuvalova, Alexander Shapiro); WR Chess (Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R, Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Wadim Rosenstein); Kompetenzakademie Allstars (Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Gukesh D, Sebastian Siebrecht, Nino Batsiashvili, Keti Tsatsalashvili, Rainer Becker, Manfred Schneider); Chess Pensioners (Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Leinier Dominguez, Darmen Sadvakasov, Jovanka Houska, Kristof Barati, Dennis Koenig, Miron Ananiev, Yaroslav Ananiev).
Format and rules The FIDE World Rapid Team Championship adopted a team-based Swiss tournament format. Teams, consisting of six to nine players, competed against each other in 15-minute games with an increment of 10 seconds per move. The scoring system awarded teams with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss in each round. The team with the highest amount of match points at the end of the tournament was crowned as the World Team Rapid Champion.
Prize fund The championship offered a total prize fund of €250,000. In case of a tie, the prize money would be shared equally among the tied teams.Schach in Deutschland, 2023. FIDE World Rapid Team Championship in Düsseldorf: Freiwillige gesucht! - Deutscher Schachbund. Available at: https://www.schachbund.de/news/fide-world-rapid-team-championship-in-duesseldorf-freiwillige-gesucht.html [Accessed on August 16, 2023]English Chess Federation, 2023. World Rapid Team Championship. Available at: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/new-world-rapid-team-championship [Accessed on August 16, 2023] +Prize gridPlaceTeam prize1st€100,0002nd€60,0003rd€40,0004th€25,0005th€12,5001st "Under 2400"€12,500Total€250,000
Schedule The tournament spanned over three days. DateEventStart timeAugust 26Technical meeting10:30Opening ceremony13:00Round 113:30Round 215:30Round 317:30Round 419:30August 27Round 513:30Round 615:30Round 717:30Round 819:30August 28Round 913:30Round 1015:30Round 1117:30Round 1219:30Closing ceremony21:00
Results With a record of two draws and ten wins out of 12 matches, the inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Championship was claimed by the team WR Chess. Securing a total of 22 matchpoints, they emerged victorious. In the second position was team Freedom with 20 matchpoints, while team MGD1 secured the third spot with 18 match points. The fourth place was clinched by Team Armenia, while a surprising fifth place was attained by Team Germany and Friends.International Chess Federation (FIDE), 2023. WR Chess triumphs as inaugural FIDE World Rapid Team Champions. Available at: https://www.fide.com/news/2616
In the crucial Round 5, team WR Chess defeated the first-ranked team Freedom with a distinguished score of 5:1. While Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Praggnanandhaa, Hou Yifan, and Wadim Rosenstein won their games, Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi drew their matches versus Vishy Anand and Daniil Dubov, respectively.
The dynamic squad, Columbus Energy KingsOfChess from Kraków, earned the top spot in the under-2400 rating category. Additionally, the eleven-year-old prodigy Christian Glöckler from Hesse won the special prize for the best game by a young player. Ranked fifth globally in his age group, Glöckler showcased his immense talent, adding to the achievements of German chess. # Team Games M. Pts TB1 TB2 1 WR Chess 12 22 702 51 2 Freedom 12 20 582.5 46.5 3 Team MGD1 12 18 628.5 47.5 4 Armenia 12 17 544.5 44 5 Germany and Friends 12 15 533 39.5 6 ASV AlphaEchecs Linz 12 14 549 45 7 Columbus Energy KingsOfChess Kraków 12 14 482 41.5 8 Berlin Chess Federation 12 14 449.5 37.5 9 Six-pack 12 13 497 39.5 10 Chess Pensioners 12 13 485.5 37.5 11 KompetenzakademieAllstars 12 13 473 41 12 Chessbrah OFM 12 13 465.5 43 13 Ashdod Elit Chess Club 12 13 448 37.5 14 FIDE Management Board 12 13 425 38.5 15 Düsseldorfer Schachklub 1914/25 e.V. 12 13 414 39.5 16 Team Chessemy.com 12 13 356 35 17 Rishon LeZion Chess Club 12 12 451 40.5 18 Schachverein Hemer 12 12 364 34.5 19 Doppelbauer Kiel 12 12 353.5 37 20 The Sharks 12 12 353 36 21 Kenya Commercial Bank Chess Club 12 12 284 37 22 Chess Wizzards 12 12 268 37 23 Mitropa Chess Association 12 12 249.5 36.5 24 Blerickse Schaakvereniging 12 12 230.5 35 25 Deutsche Schachjugend 1 12 11 336.5 31 26 Ukrainian Amators 12 11 302.5 29.5 27 Wensing & Pöbel 12 11 286 31 28 Aachener Schachverein von 1856 12 11 274 33.5 29 PhileKhoob Chess Club 12 11 257.5 36 30 Africa 12 10 338.5 33.5 31 Heilbronn Hustlers 12 10 289.5 33.5 32 École Polytechnique Française de Lausanne 12 8 244 34 33 Neustadt Weinstraße 12 6 190 27.5 34 MagdeBurg and Friends 12 6 141.5 22 35 Deutsche Schachjugend 2 12 2 58 10 36 Unischach Bayreuth 12 1 148.5 17
References
External links The official website of the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2023