Carlsen, Nakamura, Gukesh Among 16 Players Qualifying For Total Chess 2026 Pilot Event
The first 16 players have been determined for the 2026 Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot tournament (“Total Chess 2026 Pilot”), FIDE and Norway Chess announced on Tuesday. This year's event is a test run for the 2027 inaugural season, which will crown the first Total Chess world champion. The pilot tournament is scheduled to take place October 3-15, 2026, and the location will be announced at a later date. Invitations will be sent and have yet to be accepted.
Unlike the FIDE world championship cycle, which predominantly features classical chess, the Total Chess World Championship Tour will feature three time controls: fast classic, rapid, and blitz.
♟️ Total Chess 2026 Pilot | Qualified Players ♟️
— Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) January 6, 2026
The first sixteen players have earned the right to receive an invitation to the 2026 Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot, the new combined competition across Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz, with more qualifiers to follow.… pic.twitter.com/UKlYjPmXxd
In early December the organizers announced the qualification paths, and 16 of the 24 spots have now been taken. The players who have qualified are:
- GM Gukesh Dommaraju, World Champion
- GM Ju Wenjun, Women's World Champion
- GM Magnus Carlsen, 2025 World Rapid Championship first place
- GM Vladislav Artemiev, 2025 World Rapid Championship second place
- GM Arjun Erigaisi, 2025 World Rapid Championship third place
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 2025 World Blitz Championship second place
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, next best overall in 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships
- GM Hikaru Nakamura, via rating
- GM Fabiano Caruana, via rating
- GM Vincent Keymer, via rating
- GM Anish Giri, via rating
- GM Alireza Firouzja, via rating
- GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, via rating
- GM Wei Yi, via rating
- GM Wesley So, first replacement (next best overall in 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships)
- GM Viswanathan Anand, second replacement according to rating
Two more participants will qualify in April after the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and Women's Candidates Tournament. The winners of those events will qualify for the Tour, in addition to their respective world championship matches.
The pilot event will see the 24 players split into four groups of six players, who compete in a fast classic double round-robin (playing each other twice). The winners of each group will play a four-player knockout—featuring fast classic, rapid, and blitz—for overall victory in the tournament. Those in second place in their groups will play for fifth place, those in third for ninth, and so on. The full regulations have been published here.
