New York – June 17, 2024 - Chess enthusiasts should get ready for an unforgettable experience as the most intensive global chess event - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships - are coming to the Big Apple in the last week of December for the first time in history! This globally renowned tournament celebrated as one of the most eagerly anticipated, most exciting and most followed in the chess world, promises a week-long extravaganza of unparalleled intensity
Featuring top players from across the globe, the event will provide five days of non-stop chess excitement and spectacular matchups. This prestigious tournament, renowned as the most globally followed chess event - along with the World Championship Match – last year had over 250 million views globally, with the expectation for the record to be broken this year.
The official announcement of the event was made at the closing ceremony of the World Corporate Chess Championship – Presented by Freedom Holding Corp., which took place in the business heart of New York from June 15 to 17.
The world's best players, including great champions such as Magnus Carlsen, top U.S. grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, as well as Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun and U.S. top woman player Irina Krush are expected to take part.
Photo: Lennart Ootes
Followed by millions of people worldwide, the World Rapid and Blitz are the most dynamic and most streamed chess events globally. The audience—whether online or in person—will have the chance to witness, up close, how risk analysis, tactics, and decision-making unfold at lightning speed.
"It has long been a dream of FIDE to have such a chess spectacle in New York. Not only will this championship be an absolutely top-notch sporting event, but also a great festival of mind, art, brilliance, and a celebration of the beauty of chess. We invite everyone interested in chess—no matter their level—to join us as we start the journey to make this event one of the most memorable chess events ever to take place in New York," said Emil Sutovsky, CEO of FIDE.
The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships is expected to be backed in part by Freedom Holding Corp., a multi-national diversified financial services company that has been working with FIDE to promote the game of chess on a global basis.
Photo: Rafał Oleksiewicz
"Chess is an integral part of the culture of our company, and we are looking forward to the prospect of supporting the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York City, home of the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Freedom Holding Corp. common shares have been traded for the past five years. Our experience with the World Corporate Chess Championship this past weekend has been excellent and we witnessed firsthand the immense potential and interest in chess from the world of U.S. finance and the general public. This furthered our interest in helping to bring the fast-paced game of speed chess to one of the most fast-paced cities in the world," stated Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.
The venue for the event will be announced in the coming weeks. The World Rapid and Blitz will be open to the public and tickets will go on sale soon. Make sure you're following us for updates so you don't miss out on securing your spot!
About the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships
Established in 2012 as an official competition in the FIDE annual calendar, the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships have become a premier event in the chess world.
This year's event coincides with two major chess celebrations—the centenary of the founding of FIDE and 100 years since the famous New York Chess Tournament, which saw the greatest names in chess of the time gather for a legendary tournament in chess and world history.
About FIDE
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the governing body of the sport of chess, and it regulates all international chess competitions. FIDE is constituted as a non-governmental institution, and it was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization in 1999.
FIDE currently has its headquarters in Lausanne (Switzerland), but it was initially founded in 1924 in Paris under the motto "Gens Una Sumus" (Latin for "We Are One Family"). It was one of the very first International Sports Federations, alongside the governing bodies of the sports of Football, Cricket, Swimming, and Auto Racing.
It is now one of the largest, encompassing more than 200 countries as affiliate members in the form of National Chess Federations. Chess is a truly global sport nowadays, with dozens of millions of players on all continents and tens of millions of chess games played every day.
To learn more about FIDE, visit fide.com
About Freedom Holding Corp.
Freedom Holding Corp., a Nevada corporation, is a diversified financial services holding company conducting retail securities brokerage, securities trading, investment research, investment counseling, investment banking and underwriting services, mortgages, insurance, and commercial banking, as well as several ancillary businesses which complement its core financial services businesses, all through its subsidiaries, operating under the name Freedom24 in Europe and Central Asia, and Freedom Capital Markets in the United States. Through its subsidiaries, Freedom Holding Corp. employs more than 6,000 people and is a professional participant in the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, the Astana International Exchange, the Republican Stock Exchange of Tashkent, the Uzbek Republican Currency Exchange, and is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
Freedom Holding Corp. is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and has operations and subsidiaries in 20 countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, Cyprus, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and others.
Freedom Holding Corp.'s common shares are registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and are traded under the symbol FRHC on the Nasdaq Capital Market, operated by Nasdaq, Inc.
To learn more about Freedom Holding Corp., visit freedomholdingcorp.com.
