Chess casts wider qualifying net for 2026 Esports World Cup cycle

The Champions Chess Tour 2025 served as the primary pathway for this year's Esports World Cup where the world's best players competed for a substantial prize fund, huge fan enthusiasm, a high-class production team, and significant investments in chess from the world's biggest esports organisations.

Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen walked away with the grand prize at the 2025 EWC in Saudi Arabia.

For 2025/2026, Chess.com will combine its three most prestigious events under one umbrella: Titled Tuesday, Speed Chess Championship (SCC), and the returning Chess.com Global Championship (CGC). Together, these events will form the new Champions Chess Tour (CCT), which will qualify 12 players for the Esports World Cup in 2026.

The top three finishers in both SCC and CGC automatically qualify, and there will be no extra spots for repeat qualifiers. Further spots will be decided by the overall CCT Tour leaderboard until there are 12 players qualified. Remaining spots and qualification will be announced at a later date.

"The 2024-2025 EWC Final was a MASSIVE success for chess, and Chess.com was thrilled to support the qualification cycle with two great events," said IM Danny Rensch, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer.

"In this next season, we are doubling down in every way—with bigger prize funds, more qualification paths, more broadcasts, and a live final. The 2025-2026 cycle is going to be incredible, and we can't wait to launch it."