Candidates Tournament

For the most recent Candidates Tournament, see Candidates Tournament 2026.

The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion.

Before 1993 it was contested triennially; almost always held every third year from 1950 to 1992 inclusive. After the split of the World Championship in the early 1990s, the cycles were disrupted, even after the reunification of the titles in 2006. Since 2013 it has settled into a 2-year cycle: qualification for Candidates during the odd-numbered year, Candidates played early in the even-numbered year, and the World Championship match played late in the even-numbered year. The latter half of the 2020 Candidates Tournament was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was only played in April 2021. The subsequent tournament, the 2022 Candidates Tournament, took place as scheduled in 2022.

Precursors

Before 1950, the champion had the right to handpick a challenger. However, a number of tournaments acted as de facto candidates tournaments:

• The London 1883 chess tournament established Johannes Zukertort and Wilhelm Steinitz as the best two players in the world, and was one of the important events leading to the first official world championship match between the two, in 1886. Steinitz won, making him the first official world champion.
• The Saint Petersburg 1895–96 chess tournament, in which world champion Emanuel Lasker finished first and Steinitz finished second, led to Steinitz gaining support for an 1897 rematch, which Lasker won.
• The AVRO 1938 chess tournament was held partly to choose a challenger for Alexander Alekhine. Paul Keres won on tie-breaks, but World War II prevented the match from happening.

Organization

Candidates Tournament 1956 Amsterdam: 10 players

The number of players in the tournament varied over the years, between eight and fifteen players. Most of these qualified from Interzonal tournaments, though some gained direct entry without having to play the Interzonal.

The first Interzonal/Candidates World Championship cycle began in 1948. Before 1965, the tournament was organized in a round-robin format. From 1965 on, the tournament was played as knockout matches, spread over several months. In 1995–1996, the defending FIDE champion (Anatoly Karpov) also entered the Candidates, in the third round (Candidates final).

During its 1993 to 2006 split from FIDE, the "Classical" World Championship also held three Candidates Tournaments (in 1994–1995, 1998 and 2002) under a different sponsor and a different format each time. In one of these cases (Alexei Shirov in 1998) no title match eventuated, under disputed circumstances (see Classical World Chess Championship 2000).

After the reunification of titles in 2006, FIDE tried different Candidates formats in 2007, 2009 and 2011, before settling on an 8 player, double round robin Candidates tournament from 2013 onwards.

Winners (since 2011)

Edition	Host city	Prize fund	Winner	Runner-up	Third
2011	Kazan, Russia	€ 500,000	Boris Gelfand	Alexander Grischuk	–
2013	London, United Kingdom	€ 510,000	Magnus Carlsen	Vladimir Kramnik	Peter Svidler
2014	Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia	€ 420,000	Viswanathan Anand	Sergey Karjakin	Vladimir Kramnik
2016	Moscow, Russia	€ 420,000	Sergey Karjakin	Fabiano Caruana	Viswanathan Anand
2018	Berlin, Germany	€ 420,000	Fabiano Caruana	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	Sergey Karjakin
2020–21	Yekaterinburg, Russia	€ 500,000	Ian Nepomniachtchi	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	Anish Giri
2022	Madrid, Spain	€ 500,000	Ian Nepomniachtchi	Ding Liren	Teimour Radjabov
2024	Toronto, Canada	€ 500,000	Gukesh Dommaraju	Hikaru Nakamura	Ian Nepomniachtchi
2026	Paphos, Cyprus	€ 700,000	Javokhir Sindarov	Anish Giri	Fabiano Caruana

Results of Candidates Tournaments

The tables below show the qualifiers and results for all interzonal, Candidates and world championship tournaments.

• Players shown bracketed in italics (Bondarevsky, Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky in 1950, Botvinnik in 1965, Fischer in 1977, Carlsen in 2011 and 2024, and Radjabov in 2020) qualified for the Candidates or were seeded in the Candidates, but did not play.
• Players shown in italics with an asterisk (Stein* in 1962 and again in 1965, and Bronstein* in 1965) were excluded from the Candidates by a rule limiting the number of players from one country.
• Karjakin* in 2022 was disqualified by FIDE after his qualification for the Candidates: the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission ruled that he breached Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE Code of Ethics after he made public comments approving of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is shown bracketed, in italics, and with an asterisk.
• Players listed after players in italics (Flohr in 1950, Benko in 1962, Geller, Ivkov and Portisch in 1965, Spassky in 1977, Grischuk in 2011, Vachier-Lagrave in 2020, Ding in 2022, and Abasov in 2024) only qualified due to the non-participation (withdrawal) of the bracketed players or players with an asterisk.
• Incumbent champions' names are struck through when they refused to defend their title (Fischer in 1975 and Carlsen in 2023).

Normally, the incumbent champion is seeded directly into the final against the challenger (who had to pass through the Candidates qualification), but there have been exceptions:

• The World Chess Championship 1948, in which five players were seeded into the championship tournament (the previous champion, Alexander Alekhine, having died in 1946). A sixth player, Fine, was also seeded into the championship tournament but chose not to play; he is shown in brackets.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, in which the FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov was seeded in the Candidates final.
• The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, in which two players were seeded into the championship final (one of them being incumbent champion Kasparov), and there were no previous qualifying stages. In this way, it resembled the pre-1946 events, in which the champion could handpick a challenger.
• The FIDE championships of 1999–2004 (during the split-title period), in which the incumbent champion had no special privileges.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, in which eight players (including incumbent FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov) were seeded into the final championship tournament.
• The FIDE World Chess Championship 2007, in which four players (including incumbent champion Kramnik) were seeded into the final championship tournament.

The incumbent champion Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title at the World Chess Championship 1975, and his challenger Anatoly Karpov won by forfeit. (At the time, the Candidates was a knock-out event, so the 1974 Karpov–Korchnoi Candidates final match – a best of 24 games, like world championships in the period 1951–1972 and 1985–1993 – arguably became a de facto world championship in retrospect.) Magnus Carlsen refused to defend his title at the World Chess Championship 2023 and was replaced by the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament, Ding Liren.

Interzonal and Candidates tournaments (1948–1996)

World Championship selection cycles from 1948 to 1996

Year	Selection of participants			Championship
1948	1938 AVRO winners	Paul Keres Reuben Fine		The Hague/Moscow 1948 Quintuple round robin: 1 Botvinnik 14/20 2 Smyslov 11 3-4 Keres 10½ 3-4 Reshevsky 10½ 5 Euwe 4
	Multiple US Champion	Samuel Reshevsky
	Former World Champion	Max Euwe
	Soviet Champion	Mikhail Botvinnik
	Soviet grandmaster	Vasily Smyslov
Year	Interzonal tournaments		Candidates tournaments		Championship
	Format	Qualifiers	Results	Contestants	Results
1948–51	1948 participants	Smyslov Keres Euwe Fine Reshevsky	Budapest 1950 Double round robin 10 players 1-2 Boleslavsky 1-2 Bronstein 3 Smyslov 4 Keres Playoff: Bronstein beat Boleslavsky	Candidates winner: Bronstein Defending champion: Botvinnik	Moscow 1951 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Botvinnik retained title
	Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1948: Single round robin 20 players 8 qualified	1 Bronstein 2 Szabo 3 Boleslavsky 4 Kotov 5 Lilienthal 6-9 Najdorf 6-9 Ståhlberg 6-9 Bondarevsky 6-9 Flohr
1952–54	1951 runner up	Bronstein	Zürich 1953 Double round robin 15 players 1 Smyslov 2-4 Bronstein 2-4 Keres 2-4 Reshevsky	Candidates winner: Smyslov Defending champion: Botvinnik	Moscow 1954 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Botvinnik retained title
	Candidates 2nd-5th	Boleslavsky Smyslov Keres Najdorf
	1948 participants	Reshevsky Euwe
	Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1952 Single round robin 21 players 8 qualified	1 Kotov 2-3 Taimanov 2-3 Petrosian 4 Geller 5-8 Averbakh 5-8 Ståhlberg 5-8 Szabo 5-8 Gligorić
1955–57	1954 runner up	Smyslov	Amsterdam 1956 Double round robin 10 players 1 Smyslov 2 Keres	Candidates winner: Smyslov Defending champion: Botvinnik	Moscow 1957 24-game match Smyslov won 12½–9½
	Gothenburg 1955 Single round robin 21 players 9 qualified	1 Bronstein 2 Keres 3 Panno 4 Petrosian 5-6 Geller 5-6 Szabo 7–9 Filip 7–9 Pilnik 7–9 Spassky
1958	Rematch			Botvinnik Smyslov	Moscow 1958 24-game match Botvinnik won 12½–10½
1958–60	1958 runner up	Smyslov	Yugoslavia 1959 Quadruple round robin 8 players 1 Tal 2 Keres 3 Petrosian 4 Smyslov	Candidates winner: Tal Defending champion: Botvinnik	Moscow 1960 24-game match Tal won 12½–8½
	1956 Candidates runner up	Keres
	Portorož 1958 Single round robin 21 players 6 qualified	1 Tal 2 Gligorić 3-4 Petrosian 3-4 Benko 5-6 Friðrik 5-6 Fischer
1961	Rematch			Botvinnik Tal	Moscow 1961 24-game match Botvinnik won 13–8
1962–63	1961 runner up	Tal	Curaçao 1962 Quadruple round robin 8 players 1 Petrosian; 2 Keres 3 Geller 4 Fischer	Candidates winner: Petrosian Defending champion: Botvinnik	Moscow 1963 24-game match Petrosian won 12½–9½
	1959 Candidates runner up	Keres
	Stockholm 1962 Single round robin 23 players 6 qualified	1 Fischer 2-3 Geller 2-3 Petrosian 4-5 Korchnoi 4-5 Filip 6-8 Stein* 6-8 Benko
1964–66	1963 runner up	Botvinnik	1965: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Spassky beat Geller Tal beat Larsen Final: Spassky beat Tal	Candidates winner: Spassky Defending champion: Petrosian	Moscow 1966 24-game match Petrosian won 12½–11½
	1962 Candidates	Keres Geller
	Amsterdam 1964 Single round robin 24 players 6 qualified	1-4 Smyslov 1-4 Larsen 1-4 Spassky 1-4 Tal 5 Stein* 6 Bronstein* 7 Ivkov 8-9 Portisch
1967–69	1966 runner up	Spassky	1968: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Tal Spassky beat Larsen Final: Spassky beat Korchnoi	Candidates winner: Spassky Defending champion: Petrosian	Moscow 1969 24-game match Spassky won 12½–10½
	1965 Candidates runner up	Tal
	Sousse 1967 Single round robin 23 players 6 qualified	1 Larsen 2-4 Korchnoi 2-4 Geller 2-4 Gligorić 5 Portisch 6-8 Reshevsky
1970–72	1969 runner up	Petrosian	1971: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Petrosian beat Korchnoi Fischer beat Larsen Final: Fischer beat Petrosian	Candidates winner: Fischer Defending champion: Spassky	Reykjavík 1972 24-game match Fischer won 12½–8½
	1968 Candidates runner up	Korchnoi
	Palma de Mallorca 1970 Single round robin 24 players 6 qualified	1 Fischer 2-4 Larsen 2-4 Geller 2-4 Hübner 5-6 Taimanov 5-6 Uhlmann
1973–75	1972 runner up	Spassky	1974: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Petrosian Karpov beat Spassky Final: Karpov beat Korchnoi	Candidates winner: Karpov Defending champion: Fischer	1975: Karpov won on forfeit
	1971 Candidates runner up	Petrosian
	1973: Two single round robins 18 players each 3 qualified from each	Leningrad 1973: 1-2 Korchnoi 1-2 Karpov 3 Byrne
		Petropolis 1973: 1 Mecking 2-4 Portisch 2-4 Polugaevsky
1976–78	1975 runner up	Fischer	1977: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky Spassky beat Portisch Final: Korchnoi beat Spassky	Candidates winner: Korchnoi Defending champion: Karpov	Baguio 1978 First to 6 wins Karpov won 6–5 after 32 games (draws not counting)
	1974 Candidates	Korchnoi Spassky
	1976: Two single round robins 20 players each 3 qualified from each	Biel 1976: 1 Larsen 2-4 Petrosian 2-4 Portisch
		Manila 1976: 1 Mecking 2-3 Polugaevsky 2-3 Hort
1979–81	1978 runner up	Korchnoi	1980: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky Hübner beat Portisch Final: Korchnoi beat Hübner	Candidates winner: Korchnoi Defending champion: Karpov	Meran 1981 First to 6 wins Karpov won 6–2 after 18 games (draws not counting)
	1977 Candidates runner up	Spassky
	1979: Two single round robins 18 players each 3 qualified from each	Riga 1979: 1-2 Tal 1-2 Polugaevsky 3-4 Adorján
		Rio de Janeiro 1979: 1-3 Portisch 1-3 Petrosian 1-3 Hübner
1982–85	1981 runner up	Korchnoi	1983–84: 8 players, matches Semi-finals, 1983: Kasparov beat Korchnoi Smyslov beat Ribli Final, 1984: Kasparov beat Smyslov	Candidates winner: Kasparov Defending champion: Karpov	Moscow 1984–85 First to 6 wins Abandoned after 48 games ( Karpov led 5–3, draws not counting)
	1980 Candidates runner up	Hübner
	1982: Three single round robins 14 players each 2 qualified from each	Las Palmas 1982: 1 Ribli 2 Smyslov
		Toluca 1982: 1-2 Portisch 1-2 Torre
		Moscow 1982: 1 Kasparov 2 Beliavsky
1985	Replay			Karpov Kasparov	Moscow 1985 24-game match Kasparov won 13–11
1986	Rematch			Karpov Kasparov	London/Leningrad 1986 24-game match Kasparov won 12½–11½
1985–87	1986 runner up (seeded into Candidates final)	Karpov	Montpellier 1985: Single round robin tournament 16 players, top 4 qualify 1-3 Yusupov 1-3 Sokolov 1-3 Vaganian 4-5 Timman 1986: Two rounds of matches Semi-finals: Yusupov beat Timman Sokolov beat Vaganian Final: Sokolov beat Yusupov Challenger Match Linares, 1987: Karpov beat Sokolov	Candidates winner: Karpov Defending champion: Kasparov	Seville 1987 24-game match Drawn 12–12 Kasparov retained title
	1983–84 Candidates semi-finalists	Korchnoi Ribli Smyslov
	Organiser's wildcard	Spassky
	1985: 3 single round robins 16–18 players each 4 qualified from each	Biel 1985: 1 Vaganian 2 Seirawan 3 Sokolov 4-6 Short
		Taxco 1985: 1 Timman 2 Nogueiras 3 Tal 4 Spraggett
		Tunis 1985: 1 Yusupov 2 Beliavsky 3 Portisch 4-5 Chernin
1987–90	1987 runner-up (seeded into quarter-finals)	Karpov	1988–89: 15 players, matches Semi-finals (1989): Karpov beat Yusupov Timman beat Speelman Final (1990): Karpov beat Timman	Candidates winner: Karpov Defending champion: Kasparov	New York City/Lyon 1990 24-game match Kasparov won 12½–11½
	1986 semi-finalists	Sokolov Timman Vaganian Yusupov
	Organiser's wildcard	Spraggett
	1987: Three single round robins 17–18 players each 3 qualified from each	Subotica 1987: 1-3 Sax 1-3 Short 1-3 Speelman
		Szirák 1987: 1-2 Salov 1-2 Hjartarson 3-4 Portisch
		Zagreb 1987: 1 Korchnoi 2-3 Seirawan 2-3 Ehlvest
1990–93	1990 runner up (seeded into quarter-finals)	Karpov	1991–92: 15 players, matches Semi-finals (1992): Short beat Karpov Timman beat Yusupov Final (1993): Short beat Timman	Candidates winner: Short Defending champion: Kasparov	London September–October 1993 24-game match Kasparov defeated Short 12½–7½ under the auspices of the PCA
	1989 Candidates semi-finalists	Timman Yusupov Speelman
	Manila 1990 64 players Swiss 11 qualified	1-2 Gelfand 1-2 Ivanchuk 3-4 Anand 3-4 Short 5-11 Sax 5-11 Korchnoi 5-11 Hübner 5-11 Nikolić 5-11 Yudasin 5-11 Dolmatov 5-11 Dreev		Candidates finalist: Timman Former world champion: Karpov	Netherlands /Jakarta September–November 1993 24-game match Karpov defeated Timman 12½–8½ under the auspices of FIDE
1993–95 (PCA)	1993 PCA runner-up	Short	1994–95: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Kamsky beat Short Anand beat Adams Final (1995): Anand beat Kamsky	Candidates winner: Anand Defending PCA champion: Kasparov	New York City September–October 1995 20-game match Kasparov won 10½–7½
	Groningen December 1993 54 player Swiss 7 qualified	1-2 Adams 1-2 Anand 3-7 Kamsky 3-7 Kramnik 3-7 Tiviakov 3-7 Gulko 3-7 Romanishin
1993–96 (FIDE)	1993 FIDE World Champion (seeded into Candidates final)	Karpov	1994: Two rounds of matches 12 players Finals, 1995: Karpov beat Gelfand Kamsky beat Salov	Candidates final match winners: Karpov Kamsky	Elista 1996 20-game match Karpov won 10½–7½
	1993 FIDE Candidates semi-finalists	Timman Yusupov
	Biel July 1993 73 players Swiss 10 qualified	1 Gelfand 2-9 Van der Sterren 2-9 Kamsky 2-9 Khalifman 2-9 Adams 2-9 Yudasin 2-9 Salov 2-9 Lautier 2-9 Kramnik 10-15 Anand

Split titles (1997–2005)

After 1996, interzonals ceased to exist, but FIDE continued to organize qualifying zonal tournaments.

Classical championships (1998–2004)
Years	Candidates format	Seeded into Candidates		Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final
1998 (Classical)	Cazorla, May–June 1998 10-game match	Kramnik Shirov (on rating)		Shirov won 5½–3½	Kasparov (1995 champion)	Match never took place
2000 (Classical)	None				Kasparov (1995 champion) Kramnik (on rating)	London, October–November 2000 16-game match Kramnik won 8½–6½
2002–2004 (Classical)	Dortmund, July 2002 Two double round-robins, top two in each group advanced to knockout matches	Preliminaries: Group 1: 1. Shirov 2. Topalov 3. Gelfand 4. Lutz Group 2: 1. Bareev 2. Leko 3. Adams 4. Morozevich	Semi-finals: Leko beat Shirov Topalov beat Bareev	Leko (beat Topalov in the final)	Kramnik (2000 Classical champion)	Brissago, September–October 2004 14-game match Drawn 7–7, Kramnik retained title
FIDE championships (1997–2005)
Years	Candidates format	Seeded into Candidates		Finalists		Championship Final
1997–1998 (FIDE)	Groningen December 1997, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament Winner plays 6-game championship match against Karpov	97 players, Quarter-finalists: Adams, Van Wely, Short, Krasenkov, Gelfand, Dreev, Anand, Shirov.		Anand (beat Adams in candidates final) Karpov (1996 FIDE champion)		Lausanne: January 1998 6-game match Drawn 3–3; Karpov won rapid playoff 2–0
1999 (FIDE)	Las Vegas July–August 1999, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament	100 players, Quarter-finalists: Kramnik, Adams, Movsesian, Akopian, Shirov, Nisipeanu, Khalifman and J. Polgar		Semi-finals (4-game matches): Khalifman beat Nisipeanu Akopian beat Adams		Las Vegas 1999 6-game match Khalifman won 3½–2½
2000 (FIDE)	New Delhi (6 rounds)/final in Tehran November–December 2000 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with final match played in Tehran	100 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Khalifman, Adams, Topalov, Tkachiev, Grischuk, Shirov and Bareev		Semi-finals (4-game matches): Anand beat Adams, Shirov beat Grischuk		Tehran December 2000 6-game match Anand won 3½–½
2001–2002 (FIDE)	Moscow 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls first part (6 rounds): 25 November – 14 December 2001 final: 16–24 January 2002	128 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Lautier, Svidler, Gelfand, Ponomariov and Bareev		Semi-finals (4-game matches): Ponomariov beat Svidler, Ivanchuk beat Anand		Moscow, January 2002 8-game match Ponomariov won 4½–2½
2004 (FIDE)	Tripoli June–July 2004 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls	128 players, Quarter-finalists: Topalov, Kharlov, Kasimdzhanov, Grischuk, Radjabov, Dominguez, Adams, Akopian		Semi-finals (4-game matches): Adams beat Radjabov Kasimdzhanov beat Topalov		Tripoli, July 2004 6-game match Drawn 3–3; Kasimdzhanov won rapid playoff 1½–½
FIDE World Chess Championship, 2005
Year	Candidates format		Seeded in Final			Championship Final
2005 (FIDE)	None, 8 players seeded in final:		Kasimdzhanov (FIDE champion); Adams (as FIDE 2004 finalist); Leko (as classical 2004 finalist), Morozevich (on rating) Topalov (on rating), Anand (on rating), J. Polgár (on rating) Svidler (on rating)			San Luis: 8 players, double round robin, September–October 2005 1 Topalov: 10/14 2-3 Anand 8½/14 2-3 Svidler 8½/14 4 Morozevich 7/14

Reunified title (since 2006)

After the reunification of the FIDE and "classical" titles, the Chess World Cup and FIDE Grand Prix series were introduced as qualification for the Candidates Tournament. The Swiss-system FIDE Grand Swiss was introduced in the latter half of 2019, acting as another qualification path for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Reunification Match
Year			Seeded in Final		Championship Match
2006	Reunification match		Topalov (FIDE champion) Kramnik (Classical champion)		Elista, October 2006 12-game match Drawn 6–6 Kramnik won rapid playoff 2½–1½
World Chess Championships after the Reunification
Years	Qualification format	Qualifiers	Candidates Format	Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final
2005–2007	FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 Champion	Kasimdzhanov	Candidates Matches 2007 Elista, May–June 2007 16 players, two rounds of matches 4 players qualify for championship tournament	Aronian Gelfand Grischuk Leko	Kramnik (2006 Champion) 2nd-4th in 2005: Anand Svidler Morozevich	Mexico City, September 2007 8 player double round robin tournament 1. Anand, 9.0/14 2-3 Kramnik 8.0/14 2-3 Gelfand 8.0/14
	Rating lists	Leko Adams Polgár Shirov Bacrot
	Chess World Cup 2005 Top 10 qualified (excluding rating qualifiers)	Ponomariov Aronian Grischuk Bareev Gelfand Rublevsky Gurevich Kamsky Carlsen Malakhov
2008	Rematch			Anand (2007 Champion) Kramnik (2006 Champion)		Bonn, October 2008 12-game match Anand won 6½–4½ to retain the title.
2007–2010	World Chess Championship 2006 Runner-up	Topalov	Candidates Match 2009 Sofia, February 2009 8-game match	Topalov (won 4½–2½)	Anand (2008 champion)	Sofia, April–May 2010 12-game match Anand won 6½–5½ to retain the title.
	Chess World Cup 2007 1st qualified	Kamsky
2008–2012	2009 Challenger Match Runner-up	Kamsky	Candidates Tournament 2011 Kazan, May 2011, 8 players, matches	Gelfand	Anand (2010 champion)	Moscow, May 2012 12-game match drawn 6–6 Anand won rapid playoff 2½–1½ to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2009 1st qualified	Gelfand
	2010 World Championship Runner-up	Topalov
	FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 Top 2 qualified	Aronian Radjabov Grischuk
	Rating lists Top two not yet qualified	Carlsen Kramnik
	Organiser's wildcard	Mamedyarov
2011–2013	2010 World Championship Runner-up	Gelfand	Candidates Tournament 2013 London, March 2013 8 player double round-robin tournament	Carlsen	Anand (2012 champion)	Chennai, November 2013 12-game match Carlsen won 6½–3½
	Chess World Cup 2011 Top 3 qualified	Svidler Grischuk Ivanchuk
	Rating lists	Carlsen Aronian Kramnik
	Organiser's wildcard	Radjabov
2012–2014	2013 World Championship Runner-up	Anand	Candidates Tournament 2014 Khanty-Mansiysk,, March 2014 8 player double round-robin tournament	Anand	Carlsen (2013 champion)	Sochi, November 2014 12-game match Carlsen won 6½-4½ to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2013 Top 2 qualified	Kramnik Andreikin
	FIDE Grand Prix 2012–2013 Top 2 qualified	Topalov Mamedyarov
	Rating lists	Aronian Karjakin
	Organiser's wildcard	Svidler
2014–2016	2014 World Championship Runner-up	Anand	Candidates Tournament 2016 Moscow, March 2016 8 player double round-robin tournament	Karjakin	Carlsen (2014 champion)	New York City, November 2016 12-game match drawn 6–6 Carlsen won rapid playoff 3–1 to retain the title
	FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 Top 2 qualified	Caruana Nakamura
	Chess World Cup 2015 Top 2 qualified	Karjakin Svidler
	Rating lists	Topalov Giri
	Organiser's wildcard	Aronian
2017–2018	2016 World Championship Runner-up	Karjakin	Candidates Tournament 2018 Berlin, March 2018 8 player double round-robin tournament	Caruana	Carlsen (2016 champion)	London, November 2018 12-game match drawn 6–6 Carlsen won rapid playoff 3–0 to retain the title
	Chess World Cup 2017 Top 2 qualified	Aronian Ding
	FIDE Grand Prix 2017 Top 2 qualified	Mamedyarov Grischuk
	Rating lists	Caruana So
	Organiser's wildcard	Kramnik
2019–2021	2018 World Championship Runner-up	Caruana	Candidates Tournament 2020–21 Yekaterinburg, Mar-Apr 2020 & Apr 2021 8 player double round-robin tournament	Nepomniachtchi	Carlsen (2018 champion)	Dubai, November–December 2021 14-game match Carlsen won to retain title, 7½–3½
	Chess World Cup 2019 Top 2 qualified	Radjabov Ding
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 1st qualified	Wang
	FIDE Grand Prix 2019 Top 2 qualified	Grischuk Nepomniachtchi
	Rating lists	Giri Vachier-Lagrave
	Organiser's wildcard	Alekseenko
2021–2023	2021 World Championship Runner-up	Nepomniachtchi	Candidates Tournament 2022 Madrid, June–July 2022 8 player double round-robin tournament	Nepomniachtchi Ding	Carlsen (2021 champion)	Astana, April–May 2023 14-game match drawn 7–7 Ding won rapid playoff 2½–1½
	Wildcard	Radjabov
	Chess World Cup 2021 Top 2 qualified	Duda Karjakin
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021 Top 2 qualified	Firouzja Caruana
	FIDE Grand Prix 2022 Top 2 qualified	Nakamura Rapport
	Rating list	Ding
2023–2024	2023 World Championship Runner-up	Nepomniachtchi	Candidates Tournament 2024 Toronto, April 2024 8 player double round-robin tournament	Gukesh	Ding (2023 champion)	Singapore, November–December 2024 14-game match Gukesh won 7½–6½
	Chess World Cup 2023 Top 3 qualified	Carlsen Praggnanandhaa Caruana Abasov
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 Top 2 qualified	Vidit Nakamura
	FIDE Circuit 2023 1st qualified	Gukesh
	Rating list	Firouzja
2024–2026	FIDE Circuit 2024 1st qualified	Caruana	Candidates Tournament 2026 Paphos, March–April 2026 8 player double round-robin tournament	Sindarov	Gukesh (2024 champion)	TBD
	FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025 Top 2 qualified	Giri Blübaum
	Chess World Cup 2025 Top 3 qualified	Sindarov Wei Esipenko
	FIDE Circuit 2025 1st qualified	Praggnanandhaa
	Rating list	Nakamura
Years	Qualification format	Qualifiers	Candidates Format	Candidates Winner(s)	Seeded in Final	Championship Final

See also

• Development of the Women's World Chess Championship

References

• FIDE World Championship events 1948-1990, Mark Weeks' chess pages
• World Championship events 1991-present, Mark Weeks' chess pages
• World Championships pages Archived 2018-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Rybka Chess Community Forum