Grandmaster of all trades: Chess gets 4th World Championship to decide World Combined Champion

Presently, there are three world championships in chess: the classical world championship which is held every two years while the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship event crowns the World Rapid Champion and the World Blitz Champion each year in December.

The new Total Chess World Championship Tour, which will come into effect from 2027, will feature four events as part of a tour each year that will be held across various cities: there will be three events with 24 players at first while the fourth event will be the finale with only four players.

“We are trying to build something for the future,” Kjell Madland, the CEO of Norway Chess, who is also the brains behind the new championship, told The Indian Express on Wednesday. Madland explained that the organisers of Norway Chess had been in discussions with FIDE for over a year after an initial meeting with FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich in August 2024 to discuss the idea. Madland explained that with FIDE on board, not only will the new event bear the tag of an “official” world championship, but the four additional tournaments will also get a window from the international governing body in a packed annual chess calendar.

The organizers will host a pilot tournament next year to fine-tune the playing format of the Total Chess World Championship Tour for 2027. This pilot event will be held alongside the classical Norway Chess event.

The existing Norway Chess tournament will likely be incorporated into the Total Chess World Championship Tour from 2027. Norway Chess is one of the only tournaments on the circuit to offer equal prize money to female players and conduct an event for women along with the open tournament. With the new Total Chess World Championship Tour coming in, organisers have said that female players will have the opportunity to qualify on an “equal basis” with men by participating in open tournaments. Norway Chess will also continue to organize at least one women’s super-tournament.

Format for the new World Championship Tour

The format used at the events will be “fast classic” (45-minute games with increment of 30 seconds per move), rapid, and blitz chess. It is learnt that in the group stage, players will play fast classic games. Since the games are much shorter than regular classical chess games, there will be two games per day. Then, in the semis and the final, players will face off in all three formats to decide an overall winner.

Even though the fast classic format will be much shorter than regular classical games, games played in the format will be rated as per the classical section. The tour will also offer Candidates qualification opportunities in the Classical World Championship cycle.

The Norway Chess organisers are hoping that the faster time control and having a mix of all three formats in one single event will make it more attractive to viewers on the one hand and to broadcasters on the other.

“One of our big goals for this event is (to replicate) the huge success that we had in Norway over so many years with putting chess on TV. From the success we’ve had, we know that people want to watch chess on TV too,” said Benedicte Westre Skog, co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Norway Chess.

She added that they don’t have any fixed locations for the 2027 tour yet.

“But we know we have a huge audience and follower base in India. So we’re hoping that there will be someone there that’s interested in doing something with us,” said Westre Skog.

FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich meanwhile emphasised that the new world championship would not replace any existing world championship.

“We see this as a great addition to the traditional and prestigious World Chess Championship, where we crown the undisputed champion of classic chess. The championships will complement each other and offer even more excitement for the fans. This is not a short-term initiative, but a long-term agreement between FIDE and Norway Chess,” Dvorkovich was quoted as saying in the press release to announce the new tour. “With the Total Chess World Championship Tour, we give players a new title to compete for, and the audience a faster tournament format.”