Richard Rapport's Kazchess team and Ding Liren's Dragon Chilling are the only squads with perfect 8-0 records after day one of the 2026 World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Hong Kong.
The field's heavyweights stumbled. Top-seeded teams fell to upsets, leaving the Rapport and Ding outfits alone atop the standings. Rapid team events are unforgiving. One bad game cascades through your lineup, and Kazchess and Dragon Chilling avoided that trap when others couldn't.
Rapport assembled a strong roster. Ding brought his A-game for his team. Both capitalized on openings that likely went according to plan, with their teammates executing in rapid time controls where precision vanishes fast.
The tournament format punishes depth. You need four solid players who won't crack under pressure. One weak link costs you the match. Most favorites arrived with elite individual credentials but struggled translating that into team cohesion.
Day one rarely determines the final outcome, but it establishes momentum. Kazchess and Dragon Chilling own the narrative now. The favorites must regroup and start climbing back through the field. The rapid format moves brutally fast. One miraculous day one means nothing if you hemorrhage points on day two.
The real tournament starts tomorrow.