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
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
While tactics decide the game in concrete moments, strategy guides the entire battle. Understanding how to improve your pieces, create weaknesses, execute maneuvers, and steer the game toward favorable structures is what defines strong players.
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
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.
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
Commentary by GMs David Howell and Evgenij Miroshnichenko
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
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The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
In this 60-minute video course you’ll learn how to use the Austrian Defence as a practical weapon for Black!
€9.90
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