The inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz shows that there is incredibly strong group of grandmasters gathered in Charlotte from July 3rd to 5th, 2026. Also it is a magnificent tribute to Danya.

FunMasterMike's breakdown highlights the top 7 elite grandmasters and fan favorites confirmed for the main field:

• Hikaru Nakamura [00:35] – World No. 2, lethal rapid/blitz speed demon, and top seed.

• Fabiano Caruana [04:52] – The calculation machine and multi-time US Champion.

• Dommaraju Gukesh (Javakhir) [08:07] – The current World Championship Challenger keeping up a fiercely active competitive schedule.

• Hans Niemann [10:33] – Ready to bring maximum tension and headlines directly to Charlotte.

• Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus [13:21] – The phenomenal teenage prodigy tearing past the 2700 ELO mark.

• Nihal Sarin [15:21] – A world-class speed demon and ultimate blitz specialist.

• Robert Hess [17:11] – In a highly anticipated twist, Danya’s long-time streaming and broadcast partner is coming out of competitive retirement just to play in this memorial!

The Bonus Field [19:38]: As if the top seven weren't enough, Mike also dropped a massive list of additional heavy hitters confirmed to play, including:

• Wesley So

• Leinier Dominguez

• Boris Gelfand (Former World Championship Challenger)

• Ruslan Ponomariov (Former FIDE World Champion)

• Alexei Shirov (Legendary attacking genius and former Candidate)

• Andy Woodward (The brilliant young American GM)

There will also be a dedicated Creators Event [20:00] running parallel to the main tournament featuring 10 prominent chess personalities.

I don't follow chess much nowadays but this event will certainly be in my calendar and I will look out coverage on in, which should be good.