Magnus Carlsen will not take part in the Grand Chess Tour in 2026, instead opting to play in the Esports World Cup chess event taking place at the same time.
That was the report confirmed by fellow North American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, who on his stream confirmed both he, Alireza Firouzja and Carlsen will be attending the EWC over the GCT.
As mentioned above Nakamura explained that due to clashes in when both tournaments would take place, he, Firouzja and Carlsen would all miss GCT in favor of EWC.
“As far as I know, neither EWC nor GCT have changed the dates. I’m going to be playing EWC. Alireza Firouzja is going to be playing EWC. He made the choice of playing EWC over the Grand Chess Tour. Magnus, of course, will be playing the EWC.”
The Grand Chess Tour 2026 is set to run between May 3 and August 28 across four locations. However, due to the Esports World Cup’s duration between July and August, a clash is likely inevitable.
In March, Magnus was confirmed to be returning to the EWC in 2026 after his victory in the inaugural chess competition in 2025. Carlsen took home a hefty $250,000 chunk of the 1.5 million dollar prize pool – one of the largest in chess.
In comparison, the total prize money for the GCT is $100,000. Although there are additional bonuses and prize money for the finals and Rapid and Blitz tournaments.
Magnus has also become one of the faces of the Esports World Cup, and is prominently featured on some of the event’s publicity.
As mentioned, chess returns to the EWC in 2026. Officially titled Chess at Esports World Cup 2026, the event will run between Aug. 11 – Aug. 15 although those dates are subject to change The prize pool is once again expected to be $1,500,000.
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Featured Image Credit: Esports Foundation/EWC
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