Magnus Carlsen prepares for the Total Chess tournament in Budapest — The Guardian

Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen is holding a training camp in Spain ahead of the pilot Total Chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary, which will run from November 10 to 20. As The Guardian reports, the world number one will be the top seed and the favourite for the competition.

The 35-year-old Carlsen is preparing alongside world number five Nodirbek Abdusattorov, chess commentator David Howell and his long-time coach Peter Heine Nielsen. The publication notes that the Norwegian is taking the upcoming tournament more seriously than any competition since defending his classical chess world champion title in 2021.

Total Chess format

The Budapest tournament is a pilot stage of the Total World Championship. Its programme will combine segments of fast classical chess, rapid and blitz.

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After the competition in Hungary, from November 24 to December 12, Geneva will host the FIDE World Championship match between Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov. It will consist of 14 classical games, with the winner to be determined in rapid and blitz tiebreaks if necessary.

Sindarov ahead of the title match

Before the match in Geneva, Sindarov took first place in a rapid tournament in Saint Louis, where his opponents included Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. In the final round, the Uzbek grandmaster defeated Nakamura.

On November 24, the traditional London Classic will also begin in London and run until December 7. Among the chess players The Guardian recommends watching is 17-year-old Ukrainian grandmaster Ihor Samunenkov, who won individual gold at the 2026 Chess Olympiad.