Total Chess World Championship Tour Regulations
Total Chess World Championship Tour is the annual series of chess tournaments among top players combining the most popular time controls – classical, rapid and blitz. It is foreseen that each year three tournaments will be played and the players with the best combined score are qualified for the Grand Final to determine the world champion in combined chess.
The Regulations are approved jointly by FIDE and Norway Chess and may be amended or clarified. All disputed or unclear matters are resolved jointly by FIDE and Norway Chess.
Tournament Format for Each Leg (Location)
Each leg of the tournament has two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage based on the group rankings. The starting number of players is 24 for leg 1, 2 and 3.
Draw of groups
The draw of groups at each location takes place on the day of the opening ceremony before the first playing day. The following principles shall be used for the draw:
Group stage
The group stage is played as a double round-robin format.
Each of the 6 players in a group plays 2 games per day against each other, so the group stage lasts 5 days. In total, each player plays 10 games.
Each game is played in the Fast Classical format with the following time control:
A win is awarded 3 points, a draw 1 point and a loss 0 points. Tiebreaks will determine the full rankings in each group.
Knockout Stage: Semifinal and Final in each Leg
In each group, players are ranked from 1 (the winner) to 6 (last place). The winners of each group advance to Knockout bracket 1, the 2nd places of each group go to Knockout bracket 2, and so on. Semifinal pairings in each Knockout bracket are determined by their pre‑tournament blitz rank among those four, and paired 1–4 and 2–3.
Each knockout bracket is organized as a single elimination knockout system in which semifinals and then finals are played. The players who lose their semifinal matches play a match for the 3rd place so that the full rankings, 1-4, are determined per knockout bracket.
Only the winner of the final match in Knockout 1 is crowned the leg (location) winner.
Every player receives points based on how they perform in the brackets. The points are allocated as follows.
| Rank | Knockout 1 | Knockout 2 | Knockout 3 | Knockout 4 | Knockout 5 | Knockout 6 |
| 1 | 30 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| 2 | 24 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 5 |
| 3 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
Table 1. Points system
Thus, the Knockout 1 winner receives 30 points and the Knockout 2 winner receives 20 points and so on. Points decrease by placement within each group as described in Table 1.
A player receives an extra 5 bonus points for winning each extra leg they win after their first. In other words, Leg 1 winner receives 5 points for winning Leg 2 or Leg 3. Similarly, Leg 2 winner gets +5 points for winning Leg 3. Thus, the maximum possible total across the tour is 100 points.
Knockouts Daily Winner Structure
In the semi-final, 3rd-place match, and final, the matches will be played over two days, using the “two-day system” described next. Each day includes Fast Classical, Rapid, and Blitz games before a winner is determined. First, four Blitz games will be played, then two Rapid games, and then the Fast Classical game.
The higher-ranked player based on the pre-tournament blitz ranking chooses the color for the first Blitz game on Day 1. Colors for all remaining games on Day 1 and Day 2 then alternate.
Points system:
Each Blitz game: 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a draw
Each Rapid game: 4 points for a win and 2 points for a draw
Each Fast Classical game: 8 points for a win and 4 points for a draw
Time control:
Blitz: 3+2
Rapid: 15+10
Fast Classical: 45+30
Each day produces a day-winner, or a tie occurs.
Scores reset each day, and in case of a tie in one of the days, the other day acts as a tiebreaker. A tie occurs at the end of day 2 if a player wins day 1 and the other player wins day 2, or each day is tied. In this case, an Armageddon game, where Black has the draw odds, is played to determine the winner. The event is always determined on the final day.
Armageddon Time Control: 10 minutes for white, 7 minutes for black with 1 second increment, starting from move 41.
The player who has the most total points over two days chooses the color. If they have equal points, then an Armageddon bidding takes place.
The Grand Final: Semifinal and Final
The four players with the highest total points after three legs qualify for the Grand Final. Semifinal pairings are determined by total points (with ties broken by a draw of lots): 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3. Semi-finals use the two-day system as in the Knockout stage of each leg.
The final is played over four days and consists of two sets. Each set uses the two-day system.
The player who has the most total points over four days chooses the color. If they have equal points, then an Armageddon bidding takes place.
The winner of the final wins the Tour and is crowned the FIDE World Combined Champion.
All details regarding the conduct of the Grand Final and the knockout playoffs, including the rules for calculating sets and the number of games, must be approved and published in the first quarter of 2026.
The final rules for the Grand Final are subject to revision based on the experience gained from the pilot tournament in 2026.
Qualification Pathways
Pilot Event 2026 (only one event, no Grand Final)
The following categories were accepted as eligible qualification paths for the 2026 pilot event. The 24 available spots will be allocated as follows:
| Slots | Qualification Pathway |
| 1–2 | Reigning World Champions (Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun) |
| 3–5 | Three medalists of the 2025 World Rapid Championship |
| 6–7 | Finalists of the 2025 World Blitz Championship |
| 8–16 | Top nine players in the standard rating list (January 1, 2026) |
| 17–18 | Winners of the 2026 Candidates & Women’s Candidates |
| 19–21 | Top three players in the standard rating list (June 1, 2026), excluding those already qualified |
| 22–24 | FIDE Open Circuit qualifiers (special ranking, including only open events) |
Replacements and withdrawals:
In the event that any of the world champions declines to participate or withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced in the following order of priority:
2.World Rapid Championship 2025
If the reigning World Champion finishes in the top 3 of the 2025 World Rapid Championship, the relevant qualification spot will be passed to the player who finished fourth in that championship.
In the event that any of the qualified players subsequently declines to participate or withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced by the highest-ranked player not yet qualified according to the FIDE Circuit as of September 1, 2026.
If any of the finalists of the 2025 World Blitz Championship have already qualified for the tournament, the vacant spot(s) will be awarded to the non-qualified player(s) with the lowest average sum of placements from the combined results of the 2025 World Rapid Championship and the 2025 World Blitz Championship.
In the event that any of the qualified players subsequently declines to participate or withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced by the highest-ranked player not yet qualified according to the FIDE Circuit as of September 1, 2026.
If any player ranked in the top 9 of the rating list at the time of qualification has already secured a place in the tournament, the first replacement will be the non-qualified player with the lowest average sum of placements from the combined results of the 2025 World Rapid Championship and the 2025 World Blitz Championship. Any subsequent replacements (if needed) will be made according to the standard FIDE rating list of 1 January 2026.
In the event that any of the qualified players later will withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced by the highest-ranked player not yet qualified according to the FIDE Circuit as of September 1, 2026.
If the winner of the 2026 Candidates Tournament/Women Candidates has already qualified or withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced in the following order of priority:
In the event that any of the qualified players subsequently declines to participate or withdraw after signing the relevant contract, he/she will be replaced by the highest-ranked player not yet qualified according to the FIDE Open Circuit as of September 1, 2026.
The 2027 Tour
First Leg
The following players are eligible to participate in the first leg of the 2027 Tour (in chronological order of qualification):
If any spots remain vacant after applying all the above criteria, they will be filled based on the FIDE Circuit 2026 standings.
If any spots remain vacant after applying all the above criteria, they will be filled based on the FIDE Circuit 2026 standings.
Second Leg
The following players are eligible to participate in the second leg of the 2027 Tour (in chronological order of qualification):
If any spots remain vacant after applying all the above criteria, they will be filled based on rating, but no lower than the top 20 of the rating list.
If any spots remain vacant after applying all the above criteria, they will be filled based on the FIDE Circuit 2026 standings.
Third Leg
The following players are eligible to participate in the third leg of the 2027 Tour (in chronological order of qualification):
All remaining vacant spots will be filled via the FIDE Circuit 2026.