The fourth edition of the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship is happening now at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. It started on June 17 and will end on June 21.
This is the time the tournament is taking place in East Asia. This time, the tournament has around 48 teams and 400 players overall.
This is the most different among all other chess tournaments as it is one of the rare tournaments where world-class players form their own squads and compete as a team, something that we rarely see outside the Chess Olympiad.
Every team must follow two specific lineup rules: at least one female player, and one recreational player (someone who has never reached 2000 Elo in standard, rapid, or blitz as of recent).
The FIDE Rapid runs from June 17 to 19 as a 12-round Swiss. The Blitz follows on June 20 and 21, starting with a pool stage before moving into a knockout from the Round of 16. The total prize fund across both events is €500,000.
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Top Five Players in World Rapid and Blitz Championship
With the World Championship challenger, a reigning World Rapid and Blitz champion, and a former world champion all competing under the same roof, here are five players worth watching this week.
1. Magnus Carlsen (WR Chess)
Magnus Carlsen is the world number one, the reigning World Rapid and World Blitz champion, and currently the only player in the world who is rated above 2800.
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He has won nearly every tournament he has entered in the last three years.
In Hong Kong, he is playing for WR Chess alongside Fabiano Caruana. Magnus Carlsen said before the tournament that WR won the Blitz in 2024 but not the Rapid, but this time, they will fix it.
2. Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan)
At 20 years old, Javokhir Sindarov is the most talked-about player in chess right now. In April, he won the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament in Cyprus with a score of 10/14, going unbeaten across all 14 rounds. That is the highest score ever recorded in the modern Candidates format. He won with a round to spare. He will now face World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the World Chess Championship later this year.
What makes him interesting to watch in Hong Kong is his playing style, i.e. aggressive, fast, and comfortable playing for wins with either colour.
He became a grandmaster at 12, is ranked fourth in the world, and appears to be genuinely enjoying himself at every board and is playing for team Uzbekistan.
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3. Vaishali Rameshbabu (Chessgurukul)
R Vaishali won the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament in April, becoming the first Indian woman to do so. She went in as the lowest-rated player in the field and came out as the winner, finishing on 8.5/14 with a win over Kateryna Lagno. She will now face Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in a title match later this year.
She is playing for Chessgurukul alongside her brother R Praggnanandhaa, and the team has enough power to win and upset bigger names.
4. Alireza Firouzja (Hexamind)
Alireza Firouzja is one of the most naturally gifted players in speed chess. He has been building his reputation in fast formats since his teens and remains one of the most dangerous players in the world.
His rapid performance at a recent Grand Chess Tour event was below his usual standard, but he has always been the kind of player who can turn a tournament around quickly.
He is playing for Hexamind, which finished second in the Rapid at last year’s London edition and will be working hard to win both titles this time.
5. Ding Liren (Dragon Chilling)
Ding Liren was the World Chess Champion just a year ago. His return to active chess has been gradual, but in Hong Kong, he is leading an all-Chinese team called Dragon Chilling.
After day one of the Rapid and Blitz chess tournament, Dragon Chilling and KazChess are the only two teams with a perfect record in the Rapid.
Ding’s particular results on the day were mixed: a draw against a player rated 300 points below him in round one, a win in round two, another draw in round three, and a loss in round four.
But the team is performing well around him, and if Ding Liren finds his best form over the next two days, Dragon Chilling could be a genuine threat to all other teams.
Also Read: FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2026: Schedule, Format, Teams and Prize Money
