Photo Taken By Philemon Wehinger

3 Super-GMs in 3 Rounds!!! | World Team Blitz Championship

Jun 24, 20254,256 viewsEnglish (US)

If you caught my last two blogs, you know how the rapid part of the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship went down. Three days of intense rapid games, and while day three was not exactly full of fireworks, we still managed to finish 39th, which is pretty solid for a team seeded 42nd. But today I want to tell you about the blitz part of the event, and more specifically, rounds 10 through 12. Why? Because I got to play three Super Grandmasters back to back. Yeah, three rounds, three super strong GMs. It was as crazy as it sounds.

How the Blitz Was Set Up

The teams were split into four groups of 14. Each team played everyone in their group once. Only the top four teams in each group would move on. To be honest, we knew we had zero chance of making it that far because our group included some absolute giants like Team MGD1 (the reigning world rapid champions) and Kazchess, which had players like Grischuk and Richard Rapport.

Still, the chance to face such legends was super exciting.

Playing Hungary’s Chess Wizard

So first up was supposed to be Grischuk, but he sat out that round, maybe because they thought we would be easy (we were lol). Instead, I got to play Rapport, Hungary’s top GM and a creative genius. Even though our team got crushed that round (0-6, ouch), my personal battle with Rapport was something special. I wasn’t expecting to hang with him, but I learned a lot from the experience.

https://lichess.org/study/Jd6caWgM/JiErBP44#0

Photo taken by Philemon Wehinger

Playing The World Number 4 and India’s Best

A tough matchup...

If Rapport was not enough, next came Arjun Erigaisi, world number 4 and India’s top grandmaster. Talk about stepping up the difficulty!
Honestly, this game was rough for me. I lost, and I don’t think I played my best. I was a bit intimidated, which is normal but also something I will need to work on if I want to compete with the very best.

https://lichess.org/study/Jd6caWgM/ORZbdME7#0

Both players in deep concentration

The Super-GM Revenge!

The final Super GM on my blitz rollercoaster was David Navara, who I had beaten in the very first round of the rapid tournament. This time it was a rematch with the same colors on the board.

Navara came prepared and got his revenge. After that, he went on to take down Erigaisi too, showing just how brutal this group was.

https://lichess.org/study/Jd6caWgM/8AKdpsBu#0

What I Took Away from Playing the Super GMs

Playing three of the world’s top rapid and blitz players back to back was surreal. Sure, I lost two of those games, but the lessons I learned are priceless.

Facing such high-level opponents is intimidating, no doubt. But it is also the best way to find out what you are really made of. I am definitely going to work on staying calm and confident next time.

Final Thoughts

So that is my blitz experience at the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship. We did not win, and we did not make the playoffs, but I got to play some of the best players in the world, which is something I will never forget.
If you want to dive deeper, do not forget to check out my blogs from the rapid days too:

Thanks for following along. Next time, I hope to have more stories and maybe some wins to share.

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