The fourth edition of the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will take place from 16 to 22 June in Hong Kong, marking the event’s first appearance in East Asia. Since its inaugural edition in Düsseldorf in 2023, this championship has grown into one of the most anticipated events on the calendar, bringing together world-class grandmasters and rising talents in a format unlike any other in competitive chess. It is one of the rare occasions in international chess where world-class players can be seen forming their own squads and playing as a team, something that is almost never seen outside of the Chess Olympiad.
Top teams have already confirmed their participation, featuring some of the biggest names in the game, including world number one Magnus Carlsen, alongside the most recent FIDE Candidates and Women’s Candidates winners, Javokhir Sindarov and Vaishali Rameshbabu.
The Rapid Championship will be played as a 12-round Swiss tournament across three days, with four rounds per day and a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment. The Blitz Championship follows on 20 and 21 June, beginning with pool stages before moving to a knockout format for the top 16 teams, with a time control of 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment. The total prize fund across both championships is €500,000, with the Rapid champion team receiving €110,000 and the Blitz champion team taking home €75,000.
Registration is well underway, and a number of formidable teams have already confirmed their participation.
WR Chess return as defending Blitz champions with a stellar lineup: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Andrey Esipenko, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Hou Yifan. Carlsen and Caruana playing on the same team is a rare sight, and WR Chess will once again be the team to beat.
Uzbekistan, captained by former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, bring Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Mukhiddin Madaminov, alongside Afruza Khamdamova and Umida Omonova. Sindarov arrives in exceptional form after winning the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament with a round to spare. Seeing him compete alongside Abdusattorov and his Uzbek teammates offers a preview ahead of the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand later this year, where Uzbekistan will be amongst the favourites on home soil.
Dragon Chilling bring together former World Champion Ding Liren and reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in a powerhouse Chinese squad that also features Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Lu Shanglei, Bai Jinshi, and Lei Tingjie. The team name itself is a playful nod to the viral “Ding Chilling” moment during the 2024 World Championship match.
Hexamind Chess Team return after an impressive second-place finish in the Rapid at last year’s edition in London. This time, their lineup includes Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Volodar Murzin, and Kateryna Lagno.
Chessgurukul feature Vaishali Rameshbabu, fresh from her historic victory at the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates, playing alongside her brother Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram, Pranesh Munirethinam, and Karthikeyan Murali. Vaishali became the first Indian woman to win the Candidates and will challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Championship, meaning both challenger and champion will be competing in Hong Kong on rival teams.
Chess United bring five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand together with former Women’s World Rapid Champion Humpy Koneru, Jorden van Foreest, and Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara. Their roster also includes Roman Shogdzhiev, the youngest International Master in history at the age of 10, and Tunde Onakaya, the founder of Chess in Slums Africa and Guinness World Record holder for the longest marathon chess game.
Several other strong teams have also registered, including Chessnut Nova (featuring Raunak Sadhwani, Daniel Dardha, and MarcAndria Maurizzi), Global Ramblers (with Alexei Shirov and Alexander Motylev), and the Farm – Valera Chess Training team (with the legendary Vasyl Ivanchuk). Teams representing Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Spain, Australia, and many more regions are also set to compete, reinforcing truly international scope of this event.
Register your team
The registration deadline is May 15, 2026, 12:00 pm Lausanne time. The playing venue capacity is limited to 42 teams, with places allocated based on the highest team ratings and earliest registration, alongside six wildcard entries from the organisers. The entry fee is €1,000 per team.
Each team must consist of a minimum of six and a maximum of nine players, including at least one female player and at least one recreational player. Full regulations and the registration form are available on the official event website.
Registration form: https://formdesigner.pro/form/view/243338
Contact: hkchessevent@gmail.com
Photos: Rafal Oleksiewicz and Michal Walusza