FIDE published official regulations for FIDE World Team Rapid & Blitz Championships 2026 on March 18. The event will take place in Hong Kong from June 16 to 22.

Team composition requirements mandate 6 to 9 players per team, including at least one female player. One board must be reserved for a recreational player whose FIDE rating has never reached 2000 in any category. Teams may include players of any nationality and aren’t required to represent a single federation. A team captain, who may also be one of the players, completes each lineup.

The event features a hybrid format: the Rapid tournament with a 12-round Swiss system, and the Blitz tournament with one group Round-Robin followed by a Knockout stage. Prize fund distribution totals $500,000 across both events.

Team registration for the Championship will open on March 23. Clubs, companies, federations, and independent teams from around the world will be eligible to enter. WR Chess Team is expected to attend the event, with elite GMs included in the lineup such as Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships is an annual team event, organized by FIDE in collaboration with WR Logistics GmbH. The 2025 edition took place in London, United Kingdom from June 10 to 16, where Team MGD1 won the Rapid championship, and WR Chess Team defended their title to win the Blitz championship.

Credit: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE