The Women's Candidates Tournament is a major women's chess tournament organized by FIDE. [1]
It is a final contest to determine the challenger for the Women's World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion. [2] The inaugural Women's Candidates tournament was held in 1952 and continued for every Women's World Championship match (except 1958) until 1997, after which the match format was abandoned and replaced by a knock-out tournament. The Women's Candidates tournament was brought back in 2019 when FIDE re-instituted the match format as the sole format for determining the Women's World Champion.
° | Won the subsequent Women's World Championship |
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE, is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the governing body of international chess competition. FIDE was founded in Paris, France, on July 20, 1924. Its motto is Gens una sumus, Latin for 'We are one Family'. In 1999, FIDE was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As of December 21, 2023, there are 201 member federations of FIDE.
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Ding Liren, who defeated his opponent Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 World Chess Championship. Magnus Carlsen, the previous world champion, had declined to defend his title.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.
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 Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's control in 1948.
The Classical World Chess Championship 1995, known at the time as the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, was held from September 10, 1995, to October 16, 1995, on the 107th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Viswanathan Anand, the challenger, in a twenty-game match. Kasparov won the match after eighteen games with four wins, one loss, and thirteen draws.
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 was a chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the World Chess Champion.
The FIDE World Chess Championships from 1998 to 2004 followed a similar knockout format, radically different from previous World Chess Championship events. Previous events had had long qualifying cycles, spread over more than a year, culminating in a long match between the incumbent champion and a challenger. From 1998 to 2004, however, FIDE organised its World Championship as a single event over about a month, with many players playing short knockout matches, rather in the style of a tennis tournament such as Wimbledon.
Ju Wenjun is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She is the current Women's World Chess Champion. In March 2017 she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She is a four-time Women's World Chess Champion, having won the title first in May 2018. She then defended her title in November 2018, 2020, and 2023.
The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. Three different formats have been used:
The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. The current world blitz champion is the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Valentina Gunina from Russia is the current women's blitz world champion. Magnus Carlsen has won the event a record seven times.
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.
The Women's World Chess Championship was established by FIDE in 1927. The format and regularity of the event has changed many times.
Lei Tingjie is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster. She was the 2021 Women's Grand Swiss champion, the 2017 Chinese women's national champion and the 2022–23 Women's Candidates winner. Lei earned the Grandmaster title in 2017 at age 19, and was the sixth woman to obtain the title as a teenager.
The World Chess960 Championship is a match or tournament held to determine a world champion in Chess960, a popular chess variant in which the positions of pieces on the players' home ranks are randomized with certain constraints. Prior to 2019 FIDE did not recognize a Chess960 world champion or sponsor regular tournaments in the format, but the Chess Classic at Mainz and other non-FIDE affiliated organizations have hosted high-profile Chess960 tournaments and matches. Time controls for Chess960 are non-standardized, and usually conform to the wishes of the tournament sponsor or organizer. As a result, Chess960 championships have been held with irregular time controls ranging from rapid (Mainz) to blitz and bullet.
The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, the winner of the 2022–23 Candidates tournament.
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 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 date and place have not been 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 total prize fund for the event is 750,000 euros (820,000 US dollars), with 500,000 for the Open and 250,000 for the Women's Candidates.