Chess, it turns out, is three games.

Starting Jan. 1, the world chess federation (FIDE) is expected to rate players in three categories of games: those played with traditional time limits, such as 40 moves in two hours; those played at a “blitz” speed, such as five minutes a player for an entire game, and those played at a “rapid” tempo, somewhere in between.

The change recognizes that the world’s top players now spend as much time in rapid and blitz tournaments as they do in the traditional, so-called “classical chess.” The most recent FIDE rating list showed that only two of the 10 highest-rated GMs played any classical games in May.

Many elite players already recognize there are three different games. They adopt slightly different strategies, including a different set of openings, when playing at faster speeds than “classical.”

The sixth world chamPion, Mikhail Botvinnik, despised fast chess. But ironically, in September, when the 100th anniversary of his birth is celebrated with a three-day festival in Moscow, there will be a Botvinnik Memorial blitz and rapid tournament.

Mikhail Moiseyevich will be rolling over in his grave.