Qualification
The eight players to qualify to the Candidates Tournament will be: [2] [3]
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (November 2025) | ||||
| 2024 FIDE Circuit winner |  Fabiano Caruana | 33 | 2795 | 3 |
| Top two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss [a] |  Anish Giri (winner) | 31 | 2769 | 5 |
 Matthias Blübaum (runner-up) | 28 | 2680 | 43 | |
| Top three finishers of the 2025 FIDE World Cup [b] | TBD | |||
| TBD | ||||
| TBD | ||||
| 2025 FIDE Circuit winner [c] | TBD | |||
| Highest average rating [d] (Aug 2025 – Jan 2026) | 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 (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. [2]
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, a potential frontrunner for the spot, opted to play in local U.S. tournaments (notably the Louisiana State Championship and Iowa Open) which garnered criticism from some grandmasters, notably Hans Niemann and Jacob Aagaard. [4] [5] 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." [6]
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. [7] 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". [8]
