World champion D Gukesh’s eight challengers will have to fight it out in a luxury resort near the Mediterranean after FIDE announced that next year’s Candidates tournament will be held in the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort near Paphos, on the south-western coast of Cyprus. The Indian chess federation AICF had shown some interest in hosting the prestigious event in India. The Women’s Candidates tournament will also be held at the same venue, with the winner of that event qualifying to challenge Ju Wenjun of China in the Women’s World Championship.
FIDE announced that the tournaments will be held between March 28 and April 16, 2026.
Fabiano Caruana (as 2024 FIDE Circuit topper), Anish Giri (as winner of the 2025 Grand Swiss tournament), Matthias Bluebaum (as runner-up of the 2025 Grand Swiss 2nd tournament), and Hikaru Nakamura (as the top rated player) have already secured their participation in the Candidates. Meanwhile, India’s R Praggnanandhaa is a hot favourite to secure the 2025 FIDE Circuit topper’s spot, which will be assured next month. Meanwhile, the ongoing FIDE World Cup will offer the top three finishers the remaining three spots in the Candidates. Five Indians, including Pragg, Arjun Erigaisi and Pentala Harikrishna are among the 32 players still in the race to earn those three spots in Goa.
♟ Mediterranean Stage Set for Chess History: The 2026 FIDE Candidates Come to 🇨🇾 Cyprus
The most important tournament in the World Championship cycle will take place between March 28 and April 16, 2026 in Cyprus, bringing the event to a new host nation. Like in Toronto in 2024,… pic.twitter.com/YRgxKIIbUJ
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 10, 2025
Meanwhile, India’s Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy have already qualified for the Women’s Candidates tournament at the FIDE Women’s World Cup.
“The Candidates Tournament is the final and hardest test for any chess player wishing to take on a world champion in a match for the title, and it is the most difficult hurdle in the world championship cycle,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in a FIDE statement before pointing out that Cyprus had hosted FIDE Women’s Grand Prix events twice.
2026 Candidates Tournament Format
Complete Rules & Structure Explainer
Tournament Structure
Format
Double Round-Robin
€1 Million
Record Prize Fund
Time Control Rules
First 40 Moves
120 Minutes
30-second increment per move from move 41 onwards. Players cannot agree to a draw before Black’s 40th move.
Tie-Break & Championship
If there’s a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff will determine the winner. The champion qualifies to face World Champion D Gukesh in the World Championship Match scheduled for November 2026.
Indian Express InfoGenIE
Candidates quick explainer
Candidates Format
In both the Open and the Women’s, the eight qualified players will compete in a double round-robin tournament, consisting of 14 rounds.
Candidates Tie-break rules: In the event of a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff will be played to determine the winner who qualifies for the World Championship Match, due to take place in November 2026.
Candidates Time Control
The games will be played with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41. Players are not permitted to agree to a draw before the completion of Black’s 40th move.
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Candidates Prize Fund
The minimum prize fund for the event stands at a record one million euros. The winner will pocket 70,000 euros while the player ending second will take home 45,000 euros. The third place finisher will earn 25,000 euros. In addition, each player gets 5,000 euros for every half point scored.
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