World Chess Championship 2026

World Chess Championship 2026

2026
	Defending champion	Challenger
	Gukesh Dommaraju
	Born 29 May 2006
	Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024	Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026
←  2024 2028  →

The World Chess Championship 2026 will be a chess match to determine who will hold the World Chess Champion position. It will be played between the defending champion Gukesh Dommaraju and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026. The date and the host city are yet to be decided.

Candidates Tournament

The challenger will qualify by winning the Candidates Tournament 2026.

The eight players to qualify to the Candidates Tournament will be: ^{[1] [2]}

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(September 2025)
2024 FIDE Circuit winner	Fabiano Caruana	33	2789	3
Top two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss [a]	Anish Giri (winner)	31	2746	12
	Matthias Blübaum (runner-up)	28	2671	51
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. ^[1]

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. ^{[3] [4]} 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." ^[5]

Notes

1. If any of these players is already World Champion in January 2025, has already qualified by an above path when the 2025 Grand Swiss begins, or withdraws, then the replacement is selected in order of priority as: the 3rd place in the 2025 Grand Swiss; the 2nd place in the 2024 FIDE Circuit; the 2nd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the 3rd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the player with the lowest sum of places in the 2024 and 2025 ranking lists. ^[2]
2. If any of these players is already World Champion in January 2025, has already qualified when the 2025 World Cup begins, or withdraws, then the replacement is selected in order of priority as: the 4th place in the 2025 World Cup; the 2nd place in the 2024 FIDE Circuit; the 2nd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the 3rd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the player with the lowest sum of places in the 2024 and 2025 ranking lists. ^[2]
3. If the winner is already World Champion in January 2025, has already qualified by an above path, or withdraws, then the replacement is selected in order of priority as: the 2nd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the 3rd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the player with the lowest sum of places in the 2024 and 2025 ranking lists. ^[2]
4. 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. If two players have the same average rating, the one with the higher performance rating over the rated games qualifies. If the player with the highest average rating over this period is already World Champion in January 2025 or has already qualified by an above path, the replacement will be selected in order of priority as: the 2nd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the 3rd place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit; the player with the lowest sum of places in the 2024 and 2025 rating lists. If the highest-rated player withdraws, the replacement will be the second-highest-rated player averaged across the same period and subject to the same criteria, unless that player is already World Champion or has already qualified by another path, in which case he is replaced in the same order of priority as before. ^[2]

References

• Chess portal
• Sports portal
• Games portal

1. "Changes to qualification paths for the Candidates Tournament". FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
2. "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026: Qualification paths" (PDF). FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
3. Colin McGourty (3 September 2025). "Nakamura Wins Louisiana State Championship, Edges Closer To Candidates". Chess.com.
4. 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.
5. Carlos Alberto Colodro (11 September 2025). "Nakamura wins tournaments in Louisiana and Iowa, as he attempts to get rating spot at the Candidates". ChessBase.