The Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025–2026 was a fast chess tournament circuit organized in 2025–2026 by Chess.com. The tour started on 2 September 2025 and ended on 27 May 2026. It involved three online chess tournaments, which determined 12 qualifying players of the 2026 Esports World Cup and up to 64 of the Esports Nations Cup.
The top three finishers in the Speed Chess Championship, top three finishers in the Chess.com Open and top six players in the leaderboard not qualified from the prior two events, had qualified for the Esports World Cup, while the top player from each nation, up to 64 players, in the leaderboard had qualified for the Esports Nations Cup.
Tour points and prize money
The total prize pool for each tournament was , except for the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix which had prize pool of for each Titled Tuesday and for each of the three splits, also Tour points were awarded for each Titled Tuesday result. It were distributed as follows:
Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) Points were based on placement within a given Titled Tuesday. Results beyond a player's top eight placements, within a split, were not counted.
+ Titled Tuesday SplitFinishPointsPrizeFinishPrize1st10$1,0001st$5,0002nd7$7502nd$3,0003rd5$3503rd$2,5004th4$2504th$1,5005th3$1505th$1,0006th2$1006th$7507th –7th$5008th-10th1 –8th$350Top woman – $1009th$250Top 3 streamers – $100 (×3)10th$150
Speed Chess Championship (SCC) Prizes were awarded to participants of each Match based on the winner of the Match, and the win percentage of each player in the Match. For prizes split by win percentage, such win percentage was determined by a player's total points accumulated in the Match divided by the number of games played in the Match. FinishPointsPrizeTotal PrizeWinner prizeRest Split1stQF$50,000$25,000By win percentage2ndQF3rdQF$15,000$7,500By win percentage4th100Semifinals –$30,000$15,000By win percentageQuarterfinals (×4)50$15,000$7,500By win percentageRound of 16 (×8)0$8,125$4,062.50By win percentage
Chess.com Open (CCO)
FinishPointsPrize1stQF$50,0002ndQF$35,0003rdQF$25,0004th100$20,0005th (×2)75$15,0007th (×2)50$10,0009th (×4)35$7,50013th (×4)20$5,000Play-In (3rd) 15$1,500Play-In (4th) 10$1,000Play-In (5th) 5$500Play-In (6th - 10th) 3$200Play-In (11th-20th) 2 –Play-In (21st - 30th) 1 –
Tournament schedule and results +Champions Chess Tour tournamentsTournamentDatesPrize Winner Second(or finalist) Third Fourth Titled Tuesday Grand PrixAutumn Split 2 Sep 202525 Nov 2025$3,000 (per Titled Tuesday)$30,000 (per Split) Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Alireza Firouzja Denis LazavikWinter Split 2 Dec 202524 Feb 2026 Magnus Carlsen Jan-Krzysztof Duda Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Denis LazavikSpring Split 3 Mar 202626 May 2026 Sina Movahed Nihal Sarin Arjun Erigaisi Jan-Krzysztof Duda Speed Chess Championship 13 Oct 20259 Feb 2026$250,000 Magnus Carlsen Alireza Firouzja Denis Lazavik Hikaru Nakamura Chess.com Open 14 Mar 202626 Apr 2026 Magnus Carlsen Jan-Krzysztof Duda Denis Lazavik Nihal Sarin
Standings Prize money is shown in US dollars. The top six finishers in leaderboard who did not qualify via Speed Chess Championship and Chess.com Open qualified for the Esports World Cup. Upto 64 players will qualify for the 2026 Esports Nations Cup as well, with each nation's top player in the rankings qualifying; the Titled Tuesday Spring Split rankings will determine the remaining entrants if the leaderboard is insufficient for filling all 64 spots.
'QF' denotes that the player has qualified from another path.
: 2025 Esports World Cup champion – already qualified for 2026 Esports World Cup : Qualified for 2026 Esports World Cup from another path : Qualified for 2026 Esports World Cup from leaderboard rankings
+Final RankingsPosNameSpeed Chess Championship Chess.com OpenTitled Tuesday Grand PrixTotalPrize moneyAutumn Split Winter Split Spring Split 1 Magnus CarlsenQFQF61417Qualified$153,713.402 Jan-Krzysztof Duda0QF203726Qualified$47,5503 Denis LazavikQFQF24309Qualified$68,220.474 Alireza FirouzjaQF03200Qualified$59,106.945 Hikaru Nakamura1000411724182$39,804.886 Nihal Sarin01001429134$27,6007 Ian Nepomniachtchi504013711121$19,362.288 Sina Movahed07501036121$27,350905014345103$17,20010 Hans Niemann50101012192$15,159.3811 Nodirbek Abdusattorov075331091$16,80012 Fabiano Caruana5015319188$13,697.2913 Wesley So5015051181$14,058.9314 Arjun Erigaisi0201212769$12,691.0715 Alexey Sarana0321192568$7,35016 Vincent Keymer040619065$11,637.5017 Pranesh M040160359$9,00018 Samuel Sevian020029756$8,80019 Javokhir Sindarov0201221053$8,85020 Daniil Dubov05000151$10,00021 Yu Yangyi04000040$7,50022 Dmitry Andreikin031612940$3,45023 Parham Maghsoodloo031171940$3,65024 Jeffery Xiong031215939$3,00025 Olexandr Bortnyk05181630$4,600
PosNameSpeed Chess Championship Chess.com OpenTitled Tuesday Grand PrixTotalPrize moneyAutumn Split Winter Split Spring Split 26 Haik M. Martirosyan000151025$2,15027 Lê Tuấn Minh00901524$2,754.1728 Vladislav Artemiev01038223$2,60029 José Martínez Alcántara00701522$3,551.3630 Volodar Murzin01034421$2,50031 Shant Sargsyan02000020$5,00032 Bogdan-Daniel Deac01711120$75033 Nikolas Theodorou0219719$1,00034 Marco Materia01501117$3,00035 Aravindh Chithambaram01020517$2,25036 Alexander Grischuk0557017$1,50037 Renato Terry0175316$1,95038 Andrey Esipenko0294015$85039 Zhamsaran Tsydypov00011415$1,25040 Amin Tabatabaei0144514$35041 Matthias Blübaum0216413$1,40042 Đầu Khương Duy0050813$4,20043 Rasmus Svane0360312$1,75044 Aleksandr Shimanov0053412$95045 David Paravyan0190010$75046 Andrew Tang0064010$60047 Vidit Gujrathi036009$75048 Benjamin Bok031059$1,05049 Aleksandar Inđić010179$75050 Bharath Subramaniyam011327$15051 Pranav V005117$20052 Christopher Yoo000022$75053 Faustino Oro000527$85054 Lê Quang Liêm005016$2,118.7555 Sergey Drygalov003036$25056 Levon Aronian050005$1,00057 Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn030025$40058 Mahammad Muradli012205$10059010405$15060 Jules Moussard004015$45061 Shamsiddin Vokhidov010034$062 Kacper Drozdowski004004$25063 Xiao Tong004004$25064 Raunak Sadhwani030003$40065 Alan Pichot030003$40066 Nodirbek Yakubboev030003$40067 Maxim Matlakov030003$40068 Samvel Ter-Sahakyan030003$70069 Bardiya Daneshvar020013$070 Maksim Tsaruk021003$071 Nils Grandelius010023$072 Emin Ohanyan010023$073 Zbigniew Pakleza000303$25074 Rudik Makarian001203$075 Rinat Jumabayev001203$076 Frederik Svane000033$25077 Daniel Naroditsky003003$078 Anish Giri000202$1,673.4479 David Antón Guijarro020002$080 Bassem Amin020002$081 Bojan Maksimović020002$082 Nitzan Steinberg020002$10083 Grigoriy Oparin020002$084 Jakub Seemann020002$085020002$086 Mikhail Antipov020002$087 Yahli Sokolovsky020002$088 P. Iniyan020002$089 Aram Hakobyan020002$090 Vasif Durarbayli000202$20091 Martyn Kravtsiv001102$092 José Carlos Ibarra Jeréz000022$30093 Yoseph Taher000022$50094 Murad Ibrahimli002002$10095 Havard Haug000022$10096 Salem Saleh002002$10097 Khagan Ahmed002002$60098 Aleksandr Usov000022$099 Vladimir Fedoseev000022$0100 Reza Mahdavi010001$0101010001$2,000102 Aydin Suleymanli010001$0103 Mamikon Gharibyan010001$0
Tournaments details
Titled Tuesday Grand Prix
Each player’s best eight results were counted toward the Grand Prix standings, which were organized into three Splits. Tiebreaks were decided by comparing players’ highest individual weekly finish among their counted results or the second-highest finish is compared, followed by the third, and so on until the tie was broken. If still tied then most number of Titled Tuesday events played would have been considered. The top eight finishers in the Winter Split qualified for Chess.com Open.
Finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th-7th 8th-10th < 10th Points107543210
Autumn Split (2 Sep 202525 Nov 2025) + Titled Tuesday Grand Prix 2025-2026: Autumn SplitPosName Top finishes Total 1 Magnus Carlsen1111224561 2 Hikaru Nakamura11224681341 3 Alireza Firouzja12235121325332 4 Denis Lazavik134689101124 5 Alexey Sarana14452324273021 6 Jan-Krzysztof Duda2346713132120 7 Olexandr Bortnyk129121717172118 8 Pranesh M15784515515721316 9 Dmitry Andreikin3357814172016 10 2374514
Winter Split (3 Dec 202524 Feb 2026) + Titled Tuesday Grand Prix 2025-2026: Winter SplitPosName Top finishes Total 1 Magnus Carlsen11118 12282941 2 Jan-Krzysztof Duda1222310 121337 3 112377913413734 4 Denis Lazavik2223415202530 5 Samuel Sevian123468 111429 6 Javokhir Sindarov11622722 7 Arjun Erigaisi2238911346721 8 Vincent Keymer121010192331019 9 Fabiano Caruana135103222519 10 Alexey Sarana334678181919
Spring Split (3 Mar 202626 May 2026) + Titled Tuesday Grand Prix 2025-2026: Spring SplitPosName Top finishes Total 1 Sina Movahed1122714172436 2 Nihal Sarin11236131534 3 3344556927 4 Jan-Krzysztof Duda11491013192626 5 Alexey Sarana125668113325 6 Hikaru Nakamura1337910162224 7 Hans Niemann234481419634421 10 23451112398319 9 1493511425531232815 10 Lê Tuấn Minh34551721363815
Speed Chess Championship
Chess.com Open The Chess.com Open was the world’s largest open online tournament, played across multiple stages with players advanced through rounds and play-ins to reach the final playoff bracket, which determined three qualification spots for the 2026 Esports World Cup.
Play-in (March 16–25) Four play-ins determined the remaining playoff qualifiers. Players competed in a nine-round online Swiss tournament with time control of 10+0. The winner earned the right to draft their position in the playoff bracket. The second and third-placed players (after tiebreaks, if necessary) then competed in a mini-match, with Armageddon game used as a tiebreak. The winner of this match qualified along with the Play-in winner for the playoffs.
Play-in 1 (March 16) +PosNameScoreSB1 Ian Nepomniachtchi7.544.52 Nodirbek Abdusattorov747.53 Wesley So7444 Hans Moke Niemann738.55 Alexander Grischuk6.536 Total entries: 90 players
+Mini-matchPosName12ArmageddonScore1 Nodirbek Abdusattorov1½Not required1½2 Wesley So0½½
Play-in 2 (March 18) +PosNameScoreSB1 Pranesh M7.547.52 Wesley So7.546.53 Yu Yangyi746.54 Aravindh Chithambaram741.55 Oleksandr Bortnyk735 Total entries: 98 players
+Mini-matchPosName12ArmageddonScore1 Yu Yangyi½½Win22 Wesley So½½Loss1
Play-in 3 (March 23) +PosNameScoreSB1 Sina Movahed7.5492 Fabiano Caruana748.53 Daniil Dubov746.54 Vladislav Artemiev7465 Nihal Sarin745 Total entries: 85 players
+Mini-matchPosName12ArmageddonScore1 Daniil Dubov11Not required22 Fabiano Caruana000
Play-in 4 (March 25) +PosNameScoreSB1 Nihal Sarin7472 Marco Materia7423 Shant Sargsyan7424 Volodar Murzin7425 Levon Aronian742 Total entries: 90 players
+Mini-matchPosName12ArmageddonScore1 Shant Sargsyan½½Win22 Marco Materia½½Loss1
Playoffs (April 23–26) The playoffs were a double-elimination knockout bracket that featured eight players from the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) Winter Split and eight from the play-ins. Players were seeded by TTGP rank, after which play-in winners drafted their bracket positions in order of qualification. The Winners bracket matches consisted of four games with time control of 10+0, while Losers bracket matches consisted of two games. The higher seed got white in the first game. If there was a tie, then the match was decided by an Armageddon game, with white receiving 10 minutes and black the bid time.
Esports World Cup
The reigning Esports World Cup champion, Magnus Carlsen, automatically qualified for the next edition. The top three finishers in the Speed Chess Championship, top three finishers in the Chess.com Open and top six players in the leaderboard not qualified from the prior two events, qualified for the Esports World Cup.
Esports Nations Cup
The Esports Nations Cup is a nation-focused tournament. Sixty-four players will automatically qualify for the event. The top player from each nation in the leaderboard will qualify for the event. Should the leaderboard qualify less than sixty-four players, the results of the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) Spring Split will be used to fill all remaining spots. Notes
References