World Team Blitz Championship - Live!

by ChessBase
6/21/2026 – The World Team Blitz Chess Championship is taking place on 20-21 June in Hong Kong. The tournament consists of a pool stage, with the 48 teams divided in 4 groups of 12, followed by a knockout stage with the top 16 teams. Elite GMs Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Viswanathan Anand, alongside female superstars Ju Wenjun, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Alexandra Kosteniuk are among the participants. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 8.00 CEST (2.00 ET, 11.30 IST) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Knockout stage

The World Team Blitz Chess Championship is taking place on 20-21 June at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong.

The tournament consists of a pool stage, with the 48 teams divided in 4 groups of 12, followed by a knockout stage with the top 16 teams. The time control is 3 minutes for the whole game, with an increment of 2 seconds per move starting from move 1.

In the pool stage, a single round-robin takes place in each group. A win scores 2 match points. A draw scores 1 match point. A loss scores 0 points. The four top teams in each pool advance to the round-of-16.

In the knockout stage, each duel consists of two matches. In case of a tie, following a draw of colours, another match shall take place. If the tie remains, yet another match shall take place. If the tie is not broken, one sudden death game shall be played between a pair of players who played against each other in the blitz match. This pair shall be determined by drawing of lots. The sudden death game shall be the following:

  • White shall have 4 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.
  • Both players shall submit a time bid - specifying how much starting time they are willing to play with as Black, also with a 2-second increment per move, starting from move 1. A bid cannot be more than 4 minutes. The player who submits the lowest time wins the bid and plays with Black. If the players make exactly the same bid, Black starts with that amount of time; a drawing of lots shall determine the colours.
  • If the sudden death game is drawn, Black will win the match.

Full regulations | Team composition, pairings and results

Live games and commentary

Commentary by GMs David Howell and Evgenij Miroshnichenko

Links

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