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 FIDE Grand Prix 2019 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2021. The top two finishers who had not yet qualified, qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–21. The top non-qualifying finisher is eligible for the wild card. The series is organized by World Chess, formerly known as Agon. Alexander Grischuk won the FIDE Grand Prix 2019 and thus became the first player to qualify for the Candidates Tournament via the event. Ian Nepomniachtchi, who finished in second place, was the other qualifier, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, by finishing third, became eligible for the wild card. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave eventually got a place in the Candidates after Teimour Radjabov withdrew from the tournament as he was the first reserve.
The 2020–2021 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess double-round-robin tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2021, played in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Ian Nepomniachtchi won the tournament with a round to spare and earned the right to challenge the defending world champion, Magnus Carlsen.
The FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 was a chess tournament that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2021. It was played on October 10 to 21 2019, on the Isle of Man. This was the first time that a tournament of this type was used as a qualifying tournament for the Candidates Tournament.
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 event was co-organized by Chess.com and financed by the family of Igal Mark Scheinberg, an Israeli businessman and resident of the Isle of Man.
The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 was a series of three chess tournaments played between 4 February and 4 April 2022. The top two finishers – Hikaru Nakamura (winner) and Richárd Rapport (runner-up) – qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022, which was the final qualification stage for the World Chess Championship 2023.
The FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2022–23 was an eight-player chess tournament held to determine the challenger for the Women's World Chess Championship 2023. The first stage of the tournament, consisting of the quarterfinals and semifinals, was held from 24 October to 6 November 2022 in Monaco, and from 29 November to 11 December in Khiva.
The FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 was a chess tournament, FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament, that forms part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2022. It was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament, with up to 50 players competing, ran from 27 October to 7 November 2021 in Riga, Latvia, in parallel with the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021. It was the first FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament.
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 FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 was a chess tournament that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2024. It was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament with 114 players competing from 25 October to 5 November 2023 in the Isle of Man. The winner and runner-up of the tournament earned the right to play in the Candidates Tournament 2024.
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 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 was the second edition of the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament, a chess tournament that forms part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship match in 2025. It was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament with 50 players competing from 25 October to 5 November 2023 in the Isle of Man. The winner and third-place finisher of the tournament earned the right to the play in the Women's Candidates Tournament 2024, since Anna Muzychuk, the runner-up of the tournament had already qualified for the event.
The World Rapid Chess Championship 2023 was the 2023 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. The tournament was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from 26 to 28 December 2023, using a Swiss-system with 13 rounds for the open tournament and 11 rounds for the women's tournament. Players eligible to participate in the open tournament were either be rated at least 2550 Elo in a FIDE rating list during 2023, or reigning national champion. The time control was 15 minutes per player with a 10-second per-move increment.
The 2023 World Blitz Chess Championship was the 3rd 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 Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 30 to 31 December 2023, using a Swiss-system with 21 rounds for the open tournament and 17 rounds for the women's tournament.
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 Gukesh Dommaraju and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026.
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. Fabiano Caruana scored the most points, and as winner of the 2024 Circuit qualified 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.
The 2025 FIDE Circuit is a system comprising the top chess tournaments in 2025, 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.
