Women's World Chess Championship 2026

Women's World Chess Championship 2026

2026
	Defending champion	Challenger
	Ju Wenjun
	Born 31 January 1991 34 years old
	Winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2025	Winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026
←  2025

The Women's World Chess Championship 2026 is an upcoming chess match which will determine the new Women's World Chess Champion. It will be played between the defending champion Ju Wenjun, the winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2025, and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026. The dates and host city are yet to be decided.

Candidates Tournament

The challenger will qualify by winning the eight-player Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, which will be held in April 2026. ^[1] The following players will qualify:

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(September 2025)
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25	Zhu Jiner (winner)	22	2548	4
	Aleksandra Goryachkina (runner-up)	26	2528	8
The top three finishers in the Women's Chess World Cup 2025	Divya Deshmukh (winner)	19	2478	14
	Koneru Humpy (runner-up)	38	2535	5
	Tan Zhongyi (third place)	34	2531	7
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2025	Vaishali Rameshbabu (winner)	24	2452	22
	Kateryna Lagno (runner-up)	35	2505	10
The winner of the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25	TBD

FIDE Women's Events 2024–25

In conjunction with the Open Candidates Tournament 2026, the runner-up of the previous championship match no longer automatically qualifies, unlike any previous Women's Candidates Tournament. Instead, the 2025 match is part of the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25, a new qualification path which is a circuit that includes the 2024 and 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Grand Prix series, the World Cup and the Grand Swiss. ^[2] A player's score is the sum of her highest scores in up to 5 qualifying events. ^[3]

Ranking point system for the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25

•  : Current leader – set to qualify for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 (Next top leader if the current top player has already qualified through other route)
•  : Current World Champion – ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification
•  : Player qualified for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 via another path
•  : Player ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification

Top 25 as of September 15, 2025 ^[3]

No.	Player	Points	Events	World Rapid 2024	World Blitz 2024	World Champ	Grand Prix	World Cup	Grand Swiss	World Rapid 2025	World Blitz 2025
1	Koneru Humpy	224.00	3	1st 84.00	—	—	4th 60.00	2nd 80.00	—
2	Tan Zhongyi	213.50	5	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—	2nd 25.00	5th 40.00	3rd 50.00	T 3rd-5th 60.00
3	Kateryna Lagno	164.50	3	T 2nd-7th 38.50	T 3rd-4th 16.00	—	—	—	T 1st-2nd 110.00
4	Vaishali Rameshbabu	146.00	3	—	T 3rd-4th 16.00	—	—	T 5th-8th 20.00	T 1st-2nd 110.00
5	Divya Deshmukh	140.00	2	—	—	—	7th 20.00	1st 120.00	—
6	Zhu Jiner	128.00	2	—	T 5th-8th 8.00	—	1st 120.00	—	—
7	Aleksandra Goryachkina	100.00	1	—	—	—	2nd 100.00	—	—
8	Bibisara Assaubayeva	99.40	4	T 8th-12th 1.40	T 5th-8th 8.00	—	6th 30.00	—	T 3rd-5th 60.00
9	Ju Wenjun	86.50	2 [a]	T 2nd-7th 38.50	1st 48.00	1st 0.00	—	—	—
10	Anna Muzychuk	80.00	1	—	—	—	3rd 80.00	—	—
11	Song Yuxin	80.00	2	—	—	—	—	T 5th-8th 20.00	T 3rd-5th 60.00
12	Lei Tingjie	62.00	2	—	2nd 32.00	—	—	4th 30.00	—
13	Harika Dronavalli	58.50	2	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—	—	—	T 5th-8th 20.00	—
14	Afruza Khamdamova	38.50	1	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—	—	—	—	—
15	Alexandra Kosteniuk	38.50	1	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—	—	—	—	—
16	Mariya Muzychuk	26.40	3	T 8th-12th 1.40	—	—	T 8th-9th 5.00	—	T 6th-8th 20.00
17	Nana Dzagnidze	25.00	2	—	—	—	T 8th-9th 5.00	T 5th-8th 20.00	—
18	Irina Krush	20.00	1	—	—	—	—	—	T 6th-8th 20.00
19	Ulviyya Fataliyeva	20.00	1	—	—	—	—	—	T 6th-8th 20.00
20	Valentina Gunina	8.00	1	—	T 5th-8th 8.00	—	—	—	—
21	Carissa Yip	8.00	1	—	T 5th-8th 8.00	—	—	—	—
22	Irene Kharisma Sukandar	1.40	1	T 8th-12th 1.40	—	—	—	—	—
23	Deysi Cori	1.40	1	T 8th-12th 1.40	—	—	—	—	—
24	Stavroula Tsolakidou	1.40	1	T 8th-12th 1.40	—	—	—	—	—

References

• Chess portal
• Sports portal
• Games portal

1. "FIDE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CYCLE 2025-2026". FIDE . Retrieved 2025-02-28.
2. "Qualification paths for FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 finalized". FIDE . 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
3. "FIDE WOMEN'S EVENTS 2024-2025". FIDE . Retrieved 2025-07-23.

Notes

1. Does not include the World Championship match that awarded Ju zero points.