The 22-year-old GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov heads an outstanding international field which includes former world number two GM Levon Aronian, legendary Ukrainian GM Vasyl Ivanchuk, India's GM Nihal Sarin and 16-year-old American rising star GM Andy Woodward.

At stake is a £100,000 prize pot, including £50,000 for the winner.

Flying the flag for England will be former world championship finalist GM Michael Adams, three-time British champion GM Gawain Maroroa Jones, London-born GM Luke McShane and newly crowned British champion, 17-year-old GM Shreyas Royal.

Completing the line-up is Ukraine's GM Ihor Samunenkov, another exciting 17-year-old talent making his mark on the international stage. Samunenkov arrives in London fresh from winning individual gold for Ukraine at this month’s Chess Olympiad.

The 16th edition of the XTX Markets London Chess Classic will take place from November 24 to December 7, with an elite ten-player Masters tournament forming the centrepiece of a festival of chess across the capital.

Organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities, the event will also feature a new ten-player Challengers tournament, with the winner earning a place in the 2027 Masters.

A defending champion in ominous form

Abdusattorov returns to London following a remarkable year. He dominated the 2025 Classic, winning with a round to spare and finishing on 7.5 points from nine games.

Since then, he has won the prestigious Tata Steel Masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee and helped Uzbekistan claim gold at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, where he also secured an individual gold medal on board one.

He will face formidable competition from Aronian, one of the most celebrated players of his generation, and Ivanchuk, whose extraordinary career has spanned five decades.

Now 57, Ivanchuk will be making his London Chess Classic debut. The Ukrainian, who famously defeated the legendary GM Garry Kasparov to win the celebrated Linares tournament in 1991, remains a formidable opponent and one of the game’s most popular figures.

Another player to watch is Woodward, the 16-year-old American who won the 2026 Tata Steel Challengers tournament and is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in world chess.

English stars take on the world's best

Home interest will centre on Adams, Maroroa Jones, McShane and Royal.

Adams, a nine-time British champion and former world number four, has competed in every London Chess Classic since its inaugural edition in 2009. He won the tournament in 2023.

Maroroa Jones lifted the trophy in 2024, while McShane famously defeated Carlsen at the 2010 Classic.

They will be joined by Royal, one of England's most promising young players, who will relish the opportunity to test himself against some of the world's leading grandmasters.

Bodhana Sivanandan joins the Open

Another major attraction will be 11-year-old English record-breaker FM Bodhana Sivanandan, who is set to compete in the London Chess Classic Swiss tournament.

The north-west London schoolgirl has enjoyed an extraordinary year, becoming the youngest-ever British Women's Champion in August before making history at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan, where she became the youngest female player to achieve the Woman Grandmaster title, and this month broke the record by becoming the youngest woman ever to qualify for the International Master title.

One of the brightest young talents in world chess, Sivanandan will test herself against experienced international opposition in the nine-round Swiss.

2026 London Chess Classic Masters – full line-up

Ratings as published in the tournament's official player announcement.

A festival for chess lovers of all ages

The 2026 XTX Markets London Chess Classic will extend far beyond the elite Masters.

An opening ceremony and blindfold tournament will take place at the historic Tower of London, while the main festival at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith will offer opportunities for players of all ages and abilities to compete.

The programme also includes a nine-round FIDE-rated Swiss, rapidplay and blitz competitions, and events aimed at introducing more people to the game.

Chess in Schools and Communities will also stage its schools festival, bringing together more than 1,000 children as part of its mission to make chess accessible to young people across Britain.

The 16th London Chess Classic is organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC). Previous winners include legends of the game such as former world champions Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik.

Further information, including spectator tickets and opportunities to participate, is available at https://www.londonchessclassic.com/.

About Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC):

Chess in Schools and Communities is a UK-wide charity founded in 2009, whose mission is to improve children’s educational outcomes and social development by introducing them to the game of chess. We support over 3,000 projects in schools, libraries and prisons and a world-class tournament, the London Chess Classic, each December.

About XTX Markets:

XTX Markets is a leading algorithmic trading firm which uses state-of-the-art machine learning technology to produce price forecasts for over 50,000 financial instruments across equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and crypto. It uses those forecasts to trade on exchanges and alternative trading venues, and to offer differentiated liquidity directly to clients worldwide. The firm trades over $250bn a day across 35 countries and has over 250 employees based in London, Singapore, New York, Paris, Bristol, Mumbai, Yerevan and Kajaani.

Since 2020, XTX Markets has committed over £250 million to charities and non-profit partners, establishing the firm as a major philanthropic donor in the UK and globally. The firm’s philanthropy focuses on advancing mathematics education and research, having committed over £50 million in grants to UK charities and education institutions, with the aim of supporting more students to progress to degrees, PhDs and highly-skilled careers in maths, especially those from low-income backgrounds. XTX Markets has also committed more than £25 million to support elite mathematics talent worldwide. More broadly, the firm’s giving also supports high-impact education programmes in low- and middle-income countries, humanitarian relief and local community initiatives in the regions where our offices are located internationally.

Since 2021, XTX Markets has proudly sponsored ChessFest, CSC’s annual celebration of the game of chess that culminates in the charity taking over Trafalgar Square for a day of fun, free, family-friendly activities. In total ChessFest has welcomed close to 100,0000 visitors.

XTX Markets sponsored the 2024 and 2025 London Chess Classics, which saw the event move to the Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal Football Club. We are delighted that XTX Markets are continuing their sponsorship of the tournament in 2026.

• Also read: XTX London Chess Classic returns