Carlsen Trains With Abdusattorov In Spain Ahead Of Total Chess Debut

GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov have teamed up for a training camp in Spain ahead of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot. Joining them are GM David Howell and Carlsen's longtime coach, GM Peter Heine Nielsen.

Carlsen and Abdusattorov will be among 24 players competing in Budapest on November 10-20, testing a format combining fast classical, rapid, and blitz. The tournament is a trial run for the FIDE-approved tour, which launches in 2027 and will crown a World Combined Champion.

On Saturday, a post shared on Carlsen's social media accounts offered a glimpse of the preparations at his holiday home in Spain. The post includes three images that include Howell and Nielsen, along with a video of the two stars playing blitz together. "Someone brought a chess board into this house," the caption read.

The pictures reveal an intriguing collaboration between Carlsen, who has dominated world chess for almost two decades, and Abdusattorov, currently ranked fifth in the world and one of his potential successors.

It is unusual to see two players of this level work together and exchange ideas, as top-10 rivals tend to keep their cards close to their chest. Instead, Carlsen and Abdusattorov are preparing together for a tournament in which they could soon face each other. The partnership also brings together the world's two highest-rated blitz players.

The Norwegian could hardly ask for a better sparring partner than Abdusattorov, who has shown excellent results this year. After closing out 2025 by winning the London Chess Classic with the year's highest performance, the Uzbek also carried that momentum into 2026 with victories in Tata Steel Chess and the Prague Masters.

Carlsen has repeatedly praised Abdusattorov since his breakthrough victory at the 2021 World Rapid Chess Championship as a 17-year-old, hailing the triumph on social media as an "absolutely incredible achievement." He later singled out the Uzbek's competitive qualities, telling the Norwegian podcast Sjakksnakk in 2023: "It's extremely impressive, both his concentration and discipline."

While appearing on Chess.com's broadcast of Tata Steel Chess, he said of Abdusattorov: "As soon as he gets his chance, he's ruthless. He calculates perfectly, he feels the momentum, and mentally he's right there."

In Budapest this November, those qualities will be tested across three time controls. The event at the Anantara New York Palace Budapest Hotel begins with a blitz Swiss that establishes tiebreak rankings, followed by a fast classical group stage using 45 minutes plus a 30-second increment. That stage is followed by knockout matches which combine all three formats, with victories in the longer games carrying greater weight.

"It's always interesting to try out new formats," Carlsen said when his participation was announced in August.

However, training with a potential opponent is not unfamiliar territory for Carlsen. He previously invited rising star GM Alireza Firouzja, as well as GM Ding Liren, to a training camp, while earlier in his career he experienced the other side of that relationship as a teenage guest at GM Viswanathan Anand's home in Madrid.

Whether the training games in Spain will be most beneficial to Carlsen or Abdusattorov will be known when play begins in Budapest on November 10.