Women's World Chess Championship 2026
| 2026 | |||
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Defending champion |
Challenger | ||
.jpg) | |||
 Ju Wenjun |
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Born 31 January 1991 34 years old | |||
| Winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2025 | Winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 | ||
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Rating: 2561 (World No. 2) | |||
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The Women's World Chess Championship 2026 is an upcoming chess match which will determine the new Women's World Chess Champion. It will be played between the defending champion Ju Wenjun, the winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2025, and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026. The dates and host city are yet to be decided.
Candidates Tournament
[edit]The challenger will qualify by winning the eight-player Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, which will be held in April 2026.[1] The following players will qualify:
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (August 2025) | ||||
| The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25 | Zhu Jiner (winner)
|
22 | 2536 | 5 |
 Aleksandra Goryachkina (runner-up)
|
26 | 2528 | 8 | |
| The top three finishers in the Women's Chess World Cup 2025 |  Divya Deshmukh (winner)
|
19 | 2478 | 15 |
| Koneru Humpy (runner-up)
|
38 | 2535 | 6 | |
| Tan Zhongyi (third place)
|
34 | 2539 | 4 | |
| The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2025 | TBD | |||
| TBD | ||||
| The winner of the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25 | TBD | |||
FIDE Women's Events 2024–25
[edit]In conjunction with the Open Candidates Tournament 2026, the runner-up of the previous championship match no longer automatically qualifies, unlike any previous Women's Candidates Tournament. Instead, the 2025 match is part of the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25, a new qualification path which is a circuit that includes the 2024 and 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Grand Prix series, the World Cup and the Grand Swiss.[2] A player's score is the sum of her highest scores in up to 5 qualifying events.[3]
- : Current leader – set to qualify for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 (Next top leader if the current top player has already qualified through other route)
- : Current World Champion – ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification
- : Player qualified for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 via another path
- : Player ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification
| No. | Player | Points | Events | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Koneru Humpy
|
224.00 | 3 | World Rapid 2024 1st – 84.00 |
Grand Prix 4th – 60.00 |
World Cup 2nd – 80.00 |
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| 2 | Tan Zhongyi
|
153.50 | 4 | World Champ 2nd – 25.00 |
World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
Grand Prix 5th – 40.00 |
World Cup 3rd – 50.00 |
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| 3 | Divya Deshmukh
|
140.00 | 2 | Grand Prix 7th – 20.00 |
World Cup 1st – 120.00 |
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| 4 | Zhu Jiner
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128.00 | 2 | World Blitz 2024 T 5th-8th – 8.00 |
Grand Prix 1st – 120.00 |
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| 5 | Aleksandra Goryachkina
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100.00 | 1 | Grand Prix 2nd – 100.00 |
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| 6 | Ju Wenjun
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86.50 | 2 | World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
World Blitz 2024 1st – 48.00 |
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| 7 |  Anna Muzychuk
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80.00 | 1 | Grand Prix 3rd – 80.00 |
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| 8 | Lei Tingjie
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62.00 | 2 | World Blitz 2024 2nd – 32.00 |
World Cup 4th – 30.00 |
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| 9 | Harika Dronavalli
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58.50 | 2 | World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
World Cup T 5th-8th – 20.00 |
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| 10 | Kateryna Lagno
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54.50 | 2 | World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
World Blitz 2024 T 3rd-4th – 16.00 |
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| 11 |  Bibisara Assaubayeva
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39.40 | 3 | World Rapid 2024 T 8th-12th – 1.40 |
World Blitz 2024 T 5th-8th – 8.00 |
Grand Prix 6th – 30.00 |
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| 12 |  Afruza Khamdamova
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38.50 | 1 | World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
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| 13 |  Alexandra Kosteniuk
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38.50 | 1 | World Rapid 2024 T 2nd-7th – 38.50 |
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| 14 | Vaishali Rameshbabu
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36.00 | 2 | World Blitz 2024 T 3rd-4th – 16.00 |
World Cup T 5th-8th – 20.00 |
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| 15 | 25.00 | 2 | Grand Prix T 8th-9th – 5.00 |
World Cup T 5th-8th – 20.00 |
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| 16 | 20.00 | 1 | World Cup T 5th-8th – 20.00 |
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| 17 | Valentina Gunina
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8.00 | 1 | World Blitz 2024 T 5th-8th – 8.00 |
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| 18 |  Carissa Yip
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8.00 | 1 | World Blitz 2024 T 5th-8th – 8.00 |
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| 19 | Mariya Muzychuk
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6.40 | 2 | World Rapid 2024 T 8th-12th – 1.40 |
Grand Prix T 8th-9th – 5.00 |
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| 20 |  Irene Kharisma Sukandar
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1.40 | 1 | World Rapid 2024 T 8th-12th – 1.40 |
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| 21 |  Deysi Cori
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1.40 | 1 | World Rapid 2024 T 8th-12th – 1.40 |
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| 22 |  Stavroula Tsolakidou
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1.40 | 1 | World Rapid 2024 T 8th-12th – 1.40 |
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References
[edit]
- ^ "FIDE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CYCLE 2025-2026". FIDE. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
- ^ "Qualification paths for FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 finalized". FIDE. 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
- ^ a b "FIDE WOMEN'S EVENTS 2024-2025". FIDE. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
Notes
[edit]| Tournament format | |
|---|---|
| Match format | |
| Knock-out format | |
| Alternating format | |
| Match format | |
