Due to the recent gain in popularity of the Chess960 (or Fischer Random) variant, we're hosting a bonus Titled Arena: Chess960 Edition! The Titled Arenas has become among the world's strongest Bullet tournaments, and we're proud to now also offer a high quality Chess960 tournament to our players (actually, we announced it in a series of mysterious tweets a couple of weeks ago).

Many of you have also requested a longer time control during these titled events, so we're trying 2 minutes + 1 second increment this time. Moreover, to ensure that each player will get enough games with this longer time control, we're increasing the tournament duration from the usual 2 hours to 3!

This event will also be preceded by a Chess960 Warm-up Arena, open to all players with a minimum of 10 rated Chess960 games.

When: Saturday, February 23rd, 19:00 UTC

Format: 2+1 Bullet arena, 3 hour duration

Prizes:

1. $500

2. $250

3. $125

4. $75

5. $50

Participation requirement: Verified FIDE or NM title (see below)

Join here!

Practical Information

If you are new to Lichess, it's important to become familiar with the arena tournament format. Read our FAQ and consider trying out an arena tournament in advance. And if you're not familiar with the rules of Chess960, read this page. Arena points are awarded based on the number of games you win. If multiple players finish the tournament with the same number of points, tournament performance is used to break the tie. Prizes will be awarded within three days after the event, through PayPal, BTC or Euro wire transfer.

Title Verification

To participate in the Titled Arena events, you need a verified titled account on Lichess. If you don't already have a Lichess account, create one. Then, to get your FIDE or NM title verified, please fill out this title verification form, and we will process it within 24 hours. If you already have verified your title on Lichess, you don't have to do this again. When your title has been verified by us, you will be able to join the tournament.

Streaming

We've had a bunch of players streaming the previous Titled Arenas, including Magnus Carlsen, John Bartholomew, Eric Rosen and ChessNetwork. We encourage both participants and fans to livestream the tournament. If you plan to, check out our small streamer's kit for some useful graphics to include in your overlay.

Good luck to all players in this brand new Titled Arena edition!