Candidates Tournament 2028

The 2028 Candidates Tournament, officially the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2028 will be an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament, a part of the 2028 World Chess Championship cycle. The event shall determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2028. The event is expected to take place alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament 2028.

Qualification

On 14 July 2026, FIDE announced the following qualification paths.

Qualification method	Qualifier	Rating	World Ranking
Total Chess World Championship Tour 2026–2027 (Top 2 qualifiers)	TBD
	TBD
FIDE Grand Swiss 2027 (Top 2 qualifiers)	TBD
	TBD
FIDE World Cup 2027 (Top 2 qualifiers)	TBD
	TBD
FIDE Circuit 2026–2027 (Top 2 unqualified leaders)	TBD
	TBD

FIDE Grand Swiss 2027

Just like every Candidates tournament since 2020, top 2 players in FIDE Grand Swiss qualify for the candidates.

FIDE World Cup 2027

The number of qualification spots in FIDE Chess World Cup have been reduced from 3 to include only the two finalists for the candidates. The reforms in the World Cup to include Fast Classical and Swiss tournament qualification for the final round does not impact the qualification spots and only the final (Knockout) stage is considered for qualification.

Total Chess World Championship Tour 2026–2027

The combined results of Total Chess World Championship 2026 pilot event and each of the three events (Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz) in 2027 shall be considered and top 2 players shall be given a spot to the candidates.

Rating Qualifier

There shall be no spot for the highest rated unqualified player in the 2028 Candidates Tournament. FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky announced in December 2025 that he would submit a proposal to eliminate the candidates spot for the highest rated unqualified player, one of the most controversial spots in the Candidates Tournament. The move, approved by FIDE Council in July 2026 now eliminates the spot.

FIDE Circuit 2026–2027

The formerly annual circuit including the top global chess tournaments of the year, started in 2023 has been expanded to two years. The qualification spots, as given one for each year has been changed to two spots for the combined two year circuit. Top 2 leaders unqualified for the candidates shall qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2028 provided they have played in at least 8 events eligible for FIDE Circuit points with no more than 6 classical tournaments with less than 50 players (though 7/8 such tournaments can be considered if the player has played in 11/more than 11 events respectively) and no more than 3 rapid and blitz events (though 4 such tournaments can be considered if the player has played in 11 or more events). The table below shows live top 10 players in FIDE Circuit 2027.

•  : Current leaders – set to qualify for Candidates Tournament 2028 (Next top leader(s) if the current top player(s) has/have already qualified through other route(s))
•  : Current World Champion – ineligible for Candidates Tournament 2028 qualification
•  : Player qualified for Candidates Tournament 2028 via another path
•  : Player ineligible for Candidates Tournament 2028 qualification

Top 10 players in FIDE Circuit 2026–2027 as of 8 July 2026

No.	Player	Points	Events	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1	Javokhir Sindarov	75.28	6	Tata Steel (M) 2nd – 18.75	Candidates 1st – 27.42	GCT Poland T 7th-9th – 0.00	GCT Romania T 3rd-4th – 8.53	Naroditsky Memorial – Rapid 1st – 11.30	Naroditsky Memorial – Blitz 1st – 9.28	Required		Optional
2	Nodirbek Abdusattorov	65.64	5	Tata Steel (M) 1st – 25.78	Prague (M) 1st – 23.14	TePe Sigeman T 3rd-4th – 7.25	UzChess Cup (M) 6th – 0.00	GCT Croatia 2nd – 9.47	Required			Optional
3	Fabiano Caruana	54.58	6	St. Louis Masters 2nd – 8.20	Candidates 3rd – 17.45	GCT Poland 2nd – 9.43	GCT Romania 2nd – 19.50	Naroditsky Memorial – Rapid T 17th-26th – 0.00	Naroditsky Memorial – Blitz T 20th-30th – 0.00	Required		Optional
4	Wesley So	43.11	5	GCT Poland 3rd – 8.25	GCT Romania T 3rd-4th – 8.53	Norway Chess 2nd – 18.92	Naroditsky Memorial – Rapid T 7th-15th – 0.66	Naroditsky Memorial – Blitz 2nd – 6.75	Required			Optional
5	Vincent Keymer	40.88	5	Tata Steel (M) T 3rd-5th – 14.06	Prague (M) T 7th-8th – 0.00	GCT Romania 1st – 26.82	Norway Chess 5th – 0.00	GCT Croatia 5th – 0.00	Required			Optional
6	Ian Nepomniachtchi	32.48	3	Aeroflot Open 1st – 13.57	Sardinia 3rd – 9.65	UzChess Cup (M) 3rd – 9.26	Required					Optional
7	R Praggnanandhaa	29.92	4	Tata Steel (M) T 12th-13th – 0.00	Candidates 7th – 0.00	GCT Romania T 5th-9th – 0.00	Norway Chess 1st – 26.02	GCT Croatia T 3rd-4th – 3.90	Required			Optional
8	Hans Niemann	27.02	3	Tata Steel (M) T 3rd-5th – 14.06	Prague (M) T 7th-8th – 0.00	GCT Poland 1st – 12.96	UzChess Cup (M) T 7th-8th – 0.00	Required				Optional
9	Andrew Hong	26.59	6	St. Louis Masters T 4th-8th – 4.10	Grenke Open 4th – 3.39	Menorca Open 64th – 0.00	Aktobe Open 1st – 12.56	Naroditsky Memorial – Rapid T 3rd-6th – 6.54	Naroditsky Memorial – Blitz T 14th-19th – 0.00	Required		Optional
10	Jorden van Foreest	24.58	5	Tata Steel (M) T 3rd-5th – 14.06	Prague (M) T 2nd-4th – 10.52	TePe Sigeman 5th – 0.00	GCT Romania T 5th-9th – 0.00	GCT Croatia 9th – 0.00	Required			Optional