2026 FIDE Candidates Line-Ups Confirmed: Road to World Chess Crown Set in Cyprus

• The line-ups for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournaments (Open and Women's) are officially confirmed, setting the stage for the next World Chess Championship.
• Cyprus will host both tournaments from March 28 to April 16, 2026, at the luxury Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort near Paphos.
• The Open Candidates features Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Anish Giri, Matthias Blübaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi, Andrey Esipenko, and Hikaru Nakamura. The winner challenges World Champion D Gukesh.
• The Women's Candidates includes Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh, Humpy Koneru, Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Kateryna Lagno, and Bibisara Assaubayeva. The winner challenges GM Ju Wenjun.
• Both double round-robin tournaments will have 14 rounds with classical time controls, early draw prohibitions, and a record €1,000,000 prize fund.

Why It Matters: The 2026 FIDE Candidates line-ups are set, paving the way for new World Chess Championship challengers.