Lausanne, Dec 3: The supremely-gifted R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali will be among five Indian participants in the upcoming 2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) said on Monday.The prestigious event will be held in New York City from December 26-31 as the tournament enters North America for the first time ever.
Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika are the other Indian competitors in the tournament which the FIDE claims is going to be the strongest edition ever with the world’s best players in action.
World No. 3 American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has also confirmed his entry for the tournament, the apex chess body said on ‘X’.
“From December 26â31, over 300 of the world’s best players will battle for their share of the USD 1.5 million prize fund in New York City,” FIDE said in a post.
Besides the top players from India, some of the big names from across the world include five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian.
The event will begin with the Rapid Championship from December 26 to 28, followed by a day off on December 29. The competition will resume on December 30 and conclude on December 31 with the Blitz Championship.
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships are held annually, bringing together the best players in thrilling, fast-paced chess formats.
Star Participants:
Open Section: Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Firouzja, R Praggnanandhaa, Wei Yi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Anish Giri, and top U.S. players Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Levon Aronian.
Women’s Section: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Mariya Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru, Lei Tingjie, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Zhu Jiner, and Anna Muzychuk, among others.