| 2026 | |||
Defending champion | Challenger | ||
 | | ||
| Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024 | Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026 | ||
The World Chess Championship 2026 will be a chess match to determine the new World Chess Champion. It will be played between the defending champion (the winner of the previous championship match between Ding Liren and Gukesh D) and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026.
The challenger will qualify by winning the Candidates Tournament 2026.
The eight players to qualify to the Candidates Tournament will be: [1] [2]
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TBD) | ||||
| The winner of the 2024 FIDE Circuit [lower-alpha 1] | TBD | |||
| The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2025 [lower-alpha 2] | TBD | |||
| TBD | ||||
| TBD | ||||
| The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025 [lower-alpha 3] | TBD | |||
| TBD | ||||
| The winner of the 2025 FIDE Circuit [lower-alpha 4] | TBD | |||
| Highest rating averaged from August 2025 – January 2026 [lower-alpha 5] | TBD | |||
Unlike any other Candidates Tournaments, and any FIDE World Championship cycle (except 1999–2004 during the split-title period), there is no automatic spot for the runner-up of the previous Championship. [lower-alpha 6] To compensate, the 2024 championship will be considered an eligible tournament for the FIDE Circuit, with the runner-up obtaining special bonus points for the 2025 FIDE Circuit based on the score. [1]
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion.
The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from 12 September 2007 to 30 September 2007 to decide the world champion of the game of chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament.
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster.
Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. He is the highest-rated Chinese chess player in history and also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world. In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin is a Russian chess grandmaster, World Junior Chess Champion in 2010 and two-time Russian Chess Champion. He won the Tashkent leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 and finished runners-up in Chess World Cup 2013 and Belgrade leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022.
The Chess World Cup 2019 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from 9 September to 4 October 2019. It was won by Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov. He and the runner-up, Ding Liren, both qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2021. It was the 8th edition of the Chess World Cup.
Dommaraju Gukesh is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest Grandmaster in history, the third-youngest to reach a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750 and the youngest winner of the FIDE Candidates tournament. Gukesh won the 2024 Candidates Tournament, making him the youngest contender to compete for the title of World Chess Champion.
The 2019–2021 edition of the FIDE Grand Prix was a series of four chess tournaments exclusively for women which determined two players to play in the Women's Candidates Tournament 2022. The winner of the Candidates Tournament will play a 12-game match against the world champion in the Women's World Chess Championship 2022.
The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022, with the World Championship finishing in April 2023. As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, it was a double round-robin tournament.
The FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 was a chess tournament that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2022. It was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament, with 108 players competing, running from 25 October to 8 November 2021 in Riga, Latvia, in parallel with the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2021. The tournaments were held while Latvia was in a COVID-19 lockdown, which led to a number of players withdrawing before the tournament began.
The World Rapid Chess Championship 2021 is the 2021 edition of the annual World Rapid Chess Championship held by FIDE to determine the world champion in chess played under rapid time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament. Originally planned to be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, new coronavirus restrictions introduced by the Kazakh government prompted FIDE to change the location of the tournament to Warsaw, Poland.
The 2021 World Blitz Chess Championship is the 2021 edition of the annual chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament. Originally planned to be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, new coronavirus restrictions introduced by the Kazakh government prompted FIDE to change the location of the tournament to Warsaw, Poland.
The 2022–2023 edition of the FIDE Grand Prix was a series of four chess tournaments exclusively for women which determined two players to play in the Women's Candidates Tournament 2023–2024. The winner of the Candidates Tournament would play the reigning world champion in the next Women's World Chess Championship.
The 2022 World Blitz Chess Championship was the 2022 edition of the annual chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament. The tournament was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 29–30 December 2022, using a Swiss-system with 21 rounds for the open tournament and 17 rounds for the women's tournament. Players eligible to participate were to either be rated at least 2550 Elo in a FIDE rating list during 2022, or be a reigning national champion. Time controls for the tournament were 3+2, meaning each player initially starts with 3 minutes and gains 2 additional seconds following each move.
The 2024 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024. The tournament took place at The Great Hall in Toronto, Canada, from April 3–22, 2024. The event was held alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament. The event was won by Gukesh D, which made him the youngest ever winner of a Candidates Tournament, and the youngest ever World Chess Championship challenger.
The World Chess Championship 2024 will be a chess match between the reigning world champion Ding Liren and the challenger Gukesh D to determine the World Chess Champion. The match is provisionally scheduled between November 20 and December 15, 2024, at a location that is yet to be announced. It will be played to a best of 14 games. In case of a tie, players will proceed to tiebreaks to declare the winner.
The 2023 FIDE Circuit was a system comprising the top chess tournaments in 2023, which serves as a qualification path for the Candidates Tournament 2024. Players receive points based on their performance and the strength of the tournament. A player's final Circuit score is the sum of their five best results of the year. The winner of the Circuit qualifies for the Candidates Tournament 2024 in Toronto, Canada, the winner of which qualifies for the World Chess Championship 2024.
The FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2024 was an eight-player chess tournament held to determine the challenger for the Women's World Chess Championship 2025. It was held from 3 April to 22 April 2024 in Toronto, Canada, alongside the Candidates Tournament 2024.
The 2024 FIDE Circuit is a system comprising the top chess tournaments in 2024, which serves as a qualification path for the Candidates Tournament 2026. Players receive points based on their performance and the strength of the tournament. A player's final Circuit score is the sum of their seven best results of the year. The winner of the Circuit qualifies for the Candidates Tournament 2026.
The Women's World Chess Championship 2025 will take place in 2025 as a match between Ju Wenjun, the current champion, and Tan Zhongyi, the winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2024. Both players previously challenged for the world championship in May 2018, with Ju defeating then-world champion Tan 5½–4½ to win the title.
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| Split title |
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| Other world championships | |||||
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