Chess joins Esports Nations Cup 2026 line-up

Key facts

• Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced Chess as an official competitive title of Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026.
• Chess joins Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, and Trackmania in the ENC 2026 line-up.
• The Chess tournament runs from Nov. 2 to Nov. 8, featuring 128 players in a round-robin group stage of 16 groups of eight players.
• Top four players from each group advance to a 64-player single-elimination playoff bracket.
• All group stage and round-of-64/32 matches are best-of-two; quarterfinals onward are best-of-four.
• Armageddon games serve as tie-breakers and the event uses Rapid 10+0 time control.
• Direct invites use official CCT rankings with one player per nation; Titled Tuesday Spring Split acts as additional tie-breaker.
• Cut-off date for direct invites to ENC 2026 is May 26.
• Two regional qualifiers per region on June 6-7 and June 13-14; four players per qualifier advance, totalling eight players per region.
• Regions hosting qualifiers are North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East + India + Central Asia, and East Asia + Southeast Asia + Oceania, each receiving 8 slots.
• Each nation can field up to two representatives; if one player is directly invited, only one more can qualify through regional qualifiers.