Grandmaster Of All Trades: FIDE Launches New Tour To Crown The Ultimate All-Format Champion

Last Updated:October 15, 2025, 19:50 IST

FIDE and Norway Chess launch the Total Chess World Championship Tour, uniting Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz formats to crown a World Combined Champion from 2027.

(Credit: X)

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has approved a groundbreaking new competition created by Norway Chess, designed to identify the world’s most complete chess player.

Announced on Wednesday, the tournament — titled the Total Chess World Championship Tour — will combine three time formats: Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz, to crown a single World Combined Champion each season.

A Global, All-Format Chess Revolution

The new format represents a major shift from traditional world championships, which typically focus on one format — classical chess. The Total Chess World Championship Tour will feature four tournaments each year, hosted in cities across the world. Points will be accumulated across all events, and the player with the highest total will earn the official FIDE World Combined Champion title.

A pilot event will debut in late 2026, with the first full championship season launching in 2027. Each of the first three tournaments will boast a $750,000 prize pool, while the season finale — featuring the top four players — will award at least $450,000.

“This will be a game-changer, both for the players and the fans," said Kjell Madland, CEO of Norway Chess.

“We’re looking for the total chess player — someone versatile, tactically sharp, and adaptable to multiple time controls."

Faster Games, Broader Appeal

To make the sport more engaging for audiences, the Fast Classic format will replace standard marathon-length classical games with 45 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment per move.

Organisers believe this will make matches faster, more dynamic, and easier to broadcast live — appealing to a growing global online audience.

The innovation also reflects a broader shift in professional chess, as quicker formats like Rapid and Blitz gain popularity among both fans and elite players.

Carlsen’s Influence and the Freestyle Factor

The tour’s approval comes just months after former world champion Magnus Carlsen — also Norwegian — launched his own Freestyle Chess Tour, based on Fischer Random starting positions.

Unlike the Total Chess Tour, Carlsen’s series remains unsanctioned by FIDE, underscoring ongoing tensions between the federation and independent innovators in the chess world.

Carlsen, who held the world title from 2013 to 2023, chose not to defend it further, citing a lack of motivation for traditional formats. Instead, he has focused on creative, fast-paced competitions, recently winning the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.

Still, Carlsen praised FIDE’s new initiative:

“This seems like a well-thought-out step to further develop chess. Bringing multiple formats together under a single title will give a more complete view of players’ strengths — and the time controls suit today’s players and audience."

(with agency inputs)

Siddarth Sriram

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...Read More

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...

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