Arjun, Pragg & Vaishali to feature in Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot

Three Indian chess prodigies, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, and Vaishali Rameshbabu, are among the 24 participants in the inaugural Total Chess World Championship Tour, set to take place in Budapest from November 10-20. The event will also feature other notable players such as Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Hans Niemann.

The tournament will consist of four events throughout the year, with the first three events featuring 24 players each and the final event consisting of just four players. The purpose of the tour is to determine the FIDE World Combined Champion, who will be crowned based on their performance in three formats: classical, rapid, and blitz chess.

The fast classic format, which consists of 45-minute games with a 30-second increment per move, will be used for group stage matches, with two games played per day. In the later stages, players will compete in all three formats to determine an overall winner.