American GM Hans Moke Niemann will participate in the Bitcoin Chess960 Championship 2026 in Roatan, Honduras, running from March 16 to 22.

The event includes three stages:

• The Open (Days 1-2)
• Survival (Day 3)
• The Finals (Days 4-5)

The Open stage features 25+10 time control over 9 rounds in Swiss System between unlimited amount of players. 10 winners from the Online Qualifier, 10 invited Grandmasters, and 12 finalists from the Open stage will play a 6 rounds Double Elimination format. The Top-6 from the Survival stage will play one Round-Robin in the Finals. Ties are decided by Armageddon.

The combined prize pool for the event is 2 bitcoins which is approximately $68,000. The tournament will feature grandmasters such as:

• Hans Moke Niemann
• Leinier Dominguez Perez
• Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara
• Alexander Grischuk
• Johan-Sebastian Christiansen
• Olexandr Bortnyk

The Bitcoin Chess960 Championship 2026 is an international tournament held in the Bitcoin-friendly city of Prospera, Roatan, Honduras. The event is organized by Infinita City innovation hub and supervised by FIDE America.

Credit: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com