Why does Magnus Carlsen feel his ‘brain is fried,’ and what did he say about the new Titled Tuesday format?

The new time format (5+0) of the event replaces the old time increment format (3+1), which has resulted in more time-induced blunders and flagging throughout the event.

Magnus Carlsen plays against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. (Screengrab via Esports World Cup YouTube)

The first split of Titled Tuesday started on September 2, which will act as one of the qualification paths of the chess event for the 2026 Esports World Cup. Russian GM Alexey Sarana, who represents Serbia, won the event with 9.5/11, while World No.1 Magnus Carlsen finished fifth with 9 points from 11 rounds.

Carlsen, who was running for first place for the majority of the event, lost his 9th round to eventual winner Sarana and said his brain is fried. “My brain is fried, to be honest. I can’t imagine, but apart from that, I’m okay,” said Carlsen after the end of the event.

“Obviously, I’m not happy with the score or the play. I mean, the play was a lot worse than the score. But that’s how it is. I had a shot against Sarana (Alexy). I was better, and then I lost control, and he took his chances perfectly. So it was very deserved. But I was not at the level I needed to be at all today,” he added.

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Speaking on the new Titled Tuesday format, Carlsen said, “It means fans have something to watch every single week… this actually means a lot for the players, it means you can qualify for arguably one of the very biggest events they have in chess right now [the Esports World Cup].”

The new time format (5+0) of the event replaces the old time increment format (3+1), which has resulted in more time-induced blunders and flagging throughout the event. Carlsen said he enjoyed the new format.

“I enjoyed the fact that there was no increment since it means you don’t have to wait that long until the next game. It becomes more predictable. So that is good. But it was also fun to watch the flagging skirmishes in other games. And as for myself, I don’t think it made a ton of difference in kind of approach or score,” Carlsen said.

Carlsen is the reigning EWC winner after beating Alireza Firouzja in the finals. While the exact slot for the EWC 2026 is yet to be announced, Chess.com recently unveiled the new qualification paths.

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Unlike the previous season, where the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) was the primary qualifier and offered 12 of the 16 spots for EWC 2025, the next season will see three major Chess.com competitions combine to form the qualifying circuit for EWC 2026.

These three events are the Titled Tuesday, the Speed Chess Championship (SCC), and the Chess.com Global Championship (CGC). Together, they will form the new Champions Chess Tour (CCT), which will qualify 12 players for the 2026 Esports World Cup.

How did players qualify for EWC 2025?

Players qualified for the Esports World Cup 2025 primarily through the 2025 Champions Chess Tour (CCT). Two online CCT events, the Chessable Masters (concluded February 16-21) and Champions Chess Tour Leg 2 (May 18-23), offered players a chance to compete on the world’s biggest esports stage. The top 12 players from the CCT qualified and were joined by four additional players from a “Last Chance Qualifier” (LCQ) event.

The New Qualification Path for 2026

Through Titled Tuesday, players will earn points for their best eight performances across three Grand Prix “Splits.” The new season is set to begin with Split 1 on September 2. The Speed Chess Championship will commence in October 2025 and conclude in February 2026.

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New qualification path for chess at Esports World Cup 2026. (Photo: Chess.com)

Qualifiers for the Global Championship will begin in March 2026, with the Playoffs concluding in May. The top three finishers in both the SCC and CGC will automatically qualify, with no extra spots awarded for repeat qualifiers. Further spots will be determined by the overall CCT Tour leaderboard until 12 players have qualified. The remaining spots and their qualification method will be announced later.