The London Chess Classic 2026 – Super Rapid will take place on December 5–6, 2026, at Novotel London West in Hammersmith. The ten-round tournament is one of the flagship open events of the 2026 XTX Markets London Chess Classic and gives players of every standard a rare opportunity to compete in the same field as elite Grandmasters from the Classic’s Masters and Challengers tournaments.

Five rounds are played on Saturday and five on Sunday at 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. The tournament is submitted for both FIDE Rapid and ECF Rapid rating and offers an exceptional £35,000 / approx. $46,880 prize fund, headed by a £10,000 first prize.

The Super Rapid forms part of the 16th edition of the London Chess Classic, which runs across London from November 24 to December 7. Alongside the elite invitational events, the wider festival includes classical tournaments, blitz, team competitions, schools activities, live commentary and other events organised by Chess in Schools and Communities.

♟️ Event Details

The Super Rapid is an open international tournament rather than an invitational event. Players of all strengths compete together in a single ten-round Swiss field.

These details are published in the official 2026 Super Rapid regulations and ECF International Series calendar.

⏱️ Time Control & Pairings

All ten rounds use the same rapid time control.

The ten-second increment applies from move one.

Ratings Used for Pairings and Prizes

The organizer uses available ratings in the following order of priority:

If a player has none of these ratings, the organizers may assign an estimated rating based on available playing information. If no reliable estimate can be made, the player is assigned a tournament rating of zero.

This tournament rating is also important for determining eligibility for the six rating-prize categories.

Pairings

For Rounds 1 and 6 the pairings will be published at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start.

Pairings for the remaining rounds are published as soon as possible after the preceding round has been completed.

Late entrants may sometimes still be accepted after Round 1 pairings have been published. Normally, such players receive zero points for rounds they have missed, although the organizer may pair late entrants against one another when practical.

🏆 Prize Fund

The Super Rapid offers a £35,000 / approx. $46,880 total prize fund.

Unlike many large festival events, the published £35,000 figure can be fully reconciled with the individual awards: £30,000 in overall place prizes, £3,000 in rating prizes and £2,000 in additional women’s and U21 awards.

Overall Prizes

The main place prizes total £30,000.

Rating Prizes

Six rating bands each have three prizes.

Approximate USD values are $340 / $210 / $140 respectively.

These six categories contribute another £3,000 to the total prize fund.

How Rating Prizes Are Calculated

Rating prizes are not simply awarded to the highest tournament score within each rating band.

Instead, the organizer calculates W – We:

W = actual points scored
We = expected points based on the rating difference in each game

This rewards the players who outperform their statistical expectation by the greatest amount.

A player is eligible for a rating prize only if they:

• do not default a tournament game;
• do not withdraw from the tournament;
• have a tournament rating above zero.

If players tie for a rating prize, the lower-rated player wins the tie.

A player who qualifies for both an overall place prize and a rating prize receives only the higher-value of those two prizes.

Women’s Prizes

The two highest-finishing eligible women receive additional awards.

Under 21 Prize

For this award, the published age date is November 27, 2026.

The women’s and U21 prizes are additional prizes. Unlike rating prizes, they may be won in addition to another tournament prize.

Ties and Prize Sharing

There are no tiebreaks for the main place prizes.

If two or more players finish on the same number of points in a prize-winning position, the relevant prize money is shared equally among the tied players.

After the tournament, the full prize list will be published online and prize winners will be contacted to arrange payment by bank transfer.

🧩 Sections / Groups

The Super Rapid has one combined Open playing section.

The 2300–2399, 2200–2299, 2000–2199, 1800–1999, 1600–1799 and U1600 groups are prize categories only. They are not separate pairing sections.

This structure means amateur players may be paired against titled professionals and elite Grandmasters during the weekend.

The official event description specifically states that entrants will include elite Grandmasters participating in the London Chess Classic’s Masters and Challengers events, together with invited guests.

🗓️ Schedule

Five rounds are played on each day.

Saturday, December 5

Sunday, December 6

Chess in Schools and Communities lists the overall Super Rapid event window as 12:00 PM Saturday through approximately 6:00 PM Sunday.

📝 Registration

The standard entry fee is £50 / approx. $70.

British-resident women and British-resident players aged under 25 on November 27, 2026 receive a reduced entry fee.

The reduced rate applies only to qualifying British residents.

Late Entry Pricing

Entry fees rise by 50% on Friday, November 20, 2026.

This makes the late rates:

Free-entry categories remain subject to the separate ECF requirement below.

ECF Gold Membership / Pay-to-Play

Every player, regardless of country of FIDE registration, must either:

hold ECF Gold membership, or

pay the £20 / approx. $30 ECF Pay-to-Play surcharge.

The surcharge also applies to players receiving free tournament entry and is not refundable.

FIDE ID

Players must normally already have a FIDE Identification Number when submitting their entry.

An exception exists for players who wish to have their FIDE nationality registered as England. English players without a FIDE ID can have one created when the tournament rating files are submitted.

👥 Organizer

The London Chess Classic is organized by the national charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC).

CSC runs chess teaching and community programs across England and Wales and describes organizing world-class chess events that encourage mass participation as part of its charitable mission.

📍 Venue

The Super Rapid takes place at Novotel London West, a large four-star conference hotel in Hammersmith.

Novotel London West – 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 8DR, United Kingdom

The hotel has 40 meeting and event spaces, making it one of the larger conference venues in this part of London. It also offers two restaurants, a bar, free Wi-Fi and an on-site gym.

Parking

The hotel has approximately 240 on-site parking spaces and six coach bays.

Current published parking rates are:

Parking is private, indoor and open 24 hours. The published maximum vehicle height is 1.8 metres.

Parking rates can change, so drivers should confirm them before arrival.

🚆 How to Get There

Novotel London West has excellent public-transport access, and public transport is likely to be the simplest option for most players.

From Heathrow Airport

The Piccadilly line serves both Heathrow Airport and Hammersmith, making public transport particularly practical for international players arriving at Heathrow.

From Hammersmith station, the hotel is approximately a five-minute walk.

From Central London

Hammersmith has direct Underground connections with many central London districts through the Piccadilly, District and Hammersmith & City lines.

The hotel’s official information specifically highlights Hammersmith station as providing easy access to both Central London and Heathrow Airport.

ℹ️ Other Information

Half-Point Byes

Players may request up to two half-point byes.

Before the tournament, a bye can be requested during entry or at any time until 24 hours before Round 1.

Once the tournament has started, a future-round bye must be requested no later than the conclusion of the final game in the round currently being played.

Requests should be made either:

at the tournament Information Desk, or
by email to festival@londonchessclassic.com.

The organizer specifically warns players not to send bye requests to other organizer email addresses.

Late-Round Bye Restrictions

Special restrictions apply to the final rounds.

If a player’s second half-point bye is requested for Round 10, that bye scores zero.

The published rules also apply the zero-point restriction when both permitted half-point byes are requested in the tournament’s final two rounds.

Defaults and Withdrawal

A player who defaults a game is normally removed from the pairings for all subsequent rounds, unless the Chief Arbiter decides otherwise.

Players who miss more rounds than the permitted number of half-point byes can also be withdrawn from the tournament.

Fair Play

The Super Rapid is subject to the London Chess Classic Festival Fair Play Policy.

Players are expected to comply with all arbiter instructions and festival rules governing electronic devices, tournament conduct and fair play.

Appeals

An arbiter decision may be appealed when:

the written appeal is submitted within 30 minutes, and

the appeal is accompanied by a £50 / approx. $70 fee.

The fee is returned when the appeal is successful. The Elite Tournament Committee serves as the Festival Appeals Committee.

Players Under 16

Players under the age of 16 must have a parent or guardian on site at all times.

The organizers and tournament staff do not act in loco parentis.

Photography

Official London Chess Classic press officers will take photographs during the event for tournament and Chess in Schools and Communities publicity.

By entering the tournament, participants consent to tournament photography under the published festival conditions.

London Chess Classic Festival

The Super Rapid is one of the closing highlights of the 2026 XTX Markets London Chess Classic, whose full program runs from November 24 through December 7.

The 2026 festival includes the elite LCC Masters, a new Challengers tournament, the nine-round LCC Swiss, classical Weekend and Weekday tournaments, Pro-Biz Cup, evening Blitz events, a Schools Festival for more than 1,000 children, live commentary and the London Chess Classic Dinner.

The open nature of the Super Rapid makes it particularly distinctive: club players and developing juniors can enter the same tournament as Grandmasters appearing in the elite events.