Dragon Chilling Wins FIDE World Team Blitz 2026 to Seal Double Gold

by Devansh Singh - 22/06/2026

Just two days after clinching the World Rapid Team Championship, the Chinese squad Dragon Chilling has completed a historic double by securing the World Team Blitz Championship 2026 title. Despite the presence of heavyweights like Magnus Carlsen’s WR Chess and India’s formidable Team MGD1, this Chinese unit maintained its dominance throughout the event to walk away with both trophies. In the Blitz Endgame.AI secured 2nd place while the Uzbekistan team secured 3rd position. Photos: Michal Walusza/FIDE

Double Gold of Dragon Chilling

The final was surprisingly one-sided, as Dragon Chilling faced off against Endgame.AI. The Chinese team dominated both Matches in the final, winning 5-1 in both. On the top board, Ding Liren scored 1.5/2 against Hans Niemann. Wang Zihao dominated on the amateur board, winning both of his games.

Champions: Dragon Chilling

Ding scored 1.5-0.5 against Hans Niemann

Check out this game where it feels like the old version of Ding Liren is slowly but steadily coming back.

The second game ended in a solid draw

Top 3 Blitz

No.	Team	Game 1	Game 2	TB1
1	Endgame.AI	1	1	0
2	Dragon Chilling	5	5	4

Endgame.AI secured 2nd

Engame.AI played tremendous chess, and en route to victory, they defeated Hexamind in the semifinals.

Hans Niemann played a captain's role on board 1.

Taking care of the entire team and facing the best players in the world is no easy task!

But Hans is ready for any sort of grind that helps him become the best in the world!

The Upset of the Tournament: Uzbekistan Stuns WR Chess

The most shocking moment of the tournament occurred in the quarterfinals. The defending champions and tournament favorites, WR Chess featuring Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, were knocked out by Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan secured 3rd place

Shushhhh

No.	Team	Game 1	Game 2	TB1
8	Uzbekistan	3,5	3	3
1	WR Chess	2,5	3	1

In the first match, despite wins from Magnus against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Caruana against Javokhir Sindarov, Uzbekistan edged out the first match 3.5-2.5. The return match saw a dramatic shift; Abdusattorov secured a brilliant victory over Magnus Carlsen with the white pieces, holding the overall match to a 3-3 draw and propelling Uzbekistan into the semifinals on total score.

Uzbekistan Secures Third Place

Hexamind Chess Team won the 1st game, but Uzbekistan came back stronger and won 2 matches in a row.

The team spirit

Brothers of destruction

No.	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
1	Hexamind Chess Team	4	2,5	0,5
2	Uzbekistan	2	3,5	5,5

See what happened on the last day through photos

Endgame.AI finishes in 2nd place

Aryan Abhijeet Shah, holding the trophy as his contribution, was remarkable

Madaminov defeated Anish Giri

Games in action

MGD1 with their Rapid runner-up trophy

Happy Ding

Despite losing to Arjun, Magnus was in a great mood throughout the day

Karthikeyan and Praggnanandhaa of Chessgurukul

Hexaminds secured the 3rd place in Rapid

Ding Chilling

Ooops

What a great pic by Michal, Sindarov, and Abdusattorov

Arjun Erigaisi defeated Magnus Carlsen in a long Marathon battle

Check out this game from the World Blitz Team Championships 2026, along with commentary by IM Sagar Shah.

All eyes on the final game

This one picture can sum up it all: Absolute Cinema

Photo Gallery: ChessBase India, FIDE

Video Gallery: Here

Check out the closing ceremony of the FIDE World Team Rapid Chess Championship 2026 in Hong Kong

Regulations

The FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026 take place in Hong Kong, between June 16 and 22, 2026. The event is open to teams from all over the world. Teams can be made of club members, members of different federations, or any other chess players.

Team composition

Each team shall be composed in accordance with the following requirements:
1. At least six and not more than nine players, including at least:
1.1. one female player,
1.2. One recreational player, other than the one indicated in the previous point, who never achieved a FIDE Standard, Rapid, or Blitz Rating of 2000 Elo points (or unrated) up to and including the March 2025 rating lists.
2. A captain, who may also be one of the players.

Each match is played on six boards. In each match, teams shall have at least:
a. one female player,
b. one recreational player.

Format

The championship consists of 2 events - Rapid, played on June 17-19, and Blitz on June 20-21.

Rapid
Swiss, 12 rounds. The time control: 15 minutes for the first, with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Blitz
Round robin tournament in the Pools stage and 16 best teams Play-off stage (June 20).
Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, and Final (June 21). The time control: 3 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 2 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Prize Fund

The cumulative prize fund of the tournament is €500,000, where €310,000 goes to the rapid event and €190,000 for blitz.

Schedule

Playing Schedule

Venue: The Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hong Kong

Opened in 1980, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium is Hong Kong's premier multi-purpose venue located in the heart of Wan Chai that provides the public with a chance to view and participate in sports, recreation, and culture, all under the same roof.