The FIDE Women World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2014 will be held from 21st April (arrival) to 29th April (departure) at the beautiful Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
The events will be both Swiss pairings tournaments and will be held over three days for Rapid (23-25th April) and three days for Blitz (26-28th April).
The Blitz will have fifteen rounds with each player playing with white and black against his paired opponent, Swiss event. The Rapid will be fifteen (15) rounds, with a single game for each round, Swiss event.
In the Blitz Championship, each player will have 3 minutes + 2 seconds additional time per move, starting from move 1.
In the Rapid Championship, each player will have 15 minutes + 10 seconds additional time per move, starting from move 1.
All players rated at least 2200 in any of the three FIDE rating lists (Standard, Blitz or Rapid) as at the 1st of January 2014 are eligible to participate in the Women World Blitz & Rapid Championships.
The Blitz & Rapid Championships are open to all the National Champions representing their National Chess Federation regardless of their title or rating.
Preliminary list of participants
The prize fund for each event (Rapid and Blitz) is $50,000. Top three finishers in each event will earn $12,000-9,000-6,000, respectively.
The first World Rapid and Blitz Championships for women were held in 1992, with Susan Polgar claiming both titles. The next Blitz Championship was in 2010 with Kateryna Lagno winning the trophy.
Georgian city Batumi organized the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in 2012. Antoaneta Stefanova (Rapid) and Valentina Gunina (Blitz) were the champions.
The 2014 FIDE Women World Rapid and Blitz Championships is concluding the chess spring in Khanty-Mansiysk, following the FIDE World Candidates Tournament and FIDE Women Grand Prix.
