Sinquefield Cup 2026: full field, schedule, format and prize fund

The 2026 Sinquefield Cup runs at the Saint Louis Chess Club from August 8–21, with tournament play scheduled for August 10–19. The event is the final regular-season stop of the Grand Chess Tour and the last opportunity to earn Tour Points before the 2026 GCT Finals. View the event in ChessEver Calendar.

THE FIELD

The 10-player lineup features eight full-tour players: Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Jorden van Foreest and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Wildcards Levon Aronian and Samuel Sevian complete the field.

Sevian joined the lineup in the earlier field change.

FORMAT AND TIME CONTROL

The Sinquefield Cup is a 10-player, nine-round single round-robin classical tournament. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one.

Players receive one point for a win and half a point for a draw. If first place is tied after Round 9, the Sinquefield Cup playoff is scheduled to begin 15 minutes after the round ends. A separate Grand Chess Tour playoff, if needed to determine Finals qualification, is scheduled for August 20.

SCHEDULE

Rounds 1–5 are played from August 10–14, followed by a rest day on August 15. Rounds 6–9 run from August 16–19. Every classical round is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. CDT.

PRIZE FUND

The total prize fund is $475,000: a $350,000 base prize fund plus a $125,000 Decisive Games Bonus pool. The base first prize is $100,000. The bonus pool is divided into equal shares according to the total number of decisive games, with one share awarded for each win.

HOW TO WATCH

The Saint Louis Chess Club will carry every round on its YouTube and Twitch channels, with Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan leading the commentary team. Live games, standings and player pages will also be available through the ChessEver event page.

Photo: Grand Chess Tour.