Chess.com International Championship renamed to Chess.com Open

Chess.com has introduced that the International Championship will likely be renamed the Chess.com Open to higher replicate its standing as the most important open chess event of 2026.

The occasion begins on March 14th, providing $250,000 (~£184,275) prize pool and three direct spots to the chess event within the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026.

“We imagine that Chess.com Open higher communicates the really inclusive nature of this occasion,” Michael Brancato, Chess.com’s Occasions Commissioner, wrote on the weblog web page. “We’re wanting ahead to seeing how gamers embrace the chance to show themselves in opposition to the world’s elite.”

Except for its new title, the event’s format stays unchanged. In the long run, 16 gamers will compete within the Chess.com Open Playoffs.

Eight gamers have already certified by the Winter Cut up of Titled Tuesday Grand Prix. These embrace world primary Grandmaster (GM) Magnus Carlsen, alongside different high GMs comparable to rank 4 Vincent Keymer, rank 5 Arjun Erigaisi, and extra.

The remainder of the spots will likely be stuffed by the top-performing gamers from the qualifiers, which run from March 14th to twenty fifth. The construction consists of Preliminaries for non-titled gamers, Titled Qualifiers for members of the Titled Gamers Membership, and Play-Ins for GMs.

There will likely be two preliminaries on March 14th and twenty first, two Titled Qualifiers on March fifteenth and twenty second, and 4 Play-Ins on March sixteenth, 18th, twenty third and twenty fifth. All qualifiers will start at 12:00 PM ET.

The Chess.com Open Playoffs will run from April twenty third to twenty sixth. It includes a $250,00 prize pool and three direct {qualifications} to the EWC 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, gamers will have the ability to earn Champions Chess Tour factors to enhance their standings on the worldwide leaderboards, which additionally affect EWC invites.

Matches all through the Chess.com Open will likely be broadcast stay on the official Twitch and YouTube channels. Livestreams will happen March sixteenth, 18th, 23th, and twenty fifth in the course of the qualifiers, after which resume for the Playoffs on April twenty third.