The organisers of Norway Chess on Wednesday announced the launch of the Total Chess World Championship Tour, which will consist of four events each year and crown a combined champion across three disciplines — Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz chess. Norway Chess CEO Kjell Madland told PTI that a long-term agreement has been signed with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the tournament, which will be an annual affair and begin in 2027.
“We expect this (Total Chess World Championship Tour), to become one of the most prestigious events in the entire chess calendar,” said Madland. He said that the World Championships, which is held in the Classical format, and the newly-conceptualised Total Chess World Championship Tour will complement each other as it had been officially approved by FIDE. “The new championship will not replace or affect any existing FIDE World Championship titles,” he said.
“The tour will consist of four tournaments per year in various global cities with a minimum $2.7 million annual prize pool across the Tour ($750k per event for the first three events; $450k for the Finals, plus performance bonuses,” Madland added. “The global field will include 24 elite players per tournament competing across three cities. The four best will then advance to the final tournament. A pilot tournament is planned for the fall of 2026, with the first full championship season beginning in 2027,” he said.
The status agreement between Norway Chess and FIDE was signed early October. “The vision of the Total Chess World Championship Tour 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. This will receive rating (the same way) as classical chess,” he said.
The conceptualisation of the event could have been driven by the fact that the likes of world No. 1 and No. 2, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Hikaru Nakamura have, of late, moved away from the classical format and are now playing more on the Grand Chess Tour and competing in rapid and blitz tournaments. “We are honoured by the strong trust FIDE has shown in the project. From the very beginning, the federation has been an active and engaged partner — ensuring the project aligns with FIDE’s vision and standards,” said Madland.
“It will be a single, FIDE-recognised World Championship that unifies Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz into one complete test. Female players will have the opportunity to qualify on an equal basis with men by participating in open tournaments,” said Madland. Norway Chess said it is inviting potential host cities to engage in discussions about joining the Total Chess World Championship. Madland said the World Rapid and World Blitz winners will automatically receive an invitation to the Total Chess World Championship tour in 2027 and the tournament could also become the gateway to secure a place in the Candidates.
“We will invite some players automatically just by their rating. And then there will be other tournaments that will be qualifying (events) for this championship. All these qualifying events will be FIDE approved. “(It could) also get a ticket to the Candidates for the subsequent year,” he said. Asked if India, which has some of the best chess players including the reigning world champion D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi among others, could be a stopover for the tour, Madland said, “We can do something in India. We have discussed this for a while. And of course, that would be very, very interesting for us because there is a huge audience in India and also a lot of very good players. So we hope so.”
FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich expressed strong support for the initiative. “We 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 Total Chess World Championship Tour, we give players a new title to compete for, and the audience a faster tournament format, and we hope the tournament can ca
