Conceived by Norway Chess with FIDE's backing, the new Total World Chess Championship Tour begins its pilot in Budapest this November with 24 players, including Indian stars Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanandhaa, and R. Vaishali.
The already crowded global chess calendar is set to expand further with the newly launched Total World Chess Championship Tour. The tournament's pilot event will take place in Budapest from November 10 to 21, featuring a star-studded 24-player field headlined by World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
Three Indian players will feature in the Budapest field: Arjun Erigaisi alongside Chennai siblings R. Praggnanandhaa and R. Vaishali. Erigaisi is one of eight top-10 players set to compete, alongside World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana, World No. 5 Vincent Keymer, and World No. 6 Wesley So.
Conceived by Norway Chess with blessings from world chess governing body FIDE, the tour combines classical, rapid, and blitz formats. Rather than traditional classical time controls, the tour utilizes a 'fast classical' format consisting of 45 minutes with a 30-second increment per move. Following the pilot event, the first full tour will begin next year with four legs held in cities across the world.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Sport. Photo courtesy The Hindu Sport.