IMPORTANT UPDATE: The registration deadline is extended to December 12, 2022 12:00 CET.
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from December 25-31 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, the arena that has hosted many international sports competitions as well as live concerts and various shows.
Eligible players, accompanying persons, FIDE Principals and arbiters are invited to register via the following link.
Please select from the menu the event you are going to participate in. If you want to participate in both Rapid and Blitz, please tick both boxes.
When applying for press accreditation, please fill out the following form.
The accreditations will be issued in accordance with the FIDE Media accreditation policy.
Tournament schedule:
December 25 — Opening Ceremony
December 26-28 — Rapid competitions
December 29-30 — Blitz competitions and Closing Ceremony
Upon completing the registration process, each player will receive an invoice to be paid by 12:00 PM Lausanne time on December 12, 2022.
Baluan Sholak Sports Palace | Photo: Baluan Sholak Sports Palace Facebook page
Registration will automatically be validated upon receiving the payment.
Players are expected to read the tournament regulations before starting the registration process.
Regulations for FIDE Open Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf)
Regulations for FIDE Women's Rapid & Blitz World Championship (pdf)
Open tournaments eligibility:
- Players rated at least 2550 in any of the twelve FIDE rating lists 2022 (Standard, Rapid or Blitz);
- Reigning National Champions (in Standard, Rapid, Blitz) representing their National Federation regardless of their title or rating;
- Ten players nominated by FIDE President;
- The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 15 additional players of his/her own choice.
Women's tournaments eligibility:
- Players rated at least 2250 in any of the twelve FIDE rating lists 2022 (Standard, Rapid or Blitz);
- Reigning National Champions (in Standard, Rapid, Blitz) representing Member Federations regardless of their title or rating;
- Ten players nominated by FIDE President;
- The Organiser is entitled to invite up to 10 additional players of his/her own choice.
The Reigning National Champions should send proof of their titles via their National Federations to worldrapidandblitz@fide.com in order to be accepted.
Official hotels
Participants can stay in the following official hotels:
1) Double Tree by Hilton 4*. Address: 115 Dosmukhamedov Street, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan (1,3 km from the playing venue) – for invited players only
Photo: booking.com
2) Rixos 5*. Address: Seifullina Street 506/99, 050012 Almaty, Kazakhstan (3,6 km from the playing venue) - for invited players + other players
Hotel rates:
Single accommodation (One person per room) – KZT 55,000
Double accommodation (Two persons per room) – KZT 62,000
Photo: booking.com
Lunch – KZT 14,000
Dinner – KZT 19,000
3) Holiday Inn Express 3*. Address: Seyfullin Avenue 050067 Almaty, Kazakhstan (1,5 km from the playing venue) – for all players
Hotel rates:
Single accommodation (One person per room) – KZT 22,400
Double accommodation (Two persons per room) – KZT 29,120
Photo: ihg.com/
Lunch – KZT 8,000
Dinner – KZT 8,000
If you have any questions regarding the registration process, feel free to contact the Organiser via email: worldrapidandblitz@fide.com
About the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship
The World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships and the Women's World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships have been held annually since 2012.
In rapid chess, each player begins the game with 15 minutes, and 10 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move. In blitz chess, each player begins the game with 3 minutes, and 2 seconds are added to his/her clock after each move.
The reigning world champions of the event are:
Rapid:
Open - Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)
Women - Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE)
Blitz:
Open - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
Women - Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan)
The total prize fund is 1 million USD dollars, with 700,000 USD going to the open championships and 300,000 USD to the women's championships.
The event is made possible thanks to the agreement with Freedom Finance, which becomes a General Sponsor of the event. Freedom Finance Investment Company is an investment company that is a part of Freedom Holdings (Nevada, USA), trading symbol FRHC. The company is engaged in investment banking, asset management, and capital markets services. Freedom Holdings owns the Kazakh bank Freedom Finance, the online store Freedom24 and the Kazakhstani broker Freedom Finance JSC, among other assets.
