The chess world has a World Chess Championship 2026, where Gukesh will battle with the winner of Candidates 2026. It also has a World Rapid & Blitz Championships that will take place in December. There used to be a Fisher Random / Freestyle / Chess960 World Championship as well.
Now the chess world will have a new Total World Chess Championship format. Norway Chess launches New World Championship format in 2026, approved by FIDE, and titled Total World Chess Championship. will consist of four events each year and crown a combined champion across three disciplines – Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz chess. “We expect this to become one of the most prestigious events in the entire chess Calendar,” says Kjell Madland, CEO of Norway Chess and of the new championship. See what is Fast Classic here
Emil Sutovsky, CEO of FIDE, shared a huge development which was not available in the initial press release. “Two players from the new Championship actually qualify to Candidates.” This statement by Sutovsky comes as a reaction to Кevin Laughlin’s comment “The beginning of the end of the candidates. We knew it was coming. Makes sense.”
Total World Chess Championship timeline
15.10 Total World Chess Championship announced
15.10 Reuters: Norway Chess gets approval for combined Total World Chess Title
15.10 Indian Express: Total Chess will be the fourth World Chess Championship
15.10 Two players from the Total World Chess Championship qualify for Candidates
Next FIDE Candidates
The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 is an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament scheduled to take place between March 25 and May 1, 2026. All information here
