Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship will be held from 26 to 30 December in Samarkand. 

The five-day tournament will bring together the world’s best chess players who will compete for the titles of world rapid and blitz champions. The championship will include open and women’s tournaments. The prize fund is one million US dollars: US$700,000 for the open and US$300,000 for the women’s tournament.

Every year, about 300 of the strongest chess players on the planet come to the championship, including the top 10 of the world ranking - Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, Americans Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and others.

“FIDE recognizes Uzbekistan’s rich chess tradition and its recent emergence as a chess superpower. This dedication and investment in chess prompted us to entrust the hosting of this prestigious event to Uzbekistan,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.

For guests of the championship, an exhibition has been organized at the Silk Road Samarkand Congress Center, where the focus is on the “Avrasin Chess” exhibit from the collection of the Samarkand State Museum-Reserve. These are seven miniature ivory sculptures, representing a unique, oldest set in the world, including all types of chess pieces. The figures are from 2.5 to 4 cm high, 1.2 to 1.7 cm wide; The age of the find is the 8th century AD.

On the evening of 25 December, the grand opening of the Rapid and Blitz Championship will take place.