Eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Team Blitz Championship after pool play and the round of 16 concluded on the opening day in Hong Kong.
The 48 teams were divided into four pools for round-robin play, with the top four from each group advancing to the knockout stage. WR Chess, Endgame.AI, Hexamind and Mr Birdie and Friends won their pools.
In the round of 16, the pool winners advanced with wins over Indonesia, Schnappi Krokodil Team, Interstellar Club and Sky Chess. Dragon Chilling, Uzbekistan, Team MGD1 and Chessgurukul also progressed.
Chessgurukul produced the main upset by eliminating Chess United, the team led by Viswanathan Anand, with 4-2 and 5-1 victories. Among the players eliminated were Anand, Richard Rapport and Peter Svidler.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final are scheduled for Sunday. WR Chess is set to face Uzbekistan in one of the matches.
