GothamChess, “Magnus Carlsen returns to the World Chess Championship”
The chess world has a World Chess Championship 2026, where Gukesh will battle with the winner of Candidates 2026. It also has a World Rapid & Blitz Championships that will take place in December. There used to be a Fisher Random / Freestyle / Chess960 World Championship as well.
Now the chess world will have a new Total World Chess Championship format. Norway Chess launches New World Championship format in 2026, approved by FIDE, and titled Total World Chess Championship. It will consist of four events each year and crown a combined champion across three disciplines – Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz chess. See what is Fast Classic here
In a video titled “Magnus Carlsen returns to the World Chess Championship”, GothamChess analyses the events around the Total Chess World Championship. What is not clear from the title is that GothamChess means “Magnus Carlsen returns to the Total Chess World Championship” and in no way there is guarantee Magnus Carlsen will use the opportunity to continue to the Candidates, nor the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship. See the full video of GothamChess below where he notes the positive, negative, and hilarious.
Total Chess World Championship timeline
15.10 Total World Chess Championship announced
15.10 Reuters: Norway Chess gets approval for combined Total World Chess Title
15.10 Indian Express: Total Chess will be the fourth World Chess Championship
15.10 Two players from the Total World Chess Championship qualify for Candidates
15.10 Brian Karen: “There are tours within tours, finals after finals…”
15.10 Hans Niemann, “There has never been a better time to be a chess professional, kudos to FIDE”
15.10 Anish Giri, “Very messy”
16.10. Hikaru Nakamura, “Interplanetary Galactic Total World Chess Championship”
16.10. Magnus Carlsen, “Total Chess World Championship seems like a well-thought-out step”
16.10 Nakamura says no mention of Total Chess World Championship in the Norway Chess 2026 invitation
16.10 Jacob Aagaard about Total Chess World Championship, “Hopefully this is the end of the rating spot for Candidates”
16.10 Anand about Total Chess World Championship, “Chess at its best is about the entire range”
16.10. Susan Polgar on the Total Chess World Championship