Candidates Tournament 2026

Last updated

Candidates Tournament 2026
VenueCap St Georges Hotel and Resort
Location Pegeia, Cyprus
Dates28 March –16 April 2026
Competitors8
←  2024
2028  →
View of part of the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort where the tournament will take place. Akamas Peninsula, Cyprus - panoramio (24).jpg
View of part of the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort where the tournament will take place.

The 2026 Candidates Tournament is an eight-player chess tournament that will determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2026. The tournament will take place at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, between 28 March and 16 April 2026. [1] [2] [3] The event will be held alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament. [1] [2]

Contents

As with every Candidates Tournament since 2013, it will be a double round-robin tournament. [4] The winner of the tournament will earn the right to play the World Chess Championship 2026 against the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

Qualification

The eight players to qualify to the Candidates Tournament will be: [5] [6]

Qualification methodPlayerAge Rating [7] World
ranking [7]
(February 2026)
2024 FIDE Circuit winner Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana 3327953
Top two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Flag of the Netherlands.svg Anish Giri (winner)3127606
Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Blübaum (runner-up)28268439
Top three finishers of the 2025 FIDE World Cup Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Javokhir Sindarov (winner)20272620
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wei Yi (runner-up)26275410
FIDE flag icon.png Andrey Esipenko [a] (third place)23269834
2025 FIDE Circuit winner Flag of India.svg R Praggnanandhaa 2027588
Highest average rating [b] (Aug 2025 – Jan 2026) Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura 3828102

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 (Ding Liren). 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. [5]

FIDE rating qualifier

Despite reforms to the rating qualifier ahead of the 2024 Candidates Tournament, controversy arose over the continuous allocation of a spot to the Candidates by rating. As stated in the regulations, a non-qualified player is able to qualify "provided the player has played at least 40 games rated for the February 2025 through January 2026 standard rating lists, including at least 15 in any of the six consecutive lists from August 2025 to January 2026." Hikaru Nakamura, who ultimately secured the spot to the Candidates, opted to play in local U.S. and Canada tournaments: Louisiana State Championship, [9] Iowa Open, [10] Maritime Open, [11] and Dulles Open. [12] In these four events he played 22 games meeting the regulations criteria (plus one game not applying) in order to reach the 40-game threshold, having played 18 games beforehand. He scored 20 wins and 2 draws against an opposition with an average Elo rating of 2090. [c]

This garnered criticism from some grandmasters, notably Hans Niemann and Jacob Aagaard. [13] However, Magnus Carlsen (who has not met the 40-game requirement and has publicly stated his lack of interest in qualifying for the Candidates) and Susan Polgar defended Nakamura, with the latter highlighting the openness that Nakamura showed by "discussing it publicly in advance and streaming his games". In response to the criticism, Nakamura noted earlier that "he is in the later stage of his playing life and wants to ensure he makes the most of his remaining chances to compete in Candidates cycles." [14]

Starting on 1 October 2025, FIDE announced partial changes to the rating system in response to Nakamura's rating gain from playing lower-level opponents. [15] For players rated above 2650, winning against opponents with a 400 point difference no longer gained 0.8 Elo points, instead only gaining 0.1 Elo points for a win and no rating gain when playing opponents with a difference of 735 points. Grandmaster David Howell called the reform "short-sighted and flawed", arguing for the minimum average of opponents rating to be used for qualification to the Candidates, and the change "will least impact the top players" and "negatively affect those who are dependent on open tournaments to make a living". [16] The updated rules did not change Nakamura's approach, who continued to play in small tournaments to reach the 40-game threshold. He achieved this after winning the 1st Annual Washington Dulles Open on tiebreak in early November, guaranteeing that he would get the rating spot. [17]

The following table shows the ratings of the players with the top average ratings from August 2025 to January 2026.

RankingPlayerAug 2025Sep 2025Oct 2025Nov 2025Dec 2025Jan 2026Average ratingCandidatesTotal games played
1 Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen 2839283928392839284028402839.333—16
2 Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura 2807280728162813281028102810.500Qualified40
3 Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana 2784278927892795279527952791.667Qualified40+
4 Flag of India.svg Arjun Erigaisi 2776277127732769277527752773.167—40+
5 Flag of India.svg R Praggnanandhaa 2778278527712768276127582770.167Qualified40+
6 Flag of India.svg Gukesh Dommaraju 2776276727522763275427542761.000World Champion40+
  Qualified to Candidates by rating
  Qualified to Candidates by another path
  Not qualified to Candidates (already World Champion)
  Player ineligible for Candidates qualification

Organization

The tournament is an eight-player, double round-robin tournament, meaning there are 14 rounds with each player facing the others twice: once with the black pieces and once with the white pieces. The tournament winner will qualify to play Gukesh Dommaraju for the World Championship in 2026.

Regulations

The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 41. Players get 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. The pairings and colours for each round shall be decided via a draw, which shall be conducted not later than four weeks before the tournament.

Tiebreaks for the first place are addressed as follows: [4]

Ties for places other than first will be broken by, in order: (1) Sonneborn–Berger score; (2) total number of wins; (3) head-to-head score among tied players; (4) drawing of lots.

The minimum prize money will be €70,000 for first place, €45,000 for second place, and €25,000 for third place (with players on the same number of points sharing prize money, irrespective of tie-breaks), plus €5,000 per half-point for every player, for a minimum total prize pool of €700,000, according to the regulations. [4]

Schedule

On 10 November 2025, FIDE announced the following schedule. [1]

DateDayEvent
28 March 2026SaturdayOpening ceremony
29 March 2026SundayRound 1
30 March 2026MondayRound 2
31 March 2026TuesdayRound 3
1 April 2026WednesdayRound 4
2 April 2026ThursdayRest day
3 April 2026FridayRound 5
4 April 2026SaturdayRound 6
5 April 2026SundayRound 7
6 April 2026MondayRest day
7 April 2026TuesdayRound 8
8 April 2026WednesdayRound 9
9 April 2026ThursdayRound 10
10 April 2026FridayRest day
11 April 2026SaturdayRound 11
12 April 2026SundayRound 12
13 April 2026MondayRest day
14 April 2026TuesdayRound 13
15 April 2026WednesdayRound 14
16 April 2026ThursdayTie-breakers (if required)

Closing ceremony

Pairings

In February 2026, FIDE announced pairings for the tournament. [18]

Round 1 (29 March 2026)
Javokhir SindarovAndrey Esipenko
Matthias BlübaumWei Yi
R PraggnanandhaaAnish Giri
Fabiano CaruanaHikaru Nakamura
Round 2 (30 March 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoHikaru Nakamura
Anish GiriFabiano Caruana
Wei YiR Praggnanandhaa
Javokhir SindarovMatthias Blübaum
Round 3 (31 March 2026)
Matthias BlübaumAndrey Esipenko
R PraggnanandhaaJavokhir Sindarov
Fabiano CaruanaWei Yi
Hikaru NakamuraAnish Giri
Round 4 (1 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoAnish Giri
Wei YiHikaru Nakamura
Javokhir SindarovFabiano Caruana
Matthias BlübaumR Praggnanandhaa
Round 5 (3 April 2026)
R PraggnanandhaaAndrey Esipenko
Fabiano CaruanaMatthias Blübaum
Hikaru NakamuraJavokhir Sindarov
Anish GiriWei Yi
Round 6 (4 April 2026)
Fabiano CaruanaAndrey Esipenko
Hikaru NakamuraR Praggnanandhaa
Anish GiriMatthias Blübaum
Wei YiJavokhir Sindarov
Round 7 (5 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoWei Yi
Javokhir SindarovAnish Giri
Matthias BlübaumHikaru Nakamura
R PraggnanandhaaFabiano Caruana
Round 8 (7 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoJavokhir Sindarov
Wei YiMatthias Blübaum
Anish GiriR Praggnanandhaa
Hikaru NakamuraFabiano Caruana
Round 9 (8 April 2026)
Hikaru NakamuraAndrey Esipenko
Fabiano CaruanaAnish Giri
R PraggnanandhaaWei Yi
Matthias BlübaumJavokhir Sindarov
Round 10 (9 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoMatthias Blübaum
Javokhir SindarovR Praggnanandhaa
Wei YiFabiano Caruana
Anish GiriHikaru Nakamura
Round 11 (11 April 2026)
Anish GiriAndrey Esipenko
Hikaru NakamuraWei Yi
Fabiano CaruanaJavokhir Sindarov
R PraggnanandhaaMatthias Blübaum
Round 12 (12 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoR Praggnanandhaa
Matthias BlübaumFabiano Caruana
Javokhir SindarovHikaru Nakamura
Wei YiAnish Giri
Round 13 (14 April 2026)
Wei YiAndrey Esipenko
Anish GiriJavokhir Sindarov
Hikaru NakamuraMatthias Blübaum
Fabiano CaruanaR Praggnanandhaa
Round 14 (15 April 2026)
Andrey EsipenkoFabiano Caruana
R PraggnanandhaaHikaru Nakamura
Matthias BlübaumAnish Giri
Javokhir SindarovWei Yi

Notes

  1. ↑ Esipenko is Russian. However, he plays under the FIDE flag because FIDE banned the display of Russian and Belarusian flags on 27 February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [8]
  2. ↑ Provided the player has played at least 40 games rated for the February 2025 through January 2026 standard rating lists, including at least 15 in any of the six consecutive lists from August 2025 to January 2026. [6]
  3. ↑ Opponents' ratings in chronological order, as per the FIDE site: 1812, 1919, 2043, 1900, 2250, 2138 (Louisiana); 1915, 1919, 1950, 2147, 2100 (Iowa); 1917, 1808, 2366, 2353, 2311, 2101 (Maritime Open); 1788, 2025, 2310, 2400, 2505 (Dulles).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mediterranean Stage Set for Chess History: The 2026 FIDE Candidates Come to Cyprus". FIDE. 10 November 2025. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 Barden, Leonard (14 November 2025). "Outsiders sense Chess World Cup glory after host of big names make early exits". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. The field is gradually taking shape for the $1m 2026 Candidates, which will take place in Pegeia alongside the women's tournament.
  3. ↑ "Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort: Official Factsheet" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Regulations for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026" (PDF). FIDE Handbook. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Changes to qualification paths for the Candidates Tournament". FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026: Qualification paths" (PDF). FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 "FIDE World Top Chess players". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "FIDE Council condemns Russia's military action". ChessBase . 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025.
  9. ↑ Colin McGourty (3 September 2025). "Nakamura Wins Louisiana State Championship, Edges Closer To Candidates". Chess.com.
  10. ↑ Carlos Alberto Colodro (11 September 2025). "Nakamura wins tournaments in Louisiana and Iowa, as he attempts to get rating spot at the Candidates". Chess News.
  11. ↑ Carlos Alberto Colodro (18 October 2025). "Nakamura scores 5½/6 at Maritime Open in Canada". Chess News.
  12. ↑ Carlos Alberto Colodro (11 November 2025). "Nakamura shares first place at Dulles Open, is now eligible for Candidates' rating spot". Chess News.
  13. ↑ Jack Baer (12 September 2025). "Here's why Hikaru Nakamura, the world's No. 2 chess player, is gaming the system with 'Mickey Mouse' tournaments". Yahoo! Sports.
  14. ↑ Carlos Alberto Colodro (11 September 2025). "Nakamura wins tournaments in Louisiana and Iowa, as he attempts to get rating spot at the Candidates". ChessBase.
  15. ↑ "FIDE Council approves targeted amendment to Rating Regulation". ChessBase. 30 September 2025.
  16. ↑ Tarjei Svensen (30 September 2025). "FIDE Scraps 400-Point Rule For 2650+ Players, 'Triggered By Nakamura'". Chess.com.
  17. ↑ "Nakamura Clinches Candidates Spot As FIDE Announces Cyprus As 2026 Host". Chess.com. 2 December 2025.
  18. ↑ "FIDE Candidates 2026 pairings drawn in Cyprus". FIDE . Retrieved 20 February 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.