Around 300 players have registered for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, set to take place in New York this Christmas, with more names expected in the coming weeks

If you happen to be somewhere around Manhattan between Christmas and New Year, don't be surprised if you bump into a Grandmaster! Consider this a gentle warning for New York's chess hustlers: the world's top GMs are descending on the Big Apple for the strongest tournament ever held on U.S. soil.

FIDE is pleased to announce the extended list of players confirmed for the event. As of now, the list includes 180 players in the Open and 109 players in the Women's section.

Elite players headline the Open competition

All eyes will be on the world's top-rated player and former world champion in classical chess, Magnus Carlsen, who enters the tournament as the top seed, determined to defend his titles in both Rapid and Blitz formats.

Chess fans will also be able to see three former World Championship Challengers in action – current U.S. champion Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi from Moscow, and Israeli GM Boris Gelfand.

The U.S. chess elite is taking advantage of playing on home turf as many top Grandmasters have registered, including: Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Jeffrey Xiong, Leinier Domignuez Perez, Hans Niemann, Sam Shankland, and others.

The stellar lineup also includes the strongest players from the biggest chess nations in the world, such as India, China, Ukraine, France, Uzbekistan, and others.

Women's Champions past and present join the line-up

In the Women's competition, current World Champion in classical chess Ju Wenjun leads the field. She is joined by four former world champions Tan Zhongyi, Mariya Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Zhu Chen.

Representing the U.S. are the nation's current women's champion Carissa Yip, as well as former U.S. women's champions Irina Krush and Jennifer Yu.

Other prominent contenders for the top places will also be there, including Kateryna Lagno, Humpy Koneru, Harika Dronavalli, Nana Dzagnidze and Bibisara Assaubayeva.

The full list of participants in both the Rapid and the Blitz can be found here:
chess-results.com/tnr1074690.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30.

Tickets for both the Rapid and the Blitz as well as for the Wall Street Gambit Conference are available here: tickets.fide.com/ 

For more information about the event, visit the official website:
worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/

Media accreditation: worldrapidandblitz.fide.com/media-registration/