Players
The first confirmed players for the Total Chess Pilot.
The world's biggest names in chess will gather in Budapest from 10th to 21st November for the inaugural Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot, marking the beginning of an ambitious new chapter in professional chess.
Below are the first eighteen confirmed players for the Pilot. The remaining six will be announced in September.
Magnus Carlsen
Norway
World No. 1 | Official FIDE rating: 2823 (August 2026)
Fabiano Caruna
USA
World No. 2 | Official FIDE rating: 2792 (August 2026)
Vincent Keymer
Germany
World No. 5 | Official FIDE rating: 2767 (August 2026)
Wesley So
USA
World No. 6 | Official FIDE rating: 2765 (August 2026)
Anish Giri
Netherlands
World No. 7 | Official FIDE rating: 2764 (August 2026)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Uzbekistan
World No. 8 | Official FIDE rating: 2762 (August 2026)
Arjun Erigaisi
India
World No. 9 | Official FIDE rating: 2759 (August 2026)
Alireza Firouzja
France
World No. 10 | Official FIDE rating: 2757 (August 2026)
Praggnanandhaa R
India
World No. 12 | Official FIDE rating: 2750 (August 2026)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Poland
World No. 13 | Official FIDE rating: 2743 (August 2026)
Richard Rapport
Hungary
World No. 18 | Official FIDE rating: 2729 (August 2026)
Hans Moke Niemann
USA
World No. 21 | Official FIDE rating: 2725 (August 2026)
Ian Nepomniachtchi
FIDE
World No. 24 | Official FIDE rating: 2719 (August 2026)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
France
World No. 28 | Official FIDE rating: 2713 (August 2026)
Haik M. Martirosyan
Armenia
World No. 54 | Official FIDE rating: 2662 (August 2026)
Vladislav Artemiev
FIDE
World No. 65 | Official FIDE rating: 2653 (August 2026)
Bibisara Assaubayeva
Kazakhstan
Women’s World No. 5 | Official FIDE rating: 2538 (August 2026)
Vaishali Rameshbabu
India
Women’s World No. 14 | Official FIDE rating: 2489 (August 2026)
Images on this page by: Signator, Lennart Ootes, FIDE / Rafal Oleksiewicz, FIDE / Michal Walusza.