Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 26 to 30 December, Uzbekistan will host the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship for the first time. The tournament will feature the best chess players in the world, who will compete for the title of world champion in rapid chess.

The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship will be held from 26 to 30 December in Samarkand, at the Silk Road Samarkand tourist center.

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. 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.

The head of FIDE noted the rapid development of chess in Uzbekistan. At the recently concluded FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 tournament, three Uzbek players entered the top 15, the country won the 2022 World Chess Olympiad among 188 competing teams and took second place in the World Team Championship, behind only the Chinese team. Four players from Uzbekistan are among the top 100 players in the world, including Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who in 2021 became the youngest chess player to win the title of world rapid champion (at the age of 17).

In 2026, Uzbekistan is preparing to host the World Chess Olympiad.