The organizers of Total Chess released a video explaining the format of their Pilot tournament. The Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot will take place from November 10 to 20 at the Anantara New York Palace Hotel in Budapest, Hungary.

The event will feature a 5-day Group stage and a 4-day Knockout. In the Group stage, 24 players will be divided into 4 groups of 6. Each player will play everyone else twice. The time control for every match will be the Fast Classic 45+30. The top scorer from each group advances to the Knockout.

The Knockout will last 4 days. The Semifinals will be played in the first 2 days. The third-place match and the Final will take place on the last 2 days. The Knockout will feature 3 formats for every match. Players will play 4 Blitz 3+2 games, then 2 Rapid 15+10 games, and will finish with 1 Fast Classic 45+30 game.

The winners of the matches will be determined through Armageddon in case of a tie. The event will last 9 days in total.

The event in Budapest will serve as the pilot event for the new Total Chess World Championship Tour. Results from the pilot tournament will count toward the overall standings of the 2026-2027 tour. The top 2 players from the overall tour standings will qualify for the 2028 Candidates Tournament.

The Total Chess World Championship Tour is a new series created by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE combining Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz disciplines. The Tour aims to crown a unified World Combined Champion across all time controls. The main events of the first edition of the tour will begin in March 2027.

Credit: Lennart Ootes