The World Rapid & Blitz Championships will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 25-31 December. The total prize fund is 1,000,000 USD. The Open Section will feature the World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk (both from Russia), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura (both from the USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (Azerbaijan), and other well-known players.

The rating favourites of the women's event are Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk (all from Russia), Bibisara Assaubayeva, Zhansaya Abdumalik (both from Kazakhstan), Humpy Koneru, Dronavalli Harika (both from India), Tan Zhongyi (China), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), and others.

The Russians will play under the FIDE flag.

Schedule:   

26-28 December – Rapid (13 rounds in the Open Section and 11 rounds in the Women's)   

29-30 December – Blitz (21 rounds in the Open Section and 17 rounds in the Women's). 

The rounds will start at 12 PM (Moscow time); the games on the final day will begin at 11 AM (Moscow time). 

The total prize fund is 1,000,000 USD.

Official website

Tournaments on Chess-Results