Magnus Carlsen (left) and D Gukesh (right) square off in Norwegian chess. (Image: Norwegian Chess) NEW DELHI: The chess world is witnessing a major shake-up as FIDE has officially approved a brand new World Championship format called ‘Total Chess World Championship Tour’ which will be organized by Norwegian Chess.The goal is to find the “Total Chess Player”, someone who can play all “rated” formats.The Tour will combine Fast Classical (45 minutes + 30 second increments), Rapid and Blitz, with each season consisting of four events and a minimum annual prize pool of $2.7 million.
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The pilot event is scheduled for fall 2026, followed by a full championship season in 2027. However, the announcement has raised several questions not only from fans but also from players.TimesofIndia.com spoke to Norwegian Chess CEO Kjell Madland and COO Benedicte Westre Skog to unravel the details, from the format and business model to issues around women’s representation, the absence of freestyle chess and the future of original Norwegian chess.What Makes It “Total Chess”“This is a completely new concept,” says Madland, who is also tournament director for Norwegian Chess. “It will include all ranked formats and that’s why we’re calling it the Total Chess World Championship Tour. We’ll have four tournaments every year and we want to do it differently than other championship systems.”Norwegian chess has long been considered a pioneer of tournament innovation.Over the years, it has introduced time control experiments, Armageddon tiebreakers, and even a “confession booth” for player interviews.“Norwegian chess is known all over the world,” says Madland. “The fans were asking us to expand, maybe to do events in other countries. So we started thinking, how can we take what we do well and expand it? That’s how this idea came about.”What will happen to the old Norwegian chess?
(left to right) Norwegian World Total Chess Championship COO Benedicte Westre Skog, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Norwegian World Total Chess Championship CEO Kjell Madland. (FIDE)
Since the announcement, many have questioned whether this new championship will replace the traditional Norwegian chess tournament held annually in Stavanger.“In 2026, we will organize Norwegian Chess as in previous years, with one tournament for men and one for women, both offering the same prizes. This is planned for May and June next year,” confirms Madland.“For 2027 and beyond, we will need to carefully consider the international calendar and the availability of the best players. We love Norwegian chess and hope to continue playing it if possible, but we cannot confirm the details for 2027 yet. It is still in development.”How will the Total Chess Tour qualifiers work?24 players will participate in each event. Madland explains that the qualification will not be limited to the highest ranked players.“24 players will qualify in different ways,” he confirms. “Some spots will be by ranking, maybe 10, 15 or 16 players, and of course the winners of the Rapid and Blitz tournaments will qualify. Also maybe through the FIDE circuit system or other tournaments. Players will be able to qualify.”In addition to qualifying on the basis of performance, the organizers have committed to regional representation, which means that at least two players from the host country will be included in each event.“We will always have at least two players from the country where we play. So it is possible for local players to participate,” adds the CEO.What will the tournament format look like?
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Director General of the Norwegian Total Chess Championship Kjell Madland.
The format of the tournament will start with group stages followed by knockout rounds.“There will be some sort of group stage at each location first,” explains Madland. “We’ll have seeding pots. We’ll have players 1-4 ranked in Pot 1 seeding, 5-8 in Pot 2 seeding, etc. The draw will take place the day before everything kicks off, so the strength of each group will probably be equal.“Each player plays the same number of games. If you are number one in each group, you will play against number one in the other groups. Number two will play number two, three will play three, and so on.”“There will also be an option for new players to come from place to place. Some players will leave after one place and new players can join,” he reveals.“And the pre-tournament draw ceremony will make it fun to watch. Fans get to see who is playing who and that builds excitement before the first match is even played.”Where is the business side of things now?Creating a four-race global championship requires deep pockets and long-term planning. COO Skog admits that the financial scale is significant.“In terms of revenue, of course, having four tournaments with high prize money means that the cost of that is going to be very high,” he says.“We need to find partners, many different types of partners. First, we are actively looking for investors right now for a relatively short period of time. Then it will be sponsors, hopefully media partners and also host cities that can help make this happen.”No women’s edition yetOne of the main points of discussion was the absence of a separate women’s championship in this planned Total Chess Tour.Norwegian chess has previously been celebrated for offering equal prize money to men and women, which is surprising to some.“We’ve had a lot of discussions about how we should include women because it’s important for us to do good things for women in chess. So yes, first of all, if there are women who can qualify for this new challenge, of course it’s possible,” explains Madland.“But we will continue to have a strong women’s tournament like we have in Norwegian Chess, and we will have that next year. That will continue. Later we will see if it is possible to have the same system for women.”“Obviously, that’s something we want to do, but for now, at the beginning, we have to do it with what we’ve decided now, and not the same system for women in this World Total Chess Championship.”Why is it not free chess?With Magnus Carlsen’s recent success in promoting Freestyle Chess (Chess960 or Fischer Random) and including top grandmasters, fans naturally expected to be included in the tour to claim the “Total” player’s crown.Madland is quick to fix it.“We always want to have rated formats in our tournaments,” he says. “Freestyle chess is not ranked and already has its own tour. We think there is room for both, but this championship focuses on ranked formats.”Skog adds: “Freestyle is a completely different event. What we’re building is about testing players across formats that are part of the official ecosystem.”
