Two teams finished day one of the 2026 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships with perfect records. Kazchess and Dragon Chilling each won all four matches in Hong Kong. Most other top seeds suffered early defeats.
GM Richard Rapport's Kazchess and GM Ding Liren's Dragon Chilling stood alone at 8/8 after the opening day. The event takes place at Queen Elizabeth Stadium from June 17 to 21.
WR Chess, the top seed featuring Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, lost one match. Hexamind, seeded second with Alireza Firouzja and Anish Giri, lost twice. Endgame.AI also dropped a match, though Hans Niemann scored 4/4 on board one.
Carlsen spoke at a press conference about his team's goals. "Last time in 2024 we won the blitz tournament but did not win the rapid," he said. He also noted personal ties to Hong Kong through his wife.
Day two begins Thursday, June 18, at 2 a.m. ET. Kazchess faces Dragon Chilling in round five.