World Rapid and Blitz Championships Begin in Almaty

First games will be played on 26 December.

The World Rapid and Blitz Championships will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 25-31 December.

These competitions are traditionally known for participation of the world's strongest chess players. World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Richard Rapport (Romania), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), the Russians Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana (USA), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), the Russians Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi (China), and other famous chess players are expected to play in this year's tournaments. 

Vladislav Artemiev, Daniil Dubov, Dmitry Andreikin, Andrey Esipenko, Maxim Matlakov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Valentina Gunina, and Polina Shuvalova are yet other Russian grandmasters on the starting list. 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