Coach Emile

Over twenty players made up an interesting field for our first Summer tournament. All ratings ranges from unrated up until 1700 were represented with Ruhao Liu (1942) clearly ahead of the pack. We used the usual concept: seven double rounds for a total of fourteen games. On the night of 19 to 20 July, Spain and Argentina are playing the finals of the FIFA World Cup. Lots of drama and conspiracy theories have been surrounding the tournament and anyone who follows football a bit, knows that the...

A unicum in Hong Kong: The FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships. A relatively new concept introduced a couple of years ago that brings the world's greatest players together. In 2026, Hong Kong hosted this event in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Rapid is played over twelve rounds in Swiss format. For the Blitz tournaments, the teams are split into four round robin pools with a grand final on Sunday. One special rule for this event: each round six players from a squad of nine players...

Alongside the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships there was a side event in the mornings: the World Amateurs Rapid Chess Cup. The rules are simple: teams of six people will fight it out in two pools over nine rounds. The top three of both pools play the finals. All players, no matter the board, cannot have had a FIDE rating of more than 2000 in any time control at any point in time before registration. © Michal_Walusza / FIDE - Team A in Action This served as a great opportunity for...