FIDE announces that the World Blitz & Rapid Championships 2012 will take place as announced in Astana, Kazakhstan from 1 to 11 July. The 10 top rated players of the FIDE January 2012 rating list qualify directly to the final tournament of each event and they should send their player's contract to the FIDE Secretariat by Friday 8 June to confirm their participation (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , fax: +30 2109212859).

Qualifiers by rating (January 2012 FIDE rating list):

01. Carlsen, Magnus
02. Aronian, Levon
03. Kramnik, Vladimir
04. Anand, Viswanathan
05. Radjabov, Teimour
06. Topalov, Veselin
07. Karjakin, Sergey
08. Ivanchuk, Vassily
09. Morozevich, Alexander
10. Gashimov, Vugar

Player Agreement (pdf)

World Rapid Regulations (pdf)

World Blitz Regulations (pdf)