FIDE World Chess Championships

FIDE World Chess Championships are events organised by the International Chess Federation to determine World Chess Champions across different formats and categories based on age and gender.

The following are the reigning World Championships and the reigning World Champions respectively.

Individual championships

Title	Format	Category		Reigning Champion	Title held since	Rating and World Rankings (August 2026)
		Gender	Age group			Standard					Rapid					Blitz
						Rating	Rank				Rating	Rank				Rating	Rank
							Open	Women	Jr	Girls		Open	Women	Jr	Girls		Open	Women	Jr	Girls
World Chess Championship	Classical	Open	Open	GM Gukesh Dommaraju	12 December 2024	2703	31	-	2	-	2686	22	-	1	-	2659	39	-	2	-
Women's World Chess Championship		Women		GM Ju Wenjun	18 May 2018	2553	298	3	-	-	2488	440	5	-	-	2445	683	3	-	-
World Junior Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	GM Pranav Venkatesh	7 March 2025	2670	45	-	4	-	2594	120	-	5	-	2582	130	-	7	-
World Junior Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		WGM Anna Shukhman	7 March 2025	2443	1100	23	141	2	2322	2067	53	291	7	2421	865	9	113	2
World Rapid Chess Championship	Rapid	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	28 December 2025	2823	1	-	-	-	2803	1	-	-	-	2860	1	-	-	-
Women's World Rapid Chess Championship		Women		GM Aleksandra Goryachkina	28 December 2025	2536	378	6	-	-	2492	426	3	-	-	2469	536	2	-	-
World Junior Rapid Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov	26 September 2025	2551	285	-	28	-	2415	926	-	84	-	2519	299	-	26	-
World Junior Rapid Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		WGM Xeniya Balabayeva	26 September 2025	2325	3339	116	-	-	2289	2592	79	-	-	2239	3414	101	-	-
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship	Blitz	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	28 December 2025	2823	1	-	-	-	2803	1	-	-	-	2860	1	-	-	-
Women's World Blitz Chess Championship		Women		GM Bibisara Assaubayeva	28 December 2025	2538	367	5	-	-	2444	682	7	-	-	2440	717	5	-	-
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	GM Mukhiddin Madaminov	28 December 2025	2611	130	-	14	-	2497	405	-	19	-	2576	140	-	9	-
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		IM Eline Roebers	28 December 2025	2371	2229	69	331	10	2369	1421	27	173	2	2431	789	6	98	1
Freestyle Chess World Championship	Freestyle/Chess960 (Rapid)	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	15 February 2026	2823	1	-	-	-	2803	1	-	-	-	2860	1	-	-	-
Women's Freestyle Chess World Championship		Women		Vacant
Total Chess World Championship	Combined (Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz)	Open		Vacant

Team championships

Title	Category	Format	Reigning Champions
			Team	Players
World Rapid Team Championship		Rapid	Dragon Chilling (Captain: GM Ni Hua)	GM Ding Liren GM Wei Yi GM Yu Yangyi GM Lu Shanglei GM Bai Jinshi GM Ju Wenjun (Women) GM Lei Tingjie (Women) Zihao Wang (Recreational) Xie XiaoYang (Recreational)
World Blitz Team Championship		Blitz
World Senior Teams Championship	50+ (Open)	Classical	United States of America - 1	GM Jaan Ehlvest GM Alexander Shabalov GM Gregory Kaidanov GM Igor Novikov IM Stuart Rachels
	65+ (Open)		Germany - Lasker SGK	GM Artur Yusupov GM Rainer Knaak GM Sergey Kalinitschew GM Jakob Meister Dr Gerhard Koehler
	50+ (Women)		United States of America (W)	WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia WFM Natalia Tsodikova WIM Beatriz Marinello WFM Olga Sagalchick WFM Ivona Jezierska
	65+ (Women)		FIDE (W)	WGM Galina Strutinskaya WGM Tatiana Bogumil WGM Elena Fatalibekova WIM Larisa Khropova WIM Titorenko Natalia I
World University Team Championship			Ural State Mining University (Captain: IM Artem Pingin)	GM Arseniy Nesterov GM Rudik Makarian GM Sergey Lobanov IM Leya Garifullina (Woman)

Classical World Championships

World Chess Championship

The World Chess Championship, also known as the Classical World Championship or simply the World Championship, is a biennial event played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is GM Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion, GM Ding Liren, in the 2024 World Chess Championship.

The World Chess Champion is determined by a cycle of events known as the World Championship Cycle. The events in the World Championship Cycle change biennially. The top scorers of these events and other qualifiers compete in a double round robin tournament known as Candidates Tournament. The winner of the candidates tournament is titled World Champion Challenger and challenges the World Chess Champion for his title in a 14 round classical event, which is the World Chess Championship.

The current World Championship Cycle (2024-2026) includes the following paths for the Candidates Tournament 2026 and their respective qualifiers.

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(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	32
Top three finishers of the 2025 FIDE World Cup	Javokhir Sindarov (winner)	20	2745	12
	Wei Yi (runner-up)	26	2754	7
	Andrey Esipenko (third place)	24	2698	33
2025 FIDE Circuit winner	R Praggnanandhaa	20	2741	13
Highest average rating (Aug 2025 – Jan 2026)	Hikaru Nakamura	38	2810	2

Standings of the 2026 Candidates Tournament

Rank	Player	Score	SB	Wins	Qualification		JS		AG		FC		WY		HN		MB		RP		AE
1	Javokhir Sindarov (UZB)	10 / 14	64.75	6	Advanced to title match				½	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	½
2	Anish Giri (NED)	8.5 / 14	56.5	4			½	½			½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	0	½	1
3	Fabiano Caruana (USA)	7.5 / 14	48	4			½	0	0	½			1	½	1	0	1	½	½	½	½	1
4	Wei Yi (CHN)	7 / 14	44.75	2			0	½	½	½	½	0			½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1
5	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	6.5 / 14	44.5	1			0	½	½	½	1	0	½	½			½	½	½	½	½	½
6	Matthias Blübaum (GER)	6 / 14	42	0			½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	½			½	½	½	½
7	R Praggnanandhaa (IND)	6 / 14	40	1			0	0	1	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½			½	½
8	Andrey Esipenko (FIDE)	4.5 / 14	31.5	0			½	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	½

Source: FIDE
Rules for classification: For first place: tie-break games. For subsequent spots: (1) results in tie-break games for first place, if any; (2) Sonneborn–Berger score (SB); (3) total number of wins; (4) head-to-head score among tied players; (5) drawing of lots.

Note: Numbers in the crosstable in a white background indicate the result playing the respective opponent with the white pieces (black pieces if on a black background). This does not give information which of the two games was played in the first half of the tournament, and which in the second.

Women's World Chess Championship

The Women's World Chess Championship began in 1927 to encourage female participation in chess. The format of the cycle is the same as the World Chess Championship except that the events determining the Women's Candidates Tournament are women-only tournaments with a much weaker field by TAR (Tournament Average Rating).

Vera Menchik was the first and the longest reigning Women's World Champion, winning the first 8 Championships and reigning for 17 years before her death. The end of her reign paved the way for the Soviet Union's 4-decade-long domination in the tournament, which continued until the collapse of Soviet Union. Since the 1990s, Chinese players have constantly dominated Women's Chess, winning 16 of the 21 World Championships from 1991 to the present. The current champion, GM Ju Wenjun, has reigned for 8 years, winning 5 consecutive championships. As per the current Women's World Championship Cycle, below are the qualified players for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 and the results of the tournament.

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(March 2026)
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25	Zhu Jiner (winner)	23	2578	2
	Aleksandra Goryachkina (runner-up)	27	2534	7
The top three finishers in the Women's Chess World Cup 2025	Divya Deshmukh (winner)	20	2497	12
	Koneru Humpy (runner-up, withdrew)	39	2535	5
	Tan Zhongyi (third place)	34	2535	6
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2025	Vaishali Rameshbabu (winner)	24	2470	18
	Kateryna Lagno (runner-up)	36	2508	10
Highest place in the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25 not already qualified	Bibisara Assaubayeva	22	2516	9
	Anna Muzychuk (Replacement for Koneru)	36	2522	8

Standings of the 2026 Women's Candidates Tournament

Rank	Player	Score	SB	Wins	Qualification		VR		BA		ZJ		AG		AM		KL		DD		TZ
1	Vaishali Rameshbabu (IND)	8.5 / 14	55.75	5	Advanced to title match				½	½	0	0	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	½
2	Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ)	8 / 14	56.25	4			½	½			1	1	½	½	1	½	1	0	0	½	½	½
3	Zhu Jiner (CHN)	7.5 / 14	50.5	5			1	1	0	0			0	½	0	½	1	½	½	1	½	1
4	Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE)	7.5 / 14	50.25	3			0	½	½	½	½	1			½	½	½	0	½	1	1	½
5	Anna Muzychuk (UKR)	7 / 14	49.25	2			½	½	½	0	½	1	½	½			1	½	0	½	½	½
6	Kateryna Lagno (FIDE)	6.5 / 14	43	4			0	0	1	0	½	0	1	½	½	0			1	½	½	1
7	Divya Deshmukh (IND)	5.5 / 14	40.25	2			½	0	½	1	0	½	0	½	½	1	½	0			0	½
8	Tan Zhongyi (CHN)	5.5 / 14	38.25	1			½	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	1

Source: FIDE
Rules for classification: For first place: tie-break games. For subsequent spots: (1) results in tie-break games for first place, if any; (2) Sonneborn–Berger score (SB); (3) total number of wins; (4) head-to-head score among tied players; (5) drawing of lots.

Note: Numbers in the crosstable in a white background indicate the result playing the respective opponent with the white pieces (black pieces if on a black background). This does not give information which of the two games was played in the first half of the tournament, and which in the second.

World Junior Chess Championship (Open and Women)

FIDE considers a chess player to be a junior until the end of the year if the player was under 20 years old on 1 January of that year. The world Junior Championship is a relatively smaller scale event with a very small cycle. This championship, unlike most other world championships, is an 11-round annual swiss event. The World Junior Chess Championship and World Junior Chess Championship (Girls) cycle include the following players provided that they satisfy the age criteria.

• Top 3 players of the last World Junior Championship (Open/Women respectively).
• The Continental Junior Champions (Open/Women respectively) of the year preceding this edition.
• Top 6 Junior (4 for girls) players from FIDE rating list as on 1 January of the year of Championship.
• World Youth U18 and U16 champions (Open/Women respectively) of the year preceding this edition.
• All players nominated by any national chess federation.

Pranav Venkatesh and Anna Shukhman are the current World Junior Champions in the open and girls categories, respectively.

World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships

World Rapid and Blitz championships are significantly different from their classical counterparts, which is much older and difficult to participate in. World Rapid Championship, World Blitz Championship, Women's World Rapid Championship and Women's World Blitz Championship, all are held together since 2012 and World Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships (both open and girls) are held together since their inception in 2014.

Open

Eligible participants include

• players with FIDE rating 2550 or higher in any recent rating list (Standard, Rapid or Blitz).
• national champions.
• other players nominated by FIDE President and/or organisers.

GM Magnus Carlsen is the current World Rapid Champion (6th time in 2025) and also the current World Blitz Champion (9th time in 2025 including one shared title in 2024).

Women

Eligible participants include

• players with FIDE rating 2250 or higher in any recent rating list (Standard, Rapid or Blitz).
• national women's champions.
• other players nominated by FIDE President and/or organisers.

Aleksandra Goryachkina is the current Women's World Rapid Champion, whereas Bibisara Assaubayeva is the current Women's World Blitz Champion (3rd time in 2025).

Junior

Any number of players with any rating can be sent for the event by member federations. IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov and WGM Xeniya Balabayeva are the current World Junior Rapid Champions (open and girls respectively) whereas GM Mukhiddin Madaminov and IM Eline Roebers are the current World Blitz Champions (open and girls respectively).

Total Chess World Championship

FIDE and Norway Chess (in partnership) announced Total Chess World Championship Tour, a world championship based on combination of fast classical, rapid and blitz format, on 15 October 2025 which will start as a pilot event with Total Chess World Championship 2026 before the full tour starting in 2027. The following qualified for the 2026 pilot event though the path mentioned against their respective names. This championship has no women only or juniors only equivalent, though the qualification paths include women only tournaments.

Seed	Path/Title	Player		Rating	Rank
				(July 2026)
1	Reigning World Chess Champion	Gukesh Dommaraju		2717	26
2	Reigning Women's World Chess Champion	Ju Wenjun		2560	272
3	All the 3 medalists of World Rapid Championship 2025	Gold	Magnus Carlsen	2823	1
4		Silver	Vladislav Artemiev	2653	65
5		Bronze	Arjun Erigaisi	2757	9
6	Both finalists of World Blitz Championship 2025	Silver	Nodirbek Abdusattorov	2766	6
7		Replacement for Magnus Carlsen	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2713	27
8	Top 9 Players in Classical FIDE Rating list (as on January 1, 2026)	#2	Hikaru Nakamura	2792	3
9		#3	Fabiano Caruana	2792	2
10		#4	Vincent Keymer	2767	5
11		#6	Anish Giri	2764	8
12		#7	Alireza Firouzja	2749	12
13		#8	R. Praggnanandhaa	2750	11
14		#9	Wei Yi	2753	10
15		Replacement for Magnus Carlsen	Wesley So	2765	7
16		Replacement #13	Viswanathan Anand	2739	14
17	Winner of Candidates Tournament 2026 (or World Champion Challenger)	Javokhir Sindarov		2777	4
18	Winner of Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 (or Women's World Champion Challenger)	Vaishali Rameshbabu		2496	618
19	Top 3 Players in Standard FIDE Rating list (as on June 1, 2026)	#12	Hans Niemann	2730	19
20		#14	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	2743	13
21		#15	Ding Liren	2738	15
22	FIDE Circuit 2026-2027 (Open circuit, including only open tournaments)	To be declared on 1 September 2026
23
24

Freestyle Chess World Championship

Freestyle Chess World Championship is the successor of FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship and of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. Magnus Carlsen is the current Freestyle World Chess Champion. The event will include a women's section from 2027.