Chess and CS2 confirmed in Esports Nations Cup game lineup

The Esports World Cup Foundation has announced this past weekend that both Chess and Counter-Strike 2 will be among the 16 titles of the inaugural edition of the Esports Nations Cup, which is set to take place from November 2 to November 29.

Chess will be among the first tournaments to kick off the 2026 Esports Nations Cup

The Chess tournament will take place on the opening week on November 2, with the final on November 8. A total of 128 players will be invited, using a Rapid 10+0 time control format. According to a release, 64 players from 64 different nations will receive a direct invite based on the official Champions Chess Tour (CCT) rankings.

The Titled Tuesday Spring Split will be used as an additional tie-breaker should there not be 64 unique nations featured in the CCT rankings. The cut-off date for determining direct invites to ENC 2026 is May 26, 2026.

The remaining 64 slots will be split into two groups: 56 will be assigned through regional qualifiers while eight slots will be Wildcards. Regional qualifiers will take place on June 6-7 and June 13-14, with eight players from each region (North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East + India + Central Asia, East Asia + Southeast Asia + Oceania). Qualifiers will be operated by Chess.com. Every nation can have up to two representatives at the event, as specified from the ENC National Team Eligibility Framework. Nations without a direct invite can still have two players qualify online.

The ENC prize pool ensures that every player and coach who qualifies will earn a share, with totals scaling by team size to guarantee equal pay for equal placement.

From the opening rounds to the Grand Finals, here is exactly what each participant earns based on their team’s… pic.twitter.com/rkHu1rfqu1

— Esports Nations Cup (@ENC_EN) January 30, 2026

The Chess ENC tournament format

The Chess tournament will see the 128 players split into 16 groups of 8 players each, with the top four advancing to the next stage. The top 64 will then compete in a single-elimination playoff bracket. All group stage matches and Round of 64 and 32 will be best-of-two, with following series moving to best-of-four. Armageddon games will be used as tie-breakers.

Read more: Esports Nations Cup Confirms $45 Million Commitment

Counter-Strike 2 also confirmed

Once the Chess action ends, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) will begin, with the confirmed starting date on November 10 and lasting until November 15. The CS2 tournament will see a total of 24 national teams take part, using a newly created National Team Ranking system to identify eligible nations, with a two-stage qualifier taking place from July 6 to July 19.

The 24 teams will be split into four groups of six teams each, competing in a single round-robin group stage. The top four from each group advances to a 16-team, single-elimination playoff bracket. All group stage matches will be best-of-one. Playoff matches will be best-of-three while the Grand Final will be a best-of-five series.

CS2 Esports Nations Cup Qualifier

The newly-introduced CS2 National Team Ranking system will be used to determine which countries and territories will feature a national qualifier, and will also be used to seed teams in the qualifiers.

Based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) that award points to Clubs, those points will be equally shared across all Club members who participated. The national ranking will then accumulate the points of the top five players on the national roster. The cut-off date will be June 1, 2026.

The first stage of the qualification process will be the National Qualifiers, with competitions hosted in 96 countries. National Qualifiers will feature a single elimination bracket, and will run in the following regions:

• North America (8 National Qualifiers)
• South America (8 National Qualifiers)
• Western Europe (16 National Qualifiers)
• Eastern Europe (16 National Qualifiers)
• Middle East + Central Asia (16 National Qualifiers)
• North Africa (4 National Qualifiers)
• South + Central Africa (8 National Qualifiers)
• South + East Asia (8 National Qualifiers)
• Southeast Asia (8 National Qualifiers)
• Oceania (4 National Qualifiers)

The winner of each National Qualifier will then advance to the Regional Qualifier, which will feature a double-elimination bracket and will take place in the following regions, with the number of successful teams advancing to the ENC as follows:

• North America (3 slots)
• South America (3)
• Western Europe (4)
• Eastern Europe (4)
• Middle East + Central Asia (3)
• North Africa (1)
• South + Central Africa (1)
• South + East Asia (2)
• Southeast Asia (2)
• Oceania (1)