Bengaluru: Arjun Erigaisi took down world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in blitz on the final day of the Fide World Teams Rapid and Blitz Championship. The game lasted a marathon 119 moves and it comes days after the India No.1 took down Carlsen in the rapid time control earlier in the tournament.
Carlsen though struck back, scoring a dominant win over Arjun. While Arjun’s MGD1 teammate Nihal Sarin took down Fabiano Caruana of WR Chess to force tie-breaks. The five-time world champion’s team WR Chess prevailed over the all-Indian MGD1 side in the tiebreaks to finish fifth.
Dragon Chilling led by former world champion Ding Liren, scored a double, wins blitz title after becoming rapid champions in the Fide World Teams Rapid and Blitz Championship. Dragon Chilling defeated Endgame AI 5-1 in the final with Ding Liren scoring a win over Hans Niemann with the Black pieces. The bronze medal went to team Uzbekistan, which had both Nodirbek Abdusattorov and World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov in their ranks.
The tournament also marked Ding Liren’s return to competition after the 2024 World Championship, which he lost to Gukesh. Asked about it, he responded: “It takes long to wait but it is worth it.”
Arjun-led MGD1 team finished in sixth position. They had finished second in the rapid championship.
