World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen headlines a star-studded field of 24 elite players assembling in Budapest for the inaugural Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot, a landmark tournament designed to introduce a new format to professional chess.

With a total prize fund of $650,000, the competition will bring together some of the biggest names in international chess to test their skills across Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz formats.

Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time, arrived in the Hungarian capital late Monday evening. The Norwegian superstar has maintained the world No. 1 position for 15 consecutive years, making his participation one of the major highlights of the tournament.

The Budapest Pilot marks an important step in the development of the Total Chess World Championship Tour, which aims to redefine elite chess through a combination of competitive innovation, global broadcasting and enhanced fan engagement.

Magnus Carlsen headlines 24-player chess field

The tournament features an exceptional lineup of international grandmasters, established champions and emerging chess talents, including two leading female players.

According to the recent FIDE standard ratings provided by the organisers, the confirmed participants include:

• Magnus Carlsen (Norway) – World No. 1
• Fabiano Caruana (United States) – World No. 3
• Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) – World No. 5
• Wesley So (United States) – World No. 6
• R Praggnanandhaa (India) – World No. 7
• Vincent Keymer (Germany) – World No. 9
• Alireza Firouzja (France) – World No. 10
• Anish Giri (Netherlands) – World No. 11
• Arjun Erigaisi (India) – World No. 12
• Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) – World No. 13
• Liem Le (Vietnam) – World No. 16
• Levon Aronian (United States) – World No. 20
• Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) – World No. 22
• Richard Rapport (Hungary) – World No. 23
• Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) – World No. 24
• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) – World No. 27
• Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – World No. 28
• Hans Moke Niemann (United States) – World No. 32
• Haik M. Martirosyan (Armenia) – World No. 48
• Vladislav Artemiev (FIDE) – World No. 66
• Abhimanyu Mishra (United States) – World No. 76
• Andrew Hong (United States) – World No. 134
• Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) – Women’s World No. 7
• Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) – Women’s World No. 24

India will have a strong presence in Budapest, with R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali Rameshbabu representing the country’s growing influence in international chess.

The participation of established stars and emerging talents makes the tournament one of the notable gatherings in the international chess calendar.

New championship format

Beyond the prize money and star power, the Budapest Pilot is designed to test a new competitive format that identifies the most complete chess player across three major disciplines: Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz.

The organisers aim to create a more dynamic and engaging championship by combining different time controls into a single competition.

The initiative also seeks to modernise how professional chess is presented and consumed, bringing fans closer to the players, their strategies and the drama unfolding during matches.

How the tour format works

The pilot tournament will feature 24 players divided into four groups of six competitors.

Group stage

Each group will follow a double round-robin format over five days, with every player competing in 10 Fast Classical games.

The time control will be 45 minutes per player with a 30-second increment per move.

The scoring system awards:

• Three points for a win.
• One point for a draw.
• Zero points for a loss.

A nine-round Blitz Swiss tournament conducted before the main competition will determine the tie-break rankings.

Knockout stage

Following the group stage, players will advance into knockout brackets according to their finishing positions.

Each knockout match will take place over two days and feature three chess disciplines:

• Four Blitz games with a 3+2 time control.
• Two Rapid games with a 15+10 time control.
• One Fast Classical game with a 45+30 time control.

The scoring system uses weighted points to reward performance across the different formats, with greater emphasis on longer time controls.

If a knockout match remains tied, an Armageddon game will determine the winner.

Road to Grand Final

The four highest-ranked players across the Tour will qualify for the Grand Final.

The final stage will feature semifinals and a championship match to determine the inaugural FIDE World Combined Champion.

The format is designed to reward consistency, versatility and excellence across all three disciplines rather than performance in just one time control.

Global broadcast partnerships

The Budapest Pilot is also aiming to reach a worldwide audience through an extensive network of international television and digital broadcasting partners.

DAZN will serve as the global broadcast partner, while India’s NDTV will bring the tournament to Indian audiences through its television network and digital platforms, including YouTube.

Additional coverage will be available through Chess.com, ChessBase India, Norway’s TV 2 and the Norway Chess YouTube channel.

The enhanced broadcast experience will feature professional production, expert commentary, live insights and detailed post-match studio analysis.

According to the organisers, the tournament’s distribution network is expected to make the competition accessible across more than 200 countries and territories.

New chapter for professional chess

With 24 elite players, a $650,000 prize fund and an innovative multi-format competition structure, the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot represents an ambitious attempt to reshape the future of professional chess.

The tournament brings together some of the world’s strongest players while exploring new ways to improve the competitive experience and expand the sport’s global appeal.

For Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and the other participants, Budapest offers an opportunity to compete for the inaugural title while becoming part of a new chapter in chess history.

The bigger question is whether the combination of Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz can establish a new standard for elite chess competitions.

Twenty-four elite players. Three chess disciplines. $650,000 in prize money. The journey towards a new world championship begins in Budapest.

Total Chess is a global championship platform developed by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, with the objective of redefining elite competitive chess through a unified championship format.

There are the numbers: 2,650 athletes, 204 National Olympic Committees, 153 medal events. And there is what people will remember from the first Youth Olympic Games ever held in Africa: a burst of colour, from Diamniadio to Saly.

On Saturday 31 October, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open before 50,000 spectators at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio. On the field, 1,115 artists and performers, including 628 dancers, celebrated Senegalese culture and African heritage. For the first time, a Refugee Olympic Team is taking part in the Youth Olympic Games.

A host nation that dresses its Games

Senegal chose its palette with care. The mascot Ayo, unveiled a year earlier by President Faye alongside IOC President Kirsty Coventry, comes in vivid colours. The medal ceremony outfits, by Senegalese designer Abdou Lahad Gueye, feature touches of traditional woven cloth. In Senegal, textile is a language of its own.

In a country that dresses its Games so carefully, it is fitting that the host has a colour of his own. As the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal has noted, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s favourite colour is orange.

From Barcelona to Diamniadio

It is a rare personal note from a head of state who seldom talks about himself, and whose own story with the Olympics began as a spectator. In August 1992, aged twelve, he watched the Barcelona Games in his home village of Ndiaganiao. Thirty-four years later, he opened the first Olympic Games ever held on the continent. “Authentic Senegal! What a people! What a culture!” he wrote the day after the ceremony.

After the celebration, the legacy

Competition continues until 13 November in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. Dakar 2026 is the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games to achieve full gender parity, with 73 women’s events, 73 men’s events and seven mixed events. The President wants the momentum to outlast the Games: “In our country, sport has remained a passion. I want it to become an economy,” he told Le Soleil on 21 October.

UAE cricketers will learn from some of the biggest names in the game at the 2026 Abu Dhabi T10, which runs from 7 to 20 November. Muhammad Waseem will share a dressing room with Nicholas Pooran. Alishan Sharafu will play under Moeen Ali. And Muhammad Rohid will bowl with Kieron Pollard setting his field, while Dwayne Bravo, one of T20 cricket’s most successful bowlers, works with him as UAE Bulls’ bowling coach and mentor.

Several UAE players were picked across the six franchises at the draft on 30 September, and the rules guarantee them time in the middle. Every playing XI must include at least two UAE players.

Royal Desert Champions have Waseem, Aayan Afzal Khan and Dhruv Parashar. Sharafu and Vriitya Aravind are at Arabian Aces, and Rohid and Wali Muhammad at UAE Bulls. Emirates Eagles picked Haider Razzaq, Luqman Faisal and Harshit Kaushik, United Tigers chose Awais Ali Shah and Adithya Shetty, and Yas Lions have Ansh Tandon and Haider Ali.

Several of them have already established their impact at this level. Waseem, the UAE stalwart scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 196 for Quetta Qavalry last season, with a best of 50 not out. Back in 2021 he made 56 not out off 13 balls for Northern Warriors, a half-century that equalled the T10 record for the fastest fifty at the time. He also holds a record US$210,000 contract in the DP World ILT20. Spinner Haider Ali played alongside former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla at Ajman Titans last season.

Sharafu has seen what this exposure can do. Five years from his debut in the competition, he is an established UAE international, and after playing alongside Moeen at Ajman Titans last season, he joins him again at Arabian Aces.

The opportunity reaches beyond the UAE. Netherlands spinner Aryan Dutt was picked by Yas Lions as their Associate Member selection, and Scotland’s Bradley Currie is at UAE Bulls. USA batter Andries Gous was one of Yas Lions’ three pre-draft signings after scoring 175 runs at a strike rate of 168.3 for Quetta Qavalry last season.

The coaching benches carry plenty of experience too. Andy Flower is head coach of UAE Bulls, Lance Klusener of Arabian Aces and Mickey Arthur of Emirates Eagles. Royal Desert Champions have Robin Singh as team director, and he knows the local game well from his time as the UAE’s director of cricket. At Arabian Aces, the younger players will train and play every day alongside Moeen Ali, Andre Russell and Liam Livingstone.

The first test comes on 7 November, when UAE Bulls and Yas Lions open the tournament at Zayed Cricket Stadium. The final is on 20 November.