From August 26-28, 2023, Düsseldorf will host a unique competition — the first World Team Rapid Chess Championship, organized by FIDE in partnership with WR Logistics GmbH.
The players will meet on August 26th at the Rheinterrasse, located on the banks of the Rhine in the heart of Düsseldorf.
Forty-three teams from all over the world will compete for a €250,000 prize fund, and the best team will receive the first prize of €100,000.
Each team consists of at least six players. It must include at least one female and one player who has never achieved a FIDE rating of 2000.
Match results depend on all players: 2 match points are given for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The team with the most match points will become the champion.
The World Rapid Team Chess Championship brings together teams with truly stellar lineups.
The championship will feature the world chess elite, including former world champions Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Mariya Muzychuk.
Contenders for the world chess crown, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, and Boris Gelfand, World Cup winners Levon Aronian, Peter Svidler, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda will participate in the event. Former world champions in rapid chess Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Daniil Dubov, will also come to Düsseldorf.
The reigning world blitz champion, Bibisara Assaubayeva, former world blitz champions Kateryna Lagno and Leinier Dominguez, will take part in the championship.
And finally, more than 15 winners of the Chess Olympiad registered. In total, about 300 participants are expected to fight for the world rapid team champion title.
According to the team average rating, clear favourites are:
WR Chess (Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R , Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Wadim Rosenstein);
Freedom (Richard Rapport, Viswanathan Anand, Daniil Dubov, Evgeniy Najer, Polina Shuvalova, Alexander Shapiro),
Kompetenzakademie Allstars (Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian,Gukesh D, Keti Tsatsalashvili, Rainer Becker, Manfred Schneider).
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will lead the team with the funny name "Chess Pensioners". Peter Svidler, Leinier Dominguez, Darmen Sadvakasov, Jovanka Houska, Christoph Barati, Dennis Koenig, Miron Ananiev, and Yaroslav Ananiev are the members of one of the strongest squads in the championship.
Let's remember that in team competitions, the average rating is often not as important as team spirit and determination! With this in mind, several lower-rated teams also have a shot for the title.
Given the long tournament distance of 12 rounds, all the top teams will definitely play against each other, so we are in for an exciting chess spectacle in Düsseldorf!
All info and media accreditation is available on the official website:
worldrapidteams2023.fide.com
For additional media enquires please contact us at press@fide.com
