The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships 2026 starts tomorrow at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, running from June 17 to 21. First round begins at 6:00 AM UTC.

The Rapid and Blitz tournaments will feature more than 300 players in 48 teams. Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hans Moke Niemann, Javokhir Sindarov, Ding Liren and others will play in the event.

The event features a hybrid format: the Rapid tournament with a 12-round Swiss system, and the Blitz tournament with pools divided Round-Robin and a Knockout. Prize fund distribution totals $580,000 across both tournaments.

The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships 2026 is an annual team event organized by FIDE in collaboration with WR Logistics GmbH. The 2025 edition of the Rapid tournament was won by Team MGD1, and the WR Chess Team won the Blitz event.

Credit: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE