LONDON: India's Atharvaa Tayade emerged as the top performer for Team MGD1 as the side continued its strong showing by sharing the top spot with Hexamind on 13 match points on day 2 of the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship here.
Tayade has so far won all his eight games in the tournament.
With six victories, one draw and one loss each, Hexamind and Team MGD1 are leading the table. They are being closely followed on 12 points by the Viswanathan Anand-led Freedom, Uzbekistan and Germany and Friends.
Tournament favourites WR Chess, who have some of the biggest names, including American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So, are in sixth spot, but their title hopes suffered a setback following back-to-back losses.
Following a draw with the Anand-led Freedom in round five, the Arjun Erigaisi-led Team MGD1 overcame top seeds WR Chess 4-2 in round six. In round seven, MGD1 scored a narrow 3.5-2.5 win over Germany and Friends.
However, in the eighth and final round of the day, Hexamind delivered a crushing 4-2 blow to MGD1, thus tying for first place.
The biggest upset on day 2 was Freedom's 2.5-3.5 loss to Germany and Friends. Germany’s top player, Vincent Keymer, led his black pieces to victory against Freedom's Rauf Mamedov on board one for the crucial win.