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 the 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 date and the host city are yet to be decided.

Candidates Tournament

Main article: Candidates Tournament 2026

The challenger will qualify by winning the Candidates Tournament 2026, which will be held at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, between 28 March and 16 April. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The eight players to qualify to the Candidates Tournament will be: ^{[4] [5]}

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]	Wei Yi	26	2752	11
	Javokhir Sindarov	19	2721	25
	Andrey Esipenko [c] (third place)	23	2681	41
2025 FIDE Circuit winner [d]	TBD
Highest average rating [e] (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. ^[4]

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. ^[5]
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. ^[5]
3. Esipenko is a member of the Chess Federation of Russia. ^[6] However, he plays under the FIDE flag because FIDE banned the display of Russian and Belarusian flags on 27 February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ^[7]
4. 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. ^[5]
5. 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. ^[5]

References

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1. "Mediterranean Stage Set for Chess History: The 2026 FIDE Candidates Come to Cyprus". FIDE. 10 November 2025. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025.
2. Barden, Leonard (14 November 2025). "Outsiders sense Chess World Cup glory after host of big names make early exits". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. The field is gradually taking shape for the $1m 2026 Candidates, which will take place in Pegeia alongside the women's tournament.
3. "Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort: Official Factsheet" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2025.
4. "Changes to qualification paths for the Candidates Tournament". FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
5. "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026: Qualification paths" (PDF). FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
6. "Федерация шахмат России подписала 10-летний контракт с гроссмейстером Есипенко". TASS (in Russian). 20 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 November 2025.
7. "FIDE Council condemns Russia's military action". ChessBase . 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025.