The Rosenstein Show Rolls Into Hong Kong As FIDE's World Rapid & Blitz Team Champs Starts With A Bang

If Wadim Rosenstein is positioning himself for a run at the FIDE presidency—which it strongly appears he is—then he's making all the right moves.

The German businessman and Germany's newly-elected FIDE delegate was pictured in Thailand last week congratulating GM Magnus Carlsen after Norway's superstar won the inaugural 2026 ASEAN E-Sports Chess Cup and the $8,500 first prize.

Carlsen wasn't offering his celebrity endorsement, of course, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Following a quick hop from the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Rosenstein arrived in Hong Kong, where he has once again taken his place alongside Carlsen at the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships.

Rosenstein isn't merely sponsoring the event through his self-funded WR Chess team—he's also playing. A strong club player, he occupies the team's amateur board, one of the unique features of the competition that requires every team to field a recreational player alongside the world's elite. If you've got the money, why not?

Rosenstein hasn't officially thrown his hat into the ring for FIDE's presidential election which takes place at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, this September. However, he is widely expected to when the campaign season officially starts on June 26.

In the meantime, he's just a chess fan and, in Hong Kong, a player.

Such a big event does need the presence of FIDE's current president, though. Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian who has held the top job in chess since 2018, is also in Hong Kong overseeing proceedings.

Political maneuvering aside, the tournament itself has wasted little time delivering drama.

Eight rounds into the rapid competition, China's Dragon Chilling stands alone at the top on 14 match points, the only unbeaten team left in the field. Defending champions Team MGD1 sit just behind on 13 points, while Kazakhstan's Barys occupies third after a superb second day.

Dragon Chilling's success has come despite a, perhaps unsurprisingly, inconsistent tournament from former world champion GM Ding Liren. Ding has managed just one win from eight games. In Round 5 lost a marathon 177-move game against GM Richard Rapport. But Ding's teammates have carried the load impressively.

Ding's Chinese compatriot GM Yu Yangyi began with five straight victories before cooling off, while board six GM Wang Zihao has emerged as one of the tournament's breakout performers with six wins and a draw.

For many spectators, however, the biggest story has been WR Chess—and not for the reasons many expected.

Pre-tournament favourites and led by world number one Carlsen, WR Chess endured a bruising second day. After comfortably beating Mr Birdie and Friends, they lost a tight match to Team MGD1 before bouncing back against Sky Chess. Their campaign then suffered another blow when Barys defeated them 4-2 in the final round of the day.

Carlsen himself had one of his toughest days in recent memory. He was held to a draw by the 2025 World Rapid Champion GM Vladislav Artemiev before losing to India's world number-eight GM Arjun Erigaisi and then suffering a shock defeat to Armenia's GM Shant Sargsyan, rated roughly 200 points below him. WR Chess elected to rest Carlsen for the final round, but it made little difference as Barys completed the upset.

With four rounds remaining in the rapid competition, Dragon Chilling has established itself as the team to beat, although the chasing pack remains well within striking distance.

Away from the star-studded main event, the inaugural FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup also got underway, giving club players the chance to compete in the same venue and under the same conditions as the world's best.

After three rounds, Le Petit Prince and South Luzon Amateurs PH lead Pool A with perfect records, while Trophy Hunters and Hong Kong Young Dragons share first place in Pool B.

The rapid tournament concludes on Friday before attention turns to the always-chaotic blitz championship, where even more fireworks are expected.

For now, though, Hong Kong belongs to Rosenstein. Whether he's building a championship team, burnishing his political credentials or simply enjoying the ride, he's once again made himself impossible to ignore.