The 2024 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships are scheduled to take place in New York during the last week of December, FIDE announced on Monday. The two championships, traditionally held over five days between Christmas and New Year, are the most prestigious annual in-person speed chess tournaments.
The event, which will be held for the first time in the United States, is expected to feature GM Magnus Carlsen (the defending champion in both Rapid and Blitz), Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Women’s World Champion Zhu Wenjun, GM Irina Klash and other top grandmasters. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk is the reigning Women’s World Rapid Champion, and GM Valentina Gnina is the reigning Women’s World Blitz Champion.
According to FIDE, last year’s championships were viewed more than 250 million times worldwide, a record that is expected to be broken this year. FIDE CEO Emil Stovski said:
It has been a long-held dream of FIDE to bring such a chess spectacle to New York. This championship will not only be a first-class sporting event, but also a magnificent celebration of intelligence, art, talent and the beauty of chess.
The tournament is expected to be sponsored by Freedom Holdings, which was also the title sponsor of the Corporate World Championships concluding today in New York. The Kazakhstan-based finance company, which has worked with FIDE on a number of other major tournaments, was the target of a US Department of Justice investigation last year for reportedly helping Russian oligarchs evade sanctions and launder money.
Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov is also excited to host the tournament in the economic capital of New York.
Chess is an integral part of our culture, and we look forward to supporting the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York City, home to the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Freedom Holding Corp. common stock has been traded for the past five years.
The championships have traditionally been held in Eastern Europe or Asia, with Uzbekistan (2023), Kazakhstan (2022), Poland (2021) and Russia (2018 and 2019). Reaction to X has seen many U.S. athletes express excitement at the dramatic change in location.
Must be dreaming to have been announced months ago in New York https://t.co/Z8hdSQ96x0
β Andrew Tan (Follow) June 17, 2024
I’m so happy this event is coming to America! https://t.co/i4vliOZGUe
β Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana) June 17, 2024
Yay! See you in New York! π₯³ https://t.co/yFwtp1CmOb
β Nazi Paikidze (Nazis) June 17, 2024
General manager Peter Hein Nielsson, a former critic of FIDE, expressed disappointment with the sponsors.
It has admitted to having sponsors sanctioned by Ukraine πΊπ¦ and providing services to customers sanctioned by Russia π·πΊ.
You’ve done some really great work with Chess Boom (thank you!) – don’t you think chess deserves better?
Shouldn’t chess help victims?β Peter Hein Nielsentranslator) June 17, 2024