Saudi Gazette report

Jeddah — World’s highest-rated chess player and World Champion in classical chess Magnus Carlsen of Norway will take part in the five-day King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Riyadh starting on Tuesday.

The first two Rapid Championships (Open and Women) will be on Dec. 26-28 and the Blitz Championships (Open and Women) will follow on Dec. 29-30.

The incumbent World Rapid and Blitz Champions — Sergey Karjakin (Russia) and Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), along with over 180 top grandmasters have confirmed their participation in what is going to be the strongest open events of the year.

The events are being organized by General Sports Authority in cooperation with the World Chess Federation (FIDE) at the iconic Apex Convention Center at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.

Notable entries include World ranked No. 2 Levon Aronian of Armenia and world No. 3 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, former World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and a record-breaking level of grandmasters from over 40 countries.

The games and official ceremonies will be broadcasted online with expert Grandmaster commentary. The number of players participating in the World Championships is set at a maximum number of 250 players for the Open events and 150 players for the Women events, according to a FIDE press statement.