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 | ||
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
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[6] | World
ranking[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (March 2026) | ||||
| 2024 FIDE Circuit winner | Fabiano Caruana | 33 | 2795 | 3 |
| Top two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss | Anish Giri (winner) | 31 | 2753 | 8 |
| Matthias Blübaum (runner-up) | 28 | 2698 | 33 | |
| Top three finishers of the 2025 FIDE World Cup | Javokhir Sindarov (winner) | 20 | 2745 | 13 |
| Wei Yi (runner-up) | 26 | 2754 | 7 | |
| Andrey Esipenko[a] (third place) | 23 | 2698 | 34 | |
| 2025 FIDE Circuit winner | R Praggnanandhaa | 20 | 2741 | 14 |
| Highest average rating (Aug 2025 – Jan 2026)[b] | Hikaru Nakamura | 38 | 2810 | 2 |
Unlike other Candidates Tournaments, and any FIDE World Championship cycle (except 1999–2004 during the split-title period), there was no automatic spot for the runner-up of the previous Championship (Ding Liren). To compensate, the 2024 championship was considered an eligible tournament for the FIDE Circuit, with the runner-up obtaining special bonus points for the 2025 FIDE Circuit based on his score.[4]
Notes
- ^ Esipenko is Russian. 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]
- ^ 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.[5]
References
- ^ "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.
- ^ Barden, Leonard (14 November 2025). "Outsiders sense Chess World Cup glory after host of big names make early exits". The Guardian.
The field is gradually taking shape for the $1m 2026 Candidates, which will take place in Pegeia alongside the women's tournament.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort: Official Factsheet" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2025.
- ^ a b "Changes to qualification paths for the Candidates Tournament". FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ a b "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026: Qualification paths" (PDF). FIDE. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ a b "FIDE World Top Chess players". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- ^ "FIDE Council condemns Russia's military action". ChessBase. 28 February 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)