All You Need to Know About the Total Chess Pilot Event in Budapest

Time and Place

The Total Chess Pilot event will take place from November 10 to November 20, 2026, in Budapest, Hungary.

The tournament will be hosted at the iconic Anantara New York Palace Hotel, one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. The hotel is also home to the famous New York Café, often described as one of the most beautiful cafés in the world. That is a truly spectacular setting for a chess tournament. 

Anantara New York Palace Hotel, Budapest — venue for the Total Chess Pilot, 10–21 November 2026

Schedule

The competition will last eleven days, with several stages leading up to the final matches.

• November 10: Opening ceremony, meet & greet with press and nine-round Blitz Swiss tournament.

• November 11–15: Group stage.

• November 16: Rest day.

• November 17–18: Knockout semifinals.

• November 19–20: Knockout finals and third-place matches.

The action begins on November 10 with the Blitz Swiss tournament, while the group stage starts the following day. After five days of group-stage battles, the players will get a short break before the knockout matches begin.

The final two days will determine the winners of the different knockout brackets and, ultimately, the champion of the Total Chess Pilot.

Players

A total of 24 elite players will take part in the inaugural Total Chess Pilot Event. The line-up brings together some of the biggest names in the chess world, including reigning World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, American star Fabiano Caruana, India's Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa R, as well as Hungary's very own Richard Rapport.

The field also features some of the strongest female players in the world, including Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali Rameshbabu.

With world champions, established stars and rising talents all competing under one roof, Budapest is set to become the centre of the chess world this November.

Credit: Tor Nilssen & Kjetil V. Tveito, Lennart Ootes, Anna Shtourman and Michal Walusza / FIDE and Norway Chess

Format

One of the things that makes Total Chess particularly unique is its innovative tournament format. Unlike traditional chess competitions, players will compete across three different disciplines: Blitz, Rapid and Fast Classic.

This combination will put their versatility to the test. It is not just about calculating the best moves, but also about knowing when to speed up, when to slow down, and how to adjust to different time controls.

But how exactly will the competition work?

1. Blitz Swiss

The tournament will kick off with a nine-round Blitz Swiss event, played with a time control of 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment per move (3+2). Although this stage will not determine the overall winner, its results will play an important role in establishing the tie-break rankings for the group stage and seeding the knockout.

2. Group Stage

The 24 players will be divided into four groups of six. Each group will follow a double round-robin format, meaning that every player will face all five opponents twice.

The group stage will last five days, with players competing in Fast Classic games (45 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move).

There is also an interesting twist to the scoring system. A win will be worth 3 points, while a draw will earn each player 1 point. This system puts greater emphasis on victories and could encourage players to take more risks in their games.

3. Knockout Stage

Once the group stage is over, the players will move on to the knockout phase. Based on their group-stage results, they will be placed into six different brackets, with head-to-head matches determining who advances.

Each knockout match will be played over two days and will feature all three time controls:

• 4 Blitz games (3+2)

• 2 Rapid games (15+10)

• 1 Fast Classic game (45+30)

This is where the Total Chess concept really comes to life. Players will have to demonstrate their skills across all three formats, switching between fast tactical battles and longer games that require deeper calculation.

If a match is still tied after the scheduled games, an Armageddon game on the second day will decide the winner.

All these stages will eventually lead to the decisive knockout matches on November 19 and 20, when the winners of the different brackets will be crowned. The winner of the top bracket, Knockout 1, will take the overall Budapest Pilot title.

To learn more about the tournament rules and scoring system, check out our dedicated article on the Total Chess format, and watch our video.

Prize Fund

The Total Chess Pilot Event is not just an opportunity to make history with a brand-new tournament format. The players will also be competing for quite a sum of money.  The total prize fund for the Pilot Event is 650,000 USD! 

Where to Watch?

You don't have to travel all the way to Budapest to follow the action!

You can watch the tournament live and keep up with all the latest updates on DAZN, NDTV, Total Chess's official YouTube channel, Chess.com, TV2 (Norway), ChessBase India, and Instagram. The broadcast will be hosted by the top commentators: Anna Rudolf, Fiona Steil-Antoni, David Howell and Jovanka Houska. Moreover, the YouTube star, GothamChess (Levy Rozman), will lead the new Total Chess Highlight Show.

Credits: Niki Riga, Norway Chess / Tor Nilssen & Kjetil V. Tveito. Michal Walusza and Lennart Ootes

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Eleven days, 24 players and three different chess disciplines. Budapest is ready for the first-ever Total Chess Pilot event. Let the games begin!