Titled Arena Announcement(s) — January to March 2026

We're pleased to announce the schedule for our upcoming Titled Arenas!

All events will be preceded by a warm-up arena open to all players with a minimum of 20 rated games in the relevant time control (excluding 960 warm-up, where the minimum rated games are 10).

Prizes unless otherwise stated:

1. $500, 2. $250, 3. $125, 4. $75, 5. $50.
   Participation requirement: Verified FIDE or NM title (see below)

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. 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 a week after the event, through PayPal.

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. 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 tournaments.

Streaming

We've had a bunch of players streaming the previous Titled Arenas, including Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, John Bartholomew, Eric Rosen and ChessNetwork. We encourage both participants and fans to live-stream the tournament. If you plan to, check out our small streamer's kit for some useful graphics to include in your overlay, as well as some frequently asked questions about streaming fairplay.