Draft:FIDE World Chess Championships

FIDE World Chess Championships are events organised by 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	Age group	Reigning Champion	Rating and World Rankings (June 2026)
					Standard		Rapid		Blitz
					Rating	Rank	Rating	Rank	Rating	Rank
World Chess Championship	Classical	Open	Open	GM Gukesh Dommaraju	2732	19 (Jr 1)	2684	26 (Jr 1)	2655	44 (Jr 2)
Women's World Chess Championship		Women		GM Ju Wenjun	2559	269 (Women 3)	2481	456 (Women 5)	2485	593 (Women 2)
World Junior Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	GM Pranav Venkatesh	2661	54 (Jr 3)	2564	179 (Jr 6)	2642	56 (Jr 4)
World Junior Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		WGM Anna Shukhman	2456	956 (Women 21) (Jr 112) (Girls 1)	2272	2883 (Women 100) (Jr 445) (Girls 13)	2392	1116 (Women 15) (Jr 153) (Girls 2)
World Rapid Chess Championship	Rapid	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	2841	1	2832	1	2869	1
Women's World Rapid Chess Championship		Women		GM Aleksandra Goryachkina	2536	378 (Women 5)	2499	388 (Women 3)	2424	825 (Women 6)
World Junior Rapid Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov	2551	305 (Jr 27)	2405	1008 (Jr 98)	2502	389 (Jr 32)
World Junior Rapid Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		WGM Xeniya Balabayeva	2307	3859 (Women 144)	2295	2449 (Women 78)	2247	3197 (Women 95)
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship	Blitz	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	2841	1	2832	1	2869	1
Women's World Blitz Chess Championship		Women		GM Bibisara Assaubayeva	2527	416 (Women 7)	2439	718 (Women 10)	2457	602 (Women 3)
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship		Open	Junior*	GM Mukhiddin Madaminov	2586	202 (Jr 22)	2500	386 (Jr 17)	2523	292 (Jr 22)
World Junior Blitz Chess Championship (Girls)		Women		IM Eline Roebers	2392	1811 (Women 50) (Jr 252) (Girls 8)	2369	1383 (Women 25) (Jr 152) (Girls 2)	2425	822 (Women 5) (Jr 96) (Girls 1)
Freestyle Chess World Championship	Freestyle/Chess960 (Rapid)	Open	Open	GM Magnus Carlsen	2841	1	2832	1	2869	1
Women's Freestyle Chess World Championship		Women		Vacant
Total Chess World Championship	Combined (Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz)	Open

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			Vacant

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 Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion, 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

Javokhir Sindarov the won the Candidates Tournament 2026 with a record breaking match of 6 victories (with 8 draws), and his third consecutive classical event (after the 2025 World Cup and Tata Steel 2026 Masters) without a single loss.

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, 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 1st 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 a 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.