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2024 FIDE Rapid & Blitz World Championship Preview

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the December 2024 issue of Chess Life magazine, and is re-published here with updates including information about the participants and the FIDE Circuit standings. Consider becoming a US Chess member for more content like this — access to digital editions of both Chess Life and Chess Life Kids is a member benefit, and you can receive print editions of both magazines for a small add-on fee.

The 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship is coming to the Big Apple. Here’s what you need to know.

Where is the tournament?

It’s a big-money tournament, so it’s probably fitting that it’s being held on Wall Street: Cipriani 55 Wall Street for the open section, across the street at 48 Wall Street for the women’s.

What’s the format?

The event starts with the rapid tournament Dec. 26-28, with a time control of 15/G with a 10-second increment per move. The open section will play 13 rounds over three days; the women’s section, 11.

After a day off, the blitz portion begins Dec. 30 and calls for two days of G/3 with a two-second increment, held in two stages. The open section will play 13 rounds and the women’s section 11 on the first day; on Dec. 31, the top eight in each section face off in four-game knockout matches until there’s a winner.

Graphic courtesy of FIDE

Who can play?

Registration is closed, but the tournament was open to players over 2550 for the open section, 2250 for the women’s, on any recent FIDE rating list, whether standard, rapid, or blitz. National champions are eligible regardless of rating.

How much money is at stake?

The open prize fund totals $550,000 in the rapid championship and $450,000 in the blitz; in the women’s section, it’s $228,500 in the rapid and $200,000 in the blitz. In both sections the first prizes are $90,000 and $60,000 respectively.

So who’s signed up to play?

Of 184 players in the open rapid (and 186 in open blitz), the field will feature reigning World Rapid and World Blitz champ GM Magnus Carlsen as well as top American players including GMs Fabiano Caruana (second seed in the rapid, fifth in blitz) and Hikaru Nakamura (eighth in rapid, third in blitz).

Graphic courtesy of FIDE

Seedings for all events are done by the corresponding rating category. This means FIDE blitz ratings are used for the World Blitz, and FIDE rapid ratings are used for the World Rapid. As such, there is some disparity between

Other top players include the French duo of GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (third seed in the rapid) and Alireza Firouzja (second seed in the blitz), Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (fifth seed in the rapid, ninth in the blitz) and Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (10th seed in the rapid, seventh in blitz).

All in all, 31 Americans will be participating in the open rapid and blitz tournaments. Notorious American speedsters GM Daniel Naroditsky (34th rapid, 17th blitz), GM Andrew Tang (136th rapid, 63rd blitz), and IM Eric Rosen (161st in each) will also be fan favorites to follow for potential upsets. GM-Elect Brewington Hardaway, whose 2181 FIDE rapid rating is less indicative of his strength than his 2499 FIDE classical rating, will likewise be a player to watch.

The full list of competitors is available here for the open rapid and here for the open blitz.

Graphic courtesy of FIDE

With 115 players in the women's rapid (and 113 in the blitz), the top Chinese players take the top three spots in each event. Current Women's World Champion GM Ju Wenjun is the top-seeded player in the rapid (third in the blitz), while last year's challenger GM Lei Tingjie enters as the second seed in each event. The next challenger to Ju's title, GM Tan Zhongyi, is the top seed in the blitz (and third in the rapid).

Other top players include former Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (fourth in each event), reigning World Blitz champion GM Valentina Gunina, and reigning World Rapid champion Anastasia Bodnaruk (who defeated GM Humpy Koneru in a tiebreaker last year for the title).

Of the 14 American players competing, the highest-seeded players are IM Alice Lee (13th rapid, 23rd blitz), IM Carissa Yip (19th rapid, 43rd blitz), GM Irina Krush (22nd rapid, 42nd blitz, and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (46th rapid, 25th blitz). As in the open sections, FIDE rapid and blitz ratings are not always the best indicators of a player's strength. IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (42nd rapid, 74th blitz) has had a fantastic year and, as Team USA's top board for the FIDE Olympiad, should definitely be considered dangerous!

The full list of competitors is available here for the women's rapid and here for the women's blitz.

Does this tournament impact Candidates qualifications?

Yes! According to the qualification path rules for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, one spot will be awarded to the highest-scoring finisher on each of the 2024 and 2025 FIDE Circuit leaderboards. FIDE Circuit scores are taken as aggregates of players' top seven results from a pre-approved list of sufficiently strong events. Up to two of these events can be rapid and/or blitz events, and these two championships will be the last two eligible events for the 2024 Circuit.

Currently, GM Fabiano Caruana sits atop the standings with 130.42 points, and India's GM Arjun Erigaisi is second with 124.40 points. Points are awarded to players who finish in (or tied with) the top eight places in each event. Roughly 22 points go to an outright winner for each tournament, with approximately 16 points for second down to four for eighth. The full explanation of scoring is here.

Because a maximum of seven events go towards the FIDE Circuit scores, Erigaisi and Caruana would have to put up a score of at least 13.93 points (Caruana) or 14.01 points (Erigaisi) to improve on their scores. Since these scores would replace the previous lowest scoring event, players are fighting for a handful of points. For instance, if Erigaisi earns 16 points from the Blitz, he would gain two points as his score of 16 would replace his previously lowest-scoring result of 14.

What this means for qualification is that Erigaisi could leapfrog Caruana if he wins either championship outright and Caruana finishes outside the top three in both championships. There are other scenarios (such as Erigaisi finishing outright second in both events) that could also give Erigaisi the qualification spot, but, broadly speaking: FIDE Circuit points will be relevant if Erigaisi finishes at or near the top of one or both events, and if Caruana does not finish in or tied for the top three in either.

For the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament, one spot will be awarded to the highest-placed player in the FIDE Events 2024-2025 series. These events include both the 2024 and 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships, as well as the Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 Series, Women's World Cup 2025, and Women's Grand Swiss 2025. Less information is available on how scoring will work, but scores from this event will definitely factor into the calculations for one of the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament qualification spots.

What are they doing on the rest day?

The inclusion of a rest day between the two events is a new feature of this year's event. On Sunday, December 29, the open venue (55 Wall St.) will host the Wall Street Gambit conference. The event features a tournament for conference participants, keynote speeches from renowned figures in chess and finance, a round table discussion featuring Carlsen, GM Viswanathan Anand, and finance experts with chess backgrounds such as GM Ken Rogoff and Boaz Weinstein.

Graphic courtesy of FIDE

How can I watch the games?

You can watch online at worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/watch-live. Games start at 2 p.m. EST each day for the open and 15 minutes later each day for the women's event. The streaming links may not be there yet, but the organizers say they will be before the tournament starts.

For those in the New York area, tickets for individual days and for the whole week are available for purhcase here.

Graphic courtesy of Shutterstock

What else might a chess player want to check out in the area?

FM Davis Zong has you covered:

The Marshall Chess Club is more than a century old, and has been in its current location at 23 W. 10th St. since 1931. That means it’s where Bobby Fischer played the Game of the Century, where he played the 1965 Havana international tournament by teletype and more. They’ve even got the set and table Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin played the 2016 World Championship on.

The entrance to the Marshall Chess Club (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

“If you were to enter the club on a tournament during weekday nights or weekend afternoons,” Zong says, “you may find players ranging from elementary schoolers to seniors, enthusiastic game review sessions, and dense spectator crowds around intense games.” He says the two-story club is on “a peaceful street between the busy sectors of Union Square and NYU, supplemented with a serene backyard tucked just below the street.” From Wall Street you can catch the 2 or 3 train and be there in about 20 minutes.

Not far from the Marshall is the Chess Forum. At 219 Thompson St., this was one of Bobby Fischer’s hangouts, and it is the original site of Nicolas Rossolimo’s Chess Studio. The Chess Forum is pay-to-play — $5 per hour for adults, while senior citizens get an 80% discount and kids are free! — but it’s an experience not to be missed.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

New York is known for its chess al fresco, and although it can get pretty fresco in late December, you can check out Washington Square Park, about another 20-minute subway ride, for the park chess experience. “Players are often up for friendly games,” Zong says, “and you may meet anyone from eager beginners to undercover masters playing in the park.” He also recommends Bryant Park, on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, and the Chess and Checkers House in Central Park around 64th Street, as great chess spots, albeit farther away.

One last tip for bibliophiles: Check out Fred Wilson’s famed chess bookshop at 41 Union Square West (at 17th St.), Suite 718. Wilson has (per his website) “an intelligent selection of out-of-print and rare books” along with the latest titles, so hopefully you saved some room in your suitcase. His posted hours are 12-7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, but you may want to verify before heading over.

What else?

But you can’t live on chess alone — even though a lot of people have tried — and Zong recommends some non-chess sites in the area to check out, including the famous charging bull statue on Wall Street, as well as Oculus, at 50 Church St., “an architectural masterpiece meant to represent a dove in flight.” He also recommends the one World Observatory at the World Trade Center, “a classic tourist attraction” for its “breathtaking 360-degree view of the city from the 102nd floor of the tower. History (and Broadway) buffs may want to visit Trinity Church, a five-minute walk from the playing site at 89 Broadway — Alexander Hamilton is buried there.

I’m hungry!

Ya gotta eat, so Zong recommends the “delicious steakhouse” Capital Grille at 120 Broadway and the Italian market Eataly at 101 Liberty Street, both downtown near the tournament site. And Chinatown is only about 20 minutes’ walk away, with numerous dim sum and other options “ranging from light dumpling snacks to a full Sichuan- or Guangdong-style meal.”