The Dragon Keeps Its Crown — Then the Real Speed Begins

Yesterday we told you about a chess team from China called "Dragon Chilling." They were leading a big event in Hong Kong. Today we can tell you how the story ended. And it ended in the most exciting way possible.

A win by the thinnest line

The FIDE World Team Rapid Championship finished on Friday. Three strong teams all tied for first place. Each had 18 points. Nobody could be split by wins alone.

So the gold medal came down to a tiebreak — a special score that counts how strong your beaten rivals were. Dragon Chilling had the best number. They won the gold. The defending champions, Team MGD1 from India, took silver. Hexamind took bronze. Three teams, the same points, and only tiny numbers between them. That is how close it was.

The hero of the final round was Ding Liren, a former world champion. For six games in a row he had only made draws. He could not win. But in the last game, when his team needed it most, he won in just 20 moves. That one win lifted the whole team to victory.

His captain, Ni Hua, smiled and said it felt like watching a football match between two great rivals. "Ding started very slow and then he became better and better," he said. "In the last round we asked him to push, and he made it."

A sweet team that just missed

The kindest story belongs to a team with a funny name: Mr Birdie and Friends. They are not paid stars. They are friends who got together and named their team after a pet bird that had died one year ago.

They did not study hard like the big teams. They prepared by playing fast games and spending time together. And it almost worked. Going into the last round, they were in first place! But they lost by the smallest margin and finished fourth. No medal — but everyone remembered them.

A bad week for the best player

Now the shock. The world's number one player is Magnus Carlsen. His team, WR Chess, was the favourite. But things went wrong.

Carlsen lost four games in a row — to Arjun Erigaisi, Shant Sargsyan, Javokhir Sindarov, and Aydin Suleymanli. Four losses in a row, one after another. He had not done that since he was 12 years old. His team finished a sad 17th.

But wait — the speed chess has begun

Here is the best part. The slow event is over, but a faster one just started on Saturday: the World Team Blitz Championship. In blitz, each player gets only a few minutes for the whole game. It is wild and full of mistakes.

And Carlsen's team came alive again. WR Chess are the blitz champions, and they won their group with ease. Maybe the fast clock suits them better.

The big surprise came from another legend. Viswanathan Anand, a former world champion, leads a team called Chess United. They were knocked out early by a young Indian team called Chessgurukul. In blitz, even the greatest names can fall in a flash.

From 48 teams, only eight are left. Dragon Chilling, the new rapid champions, are still alive. So are WR Chess, Hexamind, and the lovable Mr Birdie and Friends.

What happens next?

Everything ends on Sunday, June 21. The last eight teams will fight in quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final to be crowned the World Team Blitz Champions.

One title is decided. One more is up for grabs. And in chess, as we keep learning, the next move is all that matters.