Candidates Tournament

For the upcoming Candidates Tournament, see Candidates Tournament 2026.

The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion.

Before 1993 it was contested triennially; almost always held every third year from 1950 to 1992 inclusive. After the split of the World Championship in the early 1990s, the cycles were disrupted, even after the reunification of the titles in 2006. Since 2013 it has settled into a 2-year cycle: qualification for Candidates during the odd-numbered year, Candidates played early in the even-numbered year, and the World Championship match played late in the even-numbered year. The latter half of the 2020 Candidates Tournament was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was only played in April 2021. The subsequent tournament, the 2022 Candidates Tournament, took place as scheduled in 2022.

Precursors

Before 1950, the champion had the right to handpick a challenger. However, a number of tournaments acted as de facto candidates tournaments:

• The London 1883 chess tournament established Johannes Zukertort and Wilhelm Steinitz as the best two players in the world, and was one of the important events leading to the first official world championship match between the two, in 1886. Steinitz won, making him the first official world champion.
• The Saint Petersburg 1895–96 chess tournament, in which world champion Emanuel Lasker finished first and Steinitz finished second, led to Steinitz gaining support for an 1897 rematch, which Lasker won.
• The AVRO 1938 chess tournament was held partly to choose a challenger for Alexander Alekhine. Paul Keres won on tie-breaks, but World War II prevented the match from happening.

Organization

Candidates Tournament 1956 Amsterdam: 10 players

The number of players in the tournament varied over the years, between eight and fifteen players. Most of these qualified from Interzonal tournaments, though some gained direct entry without having to play the Interzonal.

The first Interzonal/Candidates World Championship cycle began in 1948. Before 1965, the tournament was organized in a round-robin format. From 1965 on, the tournament was played as knockout matches, spread over several months. In 1995–1996, the defending FIDE champion (Anatoly Karpov) also entered the Candidates, in the third round (Candidates final).

During its 1993 to 2006 split from FIDE, the "Classical" World Championship also held three Candidates Tournaments (in 1994–1995, 1998 and 2002) under a different sponsor and a different format each time. In one of these cases (Alexei Shirov in 1998) no title match eventuated, under disputed circumstances (see Classical World Chess Championship 2000).

After the reunification of titles in 2006, FIDE tried different Candidates formats in 2007, 2009 and 2011, before settling on an 8 player, double round robin Candidates tournament from 2013 onwards.

Results of Candidates Tournaments

The tables below show the qualifiers and results for all interzonal, Candidates and world championship tournaments.

• Players shown bracketed in italics (Bondarevsky, Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky in 1950, Botvinnik in 1965, Fischer in 1977, Carlsen in 2011 and 2024, and Radjabov in 2020) qualified for the Candidates or were seeded in the Candidates, but did not play.
• Players shown in italics with an asterisk (Stein* in 1962 and again in 1965, and Bronstein* in 1965) were excluded from the Candidates by a rule limiting the number of players from one country.
• Karjakin* in 2022 was disqualified by FIDE after his qualification for the Candidates: the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission ruled that he breached Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE Code of Ethics after he made public comments approving of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is shown bracketed, in italics, and with an asterisk.
• Players listed after players in italics (Flohr in 1950, Benko in 1962, Geller, Ivkov and Portisch in 1965, Spassky in 1977, Grischuk in 2011, Vachier-Lagrave in 2020, Ding in 2022, and Abasov in 2024) only qualified due to the non-participation (withdrawal) of the bracketed players or players with an asterisk.
• Incumbent champions' names are struck through when they refused to defend their title (Fischer in 1975 and Carlsen in 2023).

Normally, the incumbent champion is seeded directly into the final against the challenger (who had to pass through the Candidates qualification), but there have been exceptions:

• The World Chess Championship 1948, in which five players were seeded into the championship tournament (the previous champion, Alexander Alekhine, having died in 1946). A sixth player, Fine, was also seeded into the championship tournament but chose not to play; he is shown in brackets.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, in which the FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov was seeded in the Candidates final.
• The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, in which two players were seeded into the championship final (one of them being incumbent champion Kasparov), and there were no previous qualifying stages. In this way, it resembled the pre-1946 events, in which the champion could handpick a challenger.
• The FIDE championships of 1999–2004 (during the split-title period), in which the incumbent champion had no special privileges.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, in which eight players (including incumbent FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov) were seeded into the final championship tournament.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 2007, in which four players (including incumbent champion Kramnik) were seeded into the final championship tournament.

The incumbent champion Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title at the World Chess Championship 1975, and his challenger Anatoly Karpov won by forfeit. (At the time, the Candidates was a knock-out event, so the 1974 Karpov–Korchnoi Candidates final match – a best of 24 games, like world championships in the period 1951–1972 and 1985–1993 – arguably became a de facto world championship in retrospect.) Magnus Carlsen refused to defend his title at the World Chess Championship 2023 and was replaced by the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament, Ding Liren.

Interzonal and Candidates tournaments (1948–1996)

World Championship selection cycles from 1948 to 1996

Year	Selection of participants					Championship
1948	In 1946–1947, FIDE planned the 1948 championship tournament, selecting six notable players for the reasons shown. Fine withdrew from the tournament.			1938 AVRO winners:  • Keres  • (Fine) Former world champion:  • Euwe	Multiple US champion:  • Reshevsky Soviet Champion:  • Botvinnik Soviet grandmaster:  • Smyslov	The Hague/Moscow 1948 Quintuple round robin: 1 Botvinnik 14/20 2Smyslov 11 3-4 Keres 10½ 3-4 Reshevsky 10½ 5 Euwe 4
Year	Interzonal tournaments		Candidates tournaments		Championship
	Format	Results	Seeded	Results	Contestants	Results
1948–51	Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1948: Single round robin 20 players 8 qualified	1 Bronstein 2 Szabo 3 Boleslavsky 4 Kotov 5 Lilienthal 6-9 Najdorf 6-9 Ståhlberg 6-9 (Bondarevsky) 6-9 Flohr	Smyslov Keres Euwe Fine Reshevsky	Budapest 1950 Double round robin 10 players 1-2 Boleslavsky 1-2 Bronstein 3 Smyslov 4 Keres Playoff:  • Bronstein beat Boleslavsky	Candidates winner:  • Bronstein Defending champion:  • Botvinnik	Moscow 1951 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Botvinnik retained title
1952–54	Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1952 Single round robin 21 players 8 qualified	1 Kotov 2-3 Taimanov 2-3 Petrosian 4 Geller 5-8 Averbakh Ståhlberg Szabo Gligorić	7 more:  • Bronstein  • Boleslavsky  • Smyslov  • Keres  • Reshevsky  • Najdorf  • Euwe	Zürich 1953 Double round robin 15 players 1 Smyslov 2-4 Bronstein 2-4 Keres 2-4 Reshevsky	Candidates winner:  • Smyslov Defending champion:  • Botvinnik	Moscow 1954 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Botvinnik retained title
1955–57	Gothenburg 1955 Single round robin 21 players 9 qualified	1 Bronstein 2 Keres 3 Panno 4 Petrosian 5-6 Geller 5-6 Szabo 7–9 Filip 7–9 Pilnik 7–9 Spassky	Smyslov	Amsterdam 1956 Double round robin 10 players 1 Smyslov 2 Keres	Candidates winner:  • Smyslov Defending champion:  • Botvinnik	Moscow 1957 24-game match Smyslov won 12½–9½
1958	Rematch				• Botvinnik  • Smyslov	Moscow 1958 24-game match Botvinnik won 12½–10½
1958–60	Portorož 1958 Single round robin 21 players 6 qualified	1 Tal 2 Gligorić 3-4 Petrosian 3-4 Benko 5-6 Friðrik 5-6 Fischer	• Smyslov  • Keres	Yugoslavia 1959 Quadruple round robin 8 players 1 Tal 2 Keres 3 Petrosian 4 Smyslov	Candidates winner:  • Tal Defending champion:  • Botvinnik	Moscow 1960 24-game match Tal won 12½–8½
1961	Rematch				• Botvinnik  • Tal	Moscow 1961 24-game match Botvinnik won 13–8
1962–63	Stockholm 1962 Single round robin 23 players 6 qualified	1 Fischer 2-3 Geller 2-3 Petrosian 4-5 Korchnoi 4-5 Filip 6-8 Stein* 6-8 Benko	• Tal  • Keres	Curaçao 1962 Quadruple round robin 8 players 1 Petrosian; 2 Keres 3 Geller 4 Fischer	Candidates winner:  • Petrosian Defending champion:  • Botvinnik	Moscow 1963 24-game match Petrosian won 12½–9½
1964–66	Amsterdam 1964 Single round robin 24 players 6 qualified	1-4 Smyslov 1-4 Larsen 1-4 Spassky 1-4 Tal 5 Stein* 6 Bronstein* 7 Ivkov 8-9 Portisch	• Keres  • ( Botvinnik)  • Geller	1965: 8 players, matches Semi-finals winners:  • Spassky beat Geller  • Tal beat Larsen Finals:  • Spassky beat Tal	Candidates winner:  • Spassky Defending champion:  • Petrosian	Moscow 1966 24-game match Petrosian won 12½–11½
1967–69	Sousse 1967 Single round robin 23 players 6 qualified	1 Larsen 2-4 Korchnoi 2-4 Geller 2-4 Gligorić 5 Portisch 6-8 Reshevsky	• Spassky  • Tal	1968: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Korchnoi beat Tal  • Spassky beat Larsen Finals:  • Spassky beat Korchnoi	Champions winner:  • Spassky Defending champion:  • Petrosian	Moscow 1969 24-game match Spassky won 12½–10½
1970–72	Palma de Mallorca 1970 Single round robin 24 players 6 qualified	1 Fischer 2-4 Larsen 2-4 Geller 2-4 Hübner 5-6 Taimanov Uhlmann	• Petrosian  • Korchnoi	1971: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Petrosian beat Korchnoi  • Fischer beat Larsen Finals:  • Fischer beat Petrosian	Candidates winner:  • Fischer Defending champion:  • Spassky	Reykjavík 1972 24-game match Fischer won 12½–8½
1973–75	1973: Two single round robins 18 players each 3 qualified from each	Leningrad 1973: 1-2 Korchnoi 1-2 Karpov 3 Byrne	• Spassky  • Petrosian	1974: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Korchnoi beat Petrosian  • Karpov beat Spassky Finals:  • Karpov beat Korchnoi	Candidates winner:  • Karpov Defending champion:  • ( Fischer)	1975: Karpov won on forfeit
		Petropolis 1973: 1 Mecking 2-4 Portisch 2-4 Polugaevsky
1976–78	1976: Two single round robins 20 players each 3 qualified from each	Biel 1976: 1 Larsen 2-4 Petrosian 2-4 Portisch	• Korchnoi  • ( Fischer)  • Spassky	1977: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky  • Spassky beat Portisch Finals:  • Korchnoi beat Spassky	Candidates winner:  • Korchnoi Defending champion:  • Karpov	Baguio 1978 Karpov won 6–5 after 32 games (draws not counting)
		Manila 1976: 1 Mecking 2-3 Polugaevsky 2-3 Hort
1979–81	1979: Two single round robins 18 players each 3 qualified from each	Riga 1979: 1-2 Tal 1-2 Polugaevsky 3-4 Adorján	• Korchnoi  • Spassky	1980: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky  • Hübner beat Portisch Finals:  • Korchnoi beat Hübner	Candidates winner:  • Korchnoi Defending champion:  • Karpov	Meran 1981 Karpov won 6–2 after 18 games (draws not counting)
		Rio de Janeiro 1979: 1-3 Portisch 1-3 Petrosian 1-3 Hübner
1982–85	1982: Three single round robins 14 players each 2 qualified from each	Las Palmas 1982: 1 Ribli 2 Smyslov	• Korchnoi  • Hübner	1983–84: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Kasparov beat Korchnoi  • Smyslov beat Ribli Finals, 1984:  • Kasparov beat Smyslov	Candidates winner:  • Kasparov Defending champion:  • Karpov	Moscow 1984–85 Unlimited match abandoned after 48 games with Karpov leading 5–3 (draws not counting)
		Toluca 1982: 1-2 Portisch 1-2 Torre
		Moscow 1982: 1 Kasparov 2 Beliavsky
1985	Replay				• Karpov  • Kasparov	Moscow 1985 24-game match Kasparov won 13–11
1986	Rematch				• Karpov  • Kasparov	London/Leningrad 1986 24-game match Kasparov won 12½–11½
1985–87	1985: 3 single round robins 16–18 players each 4 qualified from each	Biel 1985: 1 Vaganian 2 Seirawan 3 Sokolov 4-6 Short	Seeded in tournament:  • Korchnoi  • Ribli  • Smyslov  • Spassky Seeded in 1987 final:  • Karpov	Montpellier 1985: Single round robin tournament 16 players 1-3 Yusupov 1-3 Sokolov 1-3 Vaganian 4-5 Timman 1986: Two rounds of matches 4 players  • Yusupov beat Timman  • Sokolov beat Vaganian and Yusupov. Finals, Linares, 1987:  • Karpov beat matches winner Sokolov	Candidates winner:  • Karpov Defending champion:  • Kasparov	Seville 1987 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Kasparov retained title
		Taxco 1985: 1 Timman 2 Nogueiras 3 Tal 4 Spraggett;
		Tunis 1985: 1 Yusupov 2 Beliavsky 3 Portisch 4-5 Chernin
1987–90	1987: Three single round robins 17–18 players each 3 qualified from each	Subotica 1987: 1-3 Sax 1-3 Short 1-3 Speelman	• Sokolov  • Timman  • Vaganian  • Yusupov  • Spraggett Seeded in 2nd round:  • Karpov	1988: One round of matches 14 players 1989:  • Karpov (joined winners in quarter finals) Semi-finals (1989):  • Karpov beat Yusupov  • Timman beat Speelman Finals (1990):  • Karpov beat Timman	Candidates winner:  • Karpov Defending champion:  • Kasparov	New York City/Lyon 1990 24-game match Kasparov won 12½–11½
		Szirák 1987: 1-2 Salov 1-2 Hjartarson 3-4 Portisch
		Zagreb 1987: 1 Korchnoi 2-3 Seirawan 2-3 Ehlvest
1990–93	Manila 1990 64 players Swiss 11 qualified	1-2 Gelfand 1-2 Ivanchuk 3-4 Anand 3-4 Short 5-11 Sax Korchnoi Hübner Nikolić Yudasin Dolmatov Dreev	• Timman  • Yusupov  • Speelman Seeded in 2nd round:  • Karpov	1991: One round of matches 14 players 1991:  • Karpov (joined winners in quarter-finals) Semi-finals (1992):  • Short beat Karpov  • Timman beat Yusupov Finals (1993):  • Short beat Timman	Candidates winner:  • Short Defending champion:  • Kasparov	London September–October 1993 24-game match Kasparov defeated Short 12½–7½ under the auspices of the PCA;
					Candidates finalist:  • Timman Former world champion:  • Karpov	Netherlands /Jakarta September–November 1993 24-game match Karpov defeated Timman 12½–8½ under the auspices of FIDE
1993–95 (PCA)	Groningen December 1993 54 players Swiss 7 qualified	1-2 Adams 1-2 Anand 3-7 Kamsky Kramnik Tiviakov Gulko Romanishin	Short	1994–95: 8 players, matches Semi-finals:  • Kamsky beat Short  • Anand beat Adams Finals (1995):  • Anand beat Kamsky	Candidates winner:  • Anand Defending PCA champion  • Kasparov	New York City September–October 1995 20-game match Kasparov won 10½–7½
1993–96 (FIDE)	Biel July 1993 73 players Swiss 10 qualified	1 Gelfand 2-9 Van der Sterren 2-9 Kamsky 2-9 Khalifman 2-9 Adams 2-9 Yudasin 2-9 Salov 2-9 Lautier 2-9 Kramnik 10-15 Anand	• Timman  • Yusupov	1994: Two rounds of matches 12 players	Third round (Candidates final): Karpov beat Gelfand Kamsky beat Salov	Elista 1996 20-game match Karpov won 10½–7½
			Seeded in third round (Candidates final):  • Karpov	1995:  • Gelfand  • Kamsky  • Salov

Split titles (1997–2005)

After 1996, interzonals ceased to exist, but FIDE continued to organize qualifying zonal tournaments.

Classical championships (1998–2004)
Years	Candidates format	Seeded into Candidates			Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final
1998 (Classical)	Cazorla, May–June 1998 10-game match	Kramnik, Shirov (on rating)			Shirov won 5½–3½	Kasparov (1995 champion)	Match never took place
2000 (Classical)	None					Two players seeded in final: Kasparov (1995 champion); Kramnik (on rating)	London: October- November 2000 16-game match Kramnik won 8½–6½
2002–2004 (Classical)	Dortmund July 2002 preliminaries: two four players double round robins; Semi-finals: the first from each group met the second from the other group in mini-matches	Preliminaries: group 1: 1 Shirov 2 Topalov 3 Gelfand 4 Lutz	group 2: 1 Bareev 2 Leko 3 Adams 4 Morozevich	Semi-finals: Leko beat Shirov and Topalov beat Bareev.	Leko (beat Topalov in the final)	Kramnik (2000 classical champion)	Brissago: September–October 2004 14-game match drawn 7–7, Kramnik retained title
FIDE championships (1997–2005)
Years	Candidates format	Seeded into Candidates			Finalists		Championship Final
1997–1998 (FIDE)	Groningen December 1997, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Winner plays 6-game championship match against Karpov	97 players, Quarter-finalists: Adams, Van Wely, Short, Krasenkov, Gelfand, Dreev, Anand and Shirov.			Anand (beat Adams in candidates final) Karpov (1996 FIDE champion)		Lausanne: January 1998 6-game match Drawn 3–3; Karpov won rapid playoff 2–0
1999 (FIDE)	Las Vegas July–August 1999, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament	100 players, Quarter-finalists: Kramnik, Adams, Movsesian, Akopian, Shirov, Nisipeanu, Khalifman and J. Polgar			Semi-finals (4-game matches): Khalifman beat Nisipeanu, Akopian beat Adams		Las Vegas 1999 6-game match Khalifman won 3½–2½
2000 (FIDE)	New Delhi (6 rounds)/final in Tehran November–December 2000 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with final match played in Tehran	100 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Khalifman, Adams, Topalov, Tkachiev, Grischuk, Shirov and Bareev			Semi-finals (4-game matches): Anand beat Adams, Shirov beat Grischuk		Tehran December 2000 6-game match Anand won 3½–½
2001–2002 (FIDE)	Moscow 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls first part (6 rounds): 25 November – 14 December 2001 final: 16–24 January 2002	128 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Lautier, Svidler, Gelfand, Ponomariov and Bareev			Semi-finals (4-game matches): Ponomariov beat Svidler, Ivanchuk beat Anand		Moscow January 2002 8-game match Ponomariov won 4½–2½
2004 (FIDE)	Tripoli June–July 2004 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls	128 players, Quarter-finalists: Topalov, Kharlov, Kasimdzhanov, Grischuk, Radjabov, Dominguez, Adams, Akopian			Semi-finals (4-game matches): Adams beat Radjabov, Kasimdzhanov beat Topalov		Tripoli July 2004 6-game match drawn 3–3; Kasimdzhanov won rapid playoff 1½–½
FIDE World Chess Championship, 2005
Year	Candidates format				Seeded in Final		Championship Final
2005 (FIDE)	None, 8 players seeded in final:				Kasimdzhanov (FIDE champion); Adams (as FIDE 2004 finalist); Leko (as classical 2004 finalist), Morozevich (on rating), Topalov (on rating), Anand (on rating), J. Polgár (on rating) Svidler (on rating)		San Luis: 8 players, double round robin, September–October 2005 1 Topalov: 10/14 2-3 Anand 8½/14 2-3 Svidler 8½/14 4 Morozevich 7/14

Reunified title (since 2006)

After the reunification of the FIDE and "classical" titles, the Chess World Cup and FIDE Grand Prix series were introduced as qualification for the Candidates Tournament. The Swiss-system FIDE Grand Swiss was introduced in the latter half of 2019, acting as another qualification path for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Reunification Match
Year					Seeded in Final		Championship Match
2006					Topalov (FIDE champion), Kramnik (classical champion)		Elista October 2006 12-game match drawn 6–6, Kramnik won rapid playoff 2½–1½
World Chess Championships after the Reunification
Years	Qualification format	Qualifiers	Seeded into Candidates	Candidates Format	Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final
2005–2007	Chess World Cup 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk November–December 2005 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament; + mini-matches to establish places 1 through 16. Top 10 qualified	1 Ponomariov 2 Aronian 3 ( Bacrot) 4 Grischuk 5 Bareev 6 Gelfand 7 Rublevsky 8 Gurevich 9 Kamsky 10 Carlsen 11 Malakhov	Kasimdzhanov (2004 FIDE champion) Leko, Adams, Polgár, Shirov, Bacrot (on rating)	Candidates Matches 2007 Elista: May–June 2007 16 players, two rounds of matches, 4 players qualify for championship tournament	Aronian, Gelfand, Grischuk, Leko	Anand, Svidler, Morozevich (2nd–4th in 2005); Kramnik (2006 Champion)	Mexico City: September 2007 8 players, double round robin 1 Anand 9/14 2-3 Kramnik 8/14 2-3 Gelfand 8/14
2008	Rematch					Kramnik, Anand	Bonn October 2008 12-game match Anand won 6½–4½ to retain the title.
2007–2010	Chess World Cup 2007 Khanty-Mansiysk November–December 2007 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament 1st qualified	Kamsky (beat Shirov in the final).	Topalov (2005 FIDE champion)	Candidates Match 2009 Sofia February 2009, 8-game match	Topalov beat Kamsky 4½–2½	Anand (2008 champion)	Sofia April–May 2010 12-game match Anand won 6½–5½ to retain the title.
2008–2012	FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 Top 2 qualified	Aronian, Radjabov	Carlsen (on rating) Grischuk (replacement of Carlsen) Kramnik (on rating), Kamsky, Topalov, Mamedyarov (wildcard)	Candidates Tournament 2011 Kazan, May 2011, 8 players, matches Semifinals: Gelfand defeated Kamsky; Grischuk defeated Kramnik	Gelfand (beat Grischuk in the final)	Anand (2010 champion)	Moscow May 2012 12-game match drawn 6–6, Anand won rapid playoff 2½–1½ to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2009 Khanty-Mansiysk November–December 2009 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament 1st qualified	Gelfand (beat Ponomariov in the final)
2011–2013	Chess World Cup 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk August–September 2011 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 3 qualified	Svidler, Grischuk, Ivanchuk	Gelfand Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik (ratings) Radjabov (wildcard)	Candidates Tournament 2013 London March 2013 8 player double round-robin tournament	Carlsen (won Candidates Tournament on tie breaks)	Anand (2012 champion)	Chennai, November 2013 12-game match Carlsen won 6½–3½
2012–2014	FIDE Grand Prix 2012–2013 Top 2 qualified	Topalov, Mamedyarov	Anand Aronian, Karjakin (ratings) Svidler (wildcard)	Candidates Tournament 2014 Khanty-Mansiysk, March 2014 8 player double round-robin tournament	Anand	Carlsen (2013 champion)	Sochi, November 2014 12-game match Carlsen won 6½-4½ to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2013 Tromsø August–September 2013 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 2 qualified	Kramnik, Andreikin
2014–2016	FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 Top 2 qualified	Caruana, Nakamura	Anand Topalov, Giri (ratings) Aronian (wildcard)	Candidates Tournament 2016 Moscow, March 2016 8 player double round-robin tournament	Karjakin	Carlsen (2014 champion)	New York City, November 2016 12-game match drawn 6–6 Carlsen won rapid playoff 3–1 to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2015 Baku October 2015 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 2 qualified	Karjakin, Svidler
2017–2018	FIDE Grand Prix 2017 Top 2 qualified	Mamedyarov, Grischuk	Karjakin Caruana, So (ratings) Kramnik (wildcard)	Candidates Tournament 2018 Berlin, March 2018 8 player double round-robin tournament	Caruana	Carlsen (2016 champion)	London, November 2018 12-game match drawn 6–6 Carlsen won rapid playoff 3–0 to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2017 Tbilisi September 2017 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 2 qualified	Aronian, Ding
2019–2021	FIDE Grand Prix 2019 Top 2 qualified	Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi	Caruana Giri (ratings) Alekseenko (wildcard) Vachier-Lagrave (ratings, as replacement for Radjabov)	Candidates Tournament 2020–21 Yekaterinburg, Mar-Apr 2020, Apr 2021 8 player double round-robin tournament	Nepomniachtchi	Carlsen (2018 champion)	Dubai, November–December 2021 14-game match Carlsen won to retain title, 7½–3½
	Chess World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk September–October 2019 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 2 qualified	(Radjabov), Ding
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 Isle of Man, October 2019 Swiss tournament 1st qualified	Wang
2021–2023	FIDE Grand Prix 2022 February–April 2022 Top 2 qualified	Nakamura, Rapport	Nepomniachtchi Radjabov (wildcard) Ding (ratings, as replacement for Karjakin)	Candidates Tournament 2022 8 player double round-robin tournament Madrid, June–July 2022	Nepomniachtchi	Carlsen (2021 champion) Ding (Candidates runner-up, as replacement for Carlsen)	Astana, April–May 2023 14-game match drawn 7–7 Ding won rapid playoff 2½–1½
	Chess World Cup 2021 Sochi July–August 2021 206 players, 8 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 2 qualified	Duda, (Karjakin)
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 Riga, October–November 2021 114-player Swiss tournament Top 2 qualified	Firouzja, Caruana
2023–2024	Chess World Cup 2023 Baku July-August 2023 206 players, 8 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 3 qualified	( Carlsen), Praggnanandhaa Caruana, Abasov (4th)	Nepomniachtchi Firouzja (ratings)	Candidates Tournament 2024 8 player double round-robin tournament Toronto, April 2024	Gukesh	Ding (2023 champion)	Singapore, November–December 2024 14-game match Gukesh won 7½–6½
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 Isle of Man October-November 2023 114-player Swiss tournament Top 2 qualified	Vidit, Nakamura
	FIDE Circuit 2023 1st qualified	(Caruana) Gukesh
2024–2026	FIDE Circuit 2024 1st qualified	Caruana	Nakamura (ratings)	Candidates Tournament 2026 8 player double round-robin tournament Paphos, March–April 2026		Gukesh (2024 champion)	TBD
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025 Samarkand September 2025 109-player Swiss tournament Top 2 qualified	Giri, Blübaum
	Chess World Cup 2025 Goa October-November 2025 206 players, 8 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Top 3 qualify	Sindarov, Wei, Esipenko
	FIDE Circuit 2025 1st qualifies	Praggnanandhaa
Years	Qualification format	Qualifiers	Seeded into Candidates	Candidates Format	Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final

See also

• Development of the Women's World Chess Championship

References

• FIDE World Championship events 1948-1990, Mark Weeks' chess pages
• World Championship events 1991-present, Mark Weeks' chess pages
• World Championships pages Archived 2018-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Rybka Chess Community Forum