The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle.

Each tournament features eight of the world’s strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess.

At the conclusion of the events, the winners secure the right to challenge for the FIDE World Chess Championship and FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship titles.

Watch Lichess' interviews at the Candidates on YouTube, and read our game annotations by GM Axel Bachmann, GM Maksim Chigaev, WGM Petra Papp, IM Lilit Mkrtchian, and WGM Ekaterina Atalik.

Tiebreaks

Stage I
- 2 players: 2-game match, 15+10 time control.
- 3–6 players: round robin, 15+10.
- 7–8 players: round robin, 10+5.
Stage II (if still tied)
- 2 players: 2-game match, 3+2.
- More than 2 players: round robin, 3+2.
Stage III (if still tied)
- Knockout, 1 game at 3+2.
- If drawn: replay with reversed colors.
- If still drawn, sudden death: White 4+2, Black bids time ≤4 minutes. Black wins if game is drawn.

FIDE Candidates 2026