The favorites delivered on day one in Hong Kong. Eight teams remain standing after the FIDE World Team Blitz Championship's brutal opening format: a pool stage round-robin followed immediately by the Round of 16, all in one day.
The organizers split 48 teams into four pools of 12. Every pool played as a complete round-robin. The top four from each pool punched their ticket to the knockout stage that same afternoon. Direct elimination took over from there, with two-match series determining advancement.
This structure differs sharply from the Rapid Championship, which ran as a single 12-round Swiss. The Blitz format compresses the competition into a survival gauntlet. Teams face back-to-back matches with no mercy. Your rating means nothing if you collapse under time pressure.
The seeded teams mostly held serve. The shock exits were minimal. The expected names advanced. But blitz chess rewards nerve and pattern recognition over preparation. One bad ten minutes destroys months of study.
With eight teams left, the real battle begins. These are the engines that thrive on chaos. The next matches will determine which federation takes home the trophy. Hong Kong's timing is tight. These players now enter the sprint to the finish.