By Milan Dinic
From 16 to 22 June, the crème de la crème of the chess world will gather in Hong Kong for the fourth edition of the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, alongside the inaugural World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup, with both events featuring more than 800 participants.
Since its launch in 2023, the FIDE WRBT has become one of the most popular global fast chess team events, where top world players, men and women, prodigies and non-professionals, come together in a mixed-team format to compete for two world crowns.
After the inaugural edition in Dusseldorf in 2023, where 36 teams played, each year the number has grown – 38 in Astana in 2024 and then London made a leap with nearly 60 teams in 2025. Hong Kong has raised the ceiling higher, with 48 teams with nearly 400 players, as well as the first World Team Amateur Cup which is expected to have more than 400 participants.
“The size of this event is not only in numbers. The field includes world champions, elite grandmasters, leading women players, juniors, club players, corporate officials, and recreational players. That mix gives the FIDE WRBT a unique place in chess,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.
This is the first time the WRBT is coming to East Asia, where it will be hosted jointly by FIDE and the Hong Kong China Chess Federation.
“Hosting the tournament in Hong Kong is a statement to the capacities and the ambitions of our chess federation, showing that we want to be taken seriously as a chess city,” said Geoffrey Kao, the Honorary President of the Hong Kong China Chess Federation.
The timing of the event is strong. Chess power has been shifting towards Asia in recent years, with India, China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan being central to elite chess. Hong Kong sits naturally between these chess cultures, while still being a global business and travel hub. That fits the WRB Teams well, because this event is not only for national teams. It brings together clubs, sponsors, companies, academies, and private teams.
“I am very proud of my team for developing this unique event. This is not only about enjoyment and great chess but also about bringing people of different chess skills as well as different backgrounds and outlooks on life together under one roof. As a result, the event is also a fair where people meet, exchange ideas, and connect on a personal and professional level, leading to new opportunities for everyone. That is exactly what we want to give to the chess community,” Dvorkovich said.
Key facts about the 2026 FIDE Team WRB Championships
The main competition days are 17 to 21 June at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. The field has 48 teams and nearly 400 players confirmed.
Each team has six to nine players, plus a captain who may play. Each team must include at least one female player and one recreational player. The recreational player is a player who has never reached 2000 Elo in standard, rapid, or blitz, or is unrated, up to the March 2026 rating lists. Every match is played on six boards, with at least one female player and one recreational player in the lineup. They must be two different players.
Rapid championship
The World Team Rapid takes place on the 17, 18 and 19 June. It will feature a 12-round Swiss system. Scoring will be based on match points: two for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss.
The time control for the World Team Rapid is 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from move one.
Four rounds will be played each day, starting from 2 PM local time.
Blitz championship
The World Team Blitz takes place on 20 and 21 June.
Unlike the rapid, the blitz competition features two stages:
1) a pool stage featuring round robins
2) a 16-team knockout for the qualification to the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final
The time control is three minutes plus two seconds per move, from move one.
The blitz pool stage starts on 20 June at 2:00 pm. The round of 16 starts the same evening at 7:00 pm. The quarter-finals begin on 21 June at 2:00 pm, with the final scheduled for 7:00 pm.
Key facts about the Amateur Cup
The inaugural FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup 2026 runs alongside the main championship. It is for teams of six players who have never reached 2000 Elo in standard, rapid, or blitz, or are unrated, up to the March 2026 rating lists.
The system is based on two pools – A and B, with a nine-round Swiss tournament in each. The time control will be 15 minutes plus 10 seconds, starting from move one.
The Amateur Cup starts with its opening ceremony on 18 June at 8:45 am. Rounds are played at 9:00 am, 10:00 am, and 11:00 am on 18, 19 and 20 June. The final stage begins on 21 June at 12:30 pm.
Prize funds
The main World Team Rapid and Blitz prize fund is €500,000. The Rapid championship has €310,000, while the Blitz championship has €190,000.
The winner of the Rapid will receive €110,000, while the winning team in the Blitz will receive €75,000.
The Amateur Cup prize fund is €25,000, with €10,000 for first place.
Biggest teams and lineups
The headline teams are WR Chess, Hexamind, Team MGD1, Dragon Chilling, Kazchess, Uzbekistan, Chessgurukul, Chess United, and Endgame.AI.
WR Chess are the main favourites, with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Hexamind brings Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Alireza Firouzja, Vidit Gujrathi, Kateryna Lagno and Volodar Murzin. Team MGD1, the defending rapid champions, include Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Pranav V, Leon Luke Mendonca, and Harika Dronavalli.
Dragon Chilling are led by Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie. Kazchess include Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk, Richard Rapport, Wang Hao, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kazybek Nogerbek.
Uzbekistan have built a serious squad around Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, with former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov as captain.
The full lineups are on the official event website, under the Teams section, with separate pages for Rapid and Blitz. FIDE’s preview also links directly to the registered teams page.
How to attend
The competition is set for Queen Elizabeth Stadium, which recently hosted the 2025 Eastern Asia Juniors and Girls Championships. Hong Kong also staged the 2025 Hong Kong International Open, with more than 400 players and over 80 titled players. So this is not coming from nowhere. It follows a clear buildup.
For spectators in Hong Kong, tickets are sold through the official ticketing platform, with single-day tickets and multi-day passes available. FIDE’s ticket announcement lists Queen Elizabeth Stadium as the venue and gives URBTIX as the ticketing route.
For online viewers, the event is set to be shown through FIDE’s official channels. FIDE’s YouTube channel has an upcoming live stream listed for the championship, starting with the first rapid day on 17 June.
All the information about the event, including the schedules, regulations, pairings, and results, can be found on the official websites: FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026 and FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup 2026.