Total Chess World Championship Tour

The Total Chess World Championship Tour, organized by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, is an annual series of chess tournaments among top players combining the most popular time controls – fast classical, rapid, and blitz. It is foreseen that each year three tournaments will be played and the players with the best combined score will qualify for the Grand Final to determine the FIDE World Combined Champion.

The first event, the Total Chess World Championship 2026, will be a pilot event played in a single leg while the tour, in true sense, will start from 2027.

Qualified players

The following players, qualified from the path mentioned against them, are qualified for the pilot event.

Path/Title Player Rating Rank
(October 2026)
Reigning World Chess Champion India Gukesh Dommaraju 2710 28
Reigning Women's World Chess Champion China Ju Wenjun 2553 292
Medalists of World Rapid Championship 2025 Gold Norway Magnus Carlsen 2823 1
Silver FIDE Vladislav Artemiev 2653 63
Bronze India Arjun Erigaisi 2746 12
Both finalists of World Blitz Championship 2025 Silver Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2780 5
Replacement for Magnus France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2717 23
Top 9 Players in Classical FIDE Rating list

(as of January 1, 2026)

 #3 United States Fabiano Caruana 2784 3
#4 Germany Vincent Keymer 2761 8
#6 Netherlands Anish Giri 2752 11
#7 France Alireza Firouzja 2757 10
#8 India R. Praggnanandhaa 2763 7
Replacement for Magnus United States Wesley So 2770 6
#14 Hungary Richárd Rapport 2711 27
#19 Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2710 29
#20 United States Levon Aronian 2725 19
Winner of Candidates Tournament 2026 Uzbekistan Javokhir Sindarov 2782 4
Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 Winner India Vaishali Rameshbabu 2452 995
Runner up (Replacement for Ju Wenjun) Kazakhstan Bibisara Assaubayeva 2532 385
Top 3 Players in Standard FIDE Rating list

(as on June 1, 2026)

 #12 United States Hans Niemann 2717 22
#14 Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2741 13
#18 Vietnam Lê Quang Liêm 2732 16
FIDE Open Circuit 2026-2027

(as on September 1, 2026) (Open circuit, including only open tournaments)

 #1 Armenia Haik M. Martirosyan 2661 54
#2 United States Andrew Hong 2609 135
#3 FIDE Ian Nepomniachtchi 2719 21
FIDE Circuit 2026-2027

(as on September 1, 2026) (Full circuit, replacement for World Champion and Winner of Candidates)

 #13 Netherlands Jorden van Foreest 2716 24
#15 United States Abhimanyu Mishra 2636 85

References

  1. ↑ "Norway Chess - Regulations". norwaychess.no. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
  2. ↑ "World Rapid and Blitz Champions to Qualify for Total Chess World Championship Tour – International Chess Federation". Retrieved 2025-12-31.
  3. ↑ "FIDE Ratings Database. Rankings and Search". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. ↑ McGourty (Colin_McGourty), Colin (2024-12-12). "18-Year-Old Gukesh Becomes Youngest-Ever Undisputed Chess World Champion". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  5. ↑ McGourty (Colin_McGourty), Colin (2025-04-16). "Ju Wenjun Wins 5th Women's World Chess Championship". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  6. ↑ Levin (AnthonyLevin), Anthony (2025-12-28). "Carlsen, Goryachkina Win 2025 World Rapid Championships". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  7. ↑ "Artemyev became the silver medalist of the World Rapid Chess Championship". Izvestia.
  8. ↑ "Arjun Erigaisi snatches historic bronze at World Rapid Championship, Magnus Carlsen takes home gold". The Indian Express. 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2025-12-29.