{"id":13836,"date":"2025-10-15T10:04:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/?p=13836"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:04:19","slug":"norway-chess-launches-new-world-championship-approved-by-fide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/2025\/10\/15\/norway-chess-launches-new-world-championship-approved-by-fide\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway Chess Launches New World Championship \u2013 Approved by FIDE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">PRESS RELEASE 15th October 2025<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The new championship, titled the <em>Total Chess World Championship Tour<\/em>, will consist of four events each year and crown a combined champion across three disciplines \u2013 Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz chess. \u201cWe expect this to become one of the most prestigious events in the entire chess Calendar,\u201d says Kjell Madland, CEO of Norway Chess and of the new championship.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13917\" src=\"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1-317x211.jpeg 317w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-1.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Photo (from left): COO of Norway Chess \/ Total Chess World Championship Tour <\/em>\u2013\u00a0<em>Benedicte Westre Skog, FIDE President <\/em>\u2013\u00a0<em>Arkady Dvorkovich, and CEO of Norway Chess \/ Total Chess World Championship <\/em>\u2013\u00a0<em>Kjell Madland, during the official signing of the Total Chess World Championship Tour.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Key Highlights:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>A brand-new World Championship format in chess, organized by Norway Chess, has been officially approved by the International Chess Federation, FIDE.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The Total Chess World Championship Tour will crown an overall champion across three disciplines: Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz. The winner will be crowned FIDE World Combined Champion.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The tour will consist of four tournaments per year in various global cities.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Minimum $2.7M annual prize pool\u00a0across the Tour ($750k per event for the first three events; $450k for the Finals), plus performance bonuses.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>A pilot tournament is planned for fall 2026, with the first full championship season in 2027.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The initiative comes from the organizers of the prestigious Norway Chess tournament, and the official World Championship status agreement was signed with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in early October. The vision of the <strong><em>Total Chess World Championship Tour<\/em><\/strong> is to find the player who best masters the disciplines Fast Classic, Rapid and Blitz combined. Fast Classic is an innovation of classical chess, featuring a time limit as short as 45 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move. This will receive rating as classical chess. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe are looking for \u201cThe Total Chess Player\u201d \u2013 a versatile, tactically intelligent, and technically skilled athlete who seamlessly adapts to multiple time controls\u201d, says Kjell Madland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The tour will take place in various cities across the globe and during the final stop an overall winner will be crowned: the official <strong><em>FIDE World Combined Champion<\/em><\/strong>. A one-tournament pilot version will kick off during fall 2026, to test the new tour format, with the full official tournament to follow in 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe want to create an entertaining tournament using cutting-edge technology, innovative and engaging TV and streaming broadcasts, and faster formats to open up the sport of chess to a broader audience than ever before. We expect this to become one of the most prestigious events in the entire chess Calendar. We are very honored by the strong trust FIDE has shown in the project. From the very beginning, the federation has been an active and engaged partner \u2014 ensuring the project aligns with FIDE\u2019s vision and standards. We want to thank them, and especially the FIDE President, for their close involvement and support,\u201d says Kjell Madland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Prize Pool and Bonuses<br \/>\n<\/strong>The Total Chess World Championship Tour features a robust prize pool:\u00a0a minimum of $750,000 for each of the first three events. The\u00a0Finals, which crown the FIDE World Combined Champion, will award\u00a0at least $450,000\u00a0to a four-player field.\u00a0Additional performance bonuses\u00a0will be available for the highest point total at each tournament and for the top overall score across the Tour.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u201cFor the fans\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich expresses strong support for the initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13919\" src=\"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2-317x211.jpeg 317w, https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Image-2.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Photo (from left): FIDE President <\/em>\u2013\u00a0<em>Arkady Dvorkovich and <\/em><em>CEO of Norway Chess \/ Total Chess World Championship <\/em>\u2013\u00a0<em>Kjell Madland during the official signing of the Total Chess World Championship Tour.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe are always looking for ways to innovate and push the boundaries of what chess can be. Although chess is already one of the most popular games in the world, its growth potential is still enormous. With the <em>Total Chess World Championship Tour<\/em>, we give players a new title to compete for, and the audience a faster tournament format, and we hope the tournament can captivate both the existing chess fans and new audiences\u201d, says FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe see this as a great addition to the traditional and prestigious World Chess Championship, where we crown the undisputed champion of classic chess. The championships will complement each other and offer even more excitement for the fans. This is not a short-term initiative, but a long-term agreement between FIDE and Norway Chess\u201d, says Arkady Dvorkovich.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Norway Chess is now inviting potential host cities, investors, and partners to engage in discussions about joining the Total Chess World Championship. Please read more <a href=\"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/partner-with-us\/\">about partnership opportunities here<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For more information, please contact:<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PRESS RELEASE 15th October 2025 The new championship, titled the Total Chess World Championship Tour, will consist of four events each year and crown a combined champion across three disciplines \u2013 Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz chess. \u201cWe expect this to become one of the most prestigious events in the entire chess Calendar,\u201d says Kjell [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":13917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13836"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14062,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13836\/revisions\/14062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}