Haik Martirosyan drawn with Carlsen at Total Chess tournament in Budapest

Armenia’s leading grandmaster Haik Martirosyan will compete in the inaugural Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot, taking place in Budapest from November 10 to 20. Martirosyan has been drawn in Group C, where his opponents will include Magnus Carlsen.

Developed by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, the tournament will bring together 24 players. They will test a new format combining three disciplines: Fast Classic, rapid and blitz. The event in the Hungarian capital will serve as a pilot ahead of the full Tour’s launch in 2027.

Alongside Martirosyan and Carlsen, Group C features Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Abhimanyu Mishra. The group stage will run from November 11 to 15, with each player facing every opponent twice at a time control of 45 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move. A win is worth three points and a draw one.

Martirosyan’s first opponent in the group stage will be Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, with their two games scheduled for November 11. His encounters with Carlsen will take place on November 13.

The tournament will begin on November 10, however, with a separate Blitz Swiss competition. All 24 participants will play nine Swiss-system rounds at a time control of three minutes plus a two-second increment per move. In his opening game, Martirosyan will have the black pieces against Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The final blitz standings will break ties in the groups and determine the seeding for the knockout semifinals.

The four group winners will advance to the knockout bracket that decides the title. The remaining players will also stay in the tournament, competing in separate knockout brackets to determine places five through 24.

The total prize fund is $650,000. The winner will receive $80,000, while the player finishing last will earn $10,000.