🇸🇪♟️Rilton Cup 2026/27 in Stockholm, 27 Dec to 5 Jan. All 4 sections, entry fees in euros, prizes, free New Year's Day, plus rooftop proposal story.
I'm not playing this year. I'm still telling you to go. Here's why, plus one story I've told at every dinner since 2024. 😄
What is the Rilton Cup?
The Rilton Cup is one of the oldest open chess tournaments in Europe. This is the 54th edition. It's organized by the Stockholm Chess Federation and played every year between Christmas and the first week of January.
The venue is the Scandic Continental, Vasagatan 22, right across from Stockholm Central Station. You get off the train, cross the street, and you're at the board. 🚆
Rilton Cup 2026/27 dates, sections and entry fees
There are 4 tournaments, so nobody gets to say "it's not for my rating":
| Section | Dates | Rounds | Time control | Who can play | Entry fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏆 Rilton Cup | 27 Dec to 5 Jan | 9 | 90 min / 40 moves + 30 min, +30 sec per move | FIDE 2200+ (exceptions for women and juniors) | ≈ €116 (GM, IM, WGM, WIM free) |
| ⚔️ Rilton U2200 | 27 Dec to 5 Jan | 9 | Same as the Cup | FIDE under 2200 | ≈ €99 |
| ⚡ Rilton Open | 28 to 30 Dec | 7 | 60 min + 30 sec per move | FIDE under 2400 | ≈ €81 |
| 🎯 Rilton U1800 | 2 to 5 Jan | 7 | 90 min + 30 sec per move | FIDE under 1800 | ≈ €81 |
Fees are converted from Swedish krona (1 SEK ≈ €0.09, October 2026) and rounded. Juniors and FM/WFM players pay less. Exact fees, rating rules and prizes are in the official invitation.
The Rilton Cup is played under Sofia rules: no draw offers before move 30. Bring your best moves, not your handshake. 🤝🚫
How much prize money is at the Rilton Cup?
The main Rilton Cup prize list adds up to about €12,000, with roughly €2,700 for first place, plus separate women's prizes. The U2200 winner takes about €630, and first place in the Open and the U1800 is worth about €360 each. Rating prizes will be announced later.
Why play the Rilton Cup? 5 rational reasons
- It's organized properly. I'm an International Arbiter, so I notice everything: pairings, start times, lighting, the missing pen. At Rilton I notice nothing. That's the best compliment I can give. ✅
- 1 January is a free day. 🎆 Somebody in Stockholm understands chess players. Round 5 is on 31 December at 12:00, so you finish in time for New Year's Eve, sleep it off, and play round 6 on 2 January with a working brain.
- The coffee is free. ☕ Some of my best moves came from tournament coffee. So did some of my worst. You'll find out which kind you are.
- You choose the length. 3 days? Play the Open. Want to start the year with chess instead of resolutions? The U1800 starts on 2 January.
- The field is strong and international. You'll play people you'd never meet online, and you'll learn more from one long classical game than from a week of 3-minute blitz.
Who is playing at the Rilton Cup 2026/27?
Short answer: a lot of grandmasters, a few legends, and one streamer. Confirmed so far:
- 🇳🇱 GM Loek van Wely (2640), making his Rilton Cup debut.
- 🇦🇹 GM Dominik Horvath (2560), back again. Austrian Champion in 2025 and 2026, and last year's winner of the JSCA-Rilton Rapid side event.
- 🇱🇹 GM Eduardas Rozentalis, who shared first place at Rilton in 2005/06 and 2009/10. He knows the way to the top board.
- 🇸🇪 GM Juan Manuel Bellón López, five-time Spanish Champion and a former Rilton Cup winner.
- 🇸🇪 GM Tiger Hillarp Persson, former Swedish Champion, coming back to Stockholm.
- 🎥 Lula Roberts (@lularobs), chess streamer, playing the Rilton Open from 28 to 30 December. If you're under 2400, you can end up across the board from her.
More names are announced every week on @riltoncup on Instagram.
Birger Wenzel: the organizer who remembers everything
Birger Wenzel runs the Rilton Cup, and he's also my friend. He's experienced, always professional, and always on top of things. He's also one of the funniest people you'll find in a playing hall.
Birger listens to everyone and remembers everything. Your rating, your opening, the coffee you ordered three years ago. Slightly scary. Very useful. 😅
Outpost Chess at Rilton: the New Year Blitz
At the turn of 2024, Outpost Chess organized the Outpost Rilton New Year Blitz together with the Rilton team, on 1st January. I was there as a guest, co-organizer and arbiter. About 100 players came, Jorden van Foreest won it, and it was the first chess tournament of 2024 anywhere. It was awesome. Read the full story here. ⚡
The rooftop story 💍
During that same Rilton in 2023/24, Birger was making announcements in the playing hall. Between the practical information, he dropped a tip: the rooftop of the Scandic is a great place to watch the New Year's fireworks. And a great place to propose.
Everyone laughed. So did I.
What I didn't know: my future husband was sitting in that hall with a plan. On 31 December 2023, on that exact rooftop, under the fireworks, he proposed. In Sweden, the country where I was born. 🇸🇪🎆
What to do in Stockholm after your game
When the round is over and you still want chess (you will), go to Svarta Hästen, Sweden's first chess bar, in the heart of Stockholm at Biblioteksgatan 21 in Östermalm. The boards are always set up, the wine list is good, and you can analyze your game with people who actually care about your knight on f5. ♞🍷
It's also where I met Anna Cramling. Small bar, big chess names. Don't be surprised who sits down across from you.
How to register for the Rilton Cup 2026/27
- Pick your section from the table above.
- Register and pay on rilton.se.
- Do it before 1 December. After that there's a late fee of about €18. Only the first 300 paid players are guaranteed a place, and it fills up.
Want to be sharper when you get there? Play a few long games on Outpost Chess and run them through AI Game Review. It explains why a move was bad, which is more than your opponent in Stockholm will do. 😉
Have a great tournament. And if someone asks you to come up to the rooftop on 31st December, maybe say yes. 🎆
Lena Govedarica, WIM, International Arbiter, chess coach and CEO of Outpost Chess
