FIDE has officially announced the star-studded team lineups for the upcoming FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships 2026. Descending upon Hong Kong’s iconic Queen Elizabeth Stadium June 17-21, this high-stakes festival of speed chess features a €500,000 total prize fund. The event has attracted 43 teams and over 300 of the planet’s elite players—headlined by none other than world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen. Check out all registered teams to see the full field of competitors.
Now entering its fourth edition since its 2023 debut in Dusseldorf, the tournament offers a grueling double-header format. Players will first battle across three intense days of rapid chess (fighting for a €310,000 prize fund) in a 12-round Swiss format with a 15+10 time control. Immediately after, the action shifts into overdrive for two days of blitz (€190,000 prize fund). The blitz segment features a 16-team knockout bracket played at a 3+2 time control.
Adding to the festival atmosphere, this year also marks the debut of the inaugural FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup, running concurrently to give everyday players their own shot at global glory.
All eyes will naturally be on the perennial favorites and defending heavy-hitters, Team WR. Backed by founder and sponsor Wadim Rosenstein—who will once again hold down the team’s mandatory amateur board—WR has assembled a “dream team” roster. Anchored by Carlsen (who played just once before, in 2024), the squad boasts GMs Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Hou Yifan, and Alexandra Kosteniuk. Having captured the 2023 rapid title and back-to-back blitz crowns in 2024 and 2025, WR arrives in Hong Kong with a massive target on their backs.
Looking to dethrone the top team is their ultimate nemesis, Hexamind. After agonizingly close calls in 2025—where they walked away with rapid silver and blitz bronze—they are back for vengeance. Their lethal lineup consists of GMs Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Alireza Firouzja, Vidit Gujrathi, Kateryna Lagno, and Volodar Murzin.
India’s chess revolution is also arriving in full force. Team MGD1, who took 2023 rapid bronze, 2024 blitz silver, and 2025 rapid gold, returns with GMs Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Pranav Venkatesh, Leon Luke Mendonca, and Harika Dronavalli. Not to be outdone, Chessgurukul stands as another Indian superpower, weaponizing the brother-sister duo of GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Vaishali Rameshbabu, alongside the fiercely sharp GMs Aravindh Chithambaram and Pranesh M.
A newcomer to the event is the Chinese powerhouse Dragon Chilling. They are led by none other than GM Ding Liren, alongside super-GMs Wei Yi and Yu Yangyi, reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, and GM Lei Tingjie. It is Ding’s highly anticipated return to a team event of this caliber since his 2024 world championship defeat against GM Gukesh Dommaraju.
GM Viswanathan Anand is also back in the arena and leads Team Chess United alongside GMs Humpy Koneru, Jorden van Foreest, and the 12-year-old sensation Faustino Oro—the newly-minted second-youngest grandmaster in history. And another exciting team is Uzbekistan, featuring World Championship Challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and the legendary FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. With India and Uzbekistan all bringing their elites, the fierce rivalries between these modern chess superpowers are guaranteed to set Hong Kong on fire.
Whichever team wins this year, we are bound to see some incredible games between the world’s best players. Let us know in the comments: which team will you root for?
