Magnus Carlsen returns for Budapest Total Chess pilot before Geneva world title match

Magnus Carlsen, 35, will compete as top seed at the Total Chess pilot in Budapest from 10-20 November, treating it as his most serious event since defending his classical title in 2021, after preparing at a training camp in Spain. The Budapest tournament combines fast classical, rapid, and blitz segments, followed by the Gukesh Dommaraju v Javokhir Sindarov World Championship match in Geneva from 24 November to 12 December, featuring 14 classical games with potential tiebreaks. Carlsen trained with world No 5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who is favourite for the London Classic starting 24 November. Sindarov recently won a quadrangular rapid tournament in Saint Louis, defeating world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura with a notable King’s Indian Defence sacrifice. Meanwhile, Gawain Maroroa Jones won his fourth English Championship, and Sohum Lohia is pursuing his first GM norm in Germany.