Jacob Aagaard about Total Chess World Championship, “Hopefully this is the end of the rating spot for Candidates”
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
Jacob Aagaard, custodian of the New in Chess Group and part of http://killerchesstraining.com, shared his opinion on the Total Chess World Championship 2026-2027. He talks about the significance of adding new events to the calendar, the fast classic time control, the Candidates spots and more. Scroll down for the full interview with Jacob Aagaard.
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
What do you think of the newly created Total Chess World Championship?
To me all new events, which can generate interest for chess are a positive. As long as they do not replace other events, I am happy to see new events. Freestyle, e-sports, and now this. I think a diverse chess scene is a good thing.
What is innovative in the Total Chess World Championship?
It is the first time all three formats are put together. In theory. And then again not, because that’s the World Cup. It is as innovative as playing on a board with green and white squares.
Fast Classical is still in a pilot phase, but it will be an integral part of the Total Chess World Championship. What is your opinion and experience with the new time control?
I am happy it has found a home and a function for the people who want to speed things up. Perhaps they will feel less inclined to mess with the Classical time control?
Who benefits from the new World title?
Firstly, the organisers. They are Norwegians and they will have spoken to Carlsen, who will participate, one will assume. This is a good thing for chess. Perhaps we all benefit.
The FIDE World Championship has FIDE World Championship (open) and FIDE Women World Championship. What are the pros and cons of having Total Chess World Championship with no differentiation?
There is also a blitz and a rapid World Champion. We should remember that other sports have these crossover champions. Triathlon. And it is rare those are the best in any of the specific fields. It is of course a gimmick. You will see people that do not accept Anand winning the World Championship in 2000 as genuine Champion that year, but will claim this is more than the Classical title. I think the internet will do what it will do, and we should not care.
The question is where do the players want to lay their hat. No one followed Carlsen in his fight with FIDE in January. Nakamura has now quit Freestyle. If this title becomes the more prestigious one over time, I am OK with it. If it wins in open competition, so be it. But don’t defund the Classical Championship, or otherwise devalue it, to make it so, which has always been the suggestions so far.
Two players of the Total Chess World Championship qualify for the Candidates. This is a change to the established World Championship cycle. What is your opinion?
I would only have one. Hopefully, this is the end of the rating spot, which has been an endless disaster. It is probably more appropriate than the World Cup, where some players have qualified almost exclusively from rapid.
Going back to the recent upcoming events, two major ones are coming – the European Club Cup Cup 2025 and the FIDE World Chess Cup 2025. Are you going to follow them?
I will, the World Cup more closely. I often follow players I work with, or like. Sometimes work just eats all my attention.