Women's Candidates Tournament 2026

The FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 will be an eight-player chess tournament that will determine the challenger for the Women's World Chess Championship 2026. The tournament will take place at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, between 28 March and 16 April 2026. It will be held alongside the Candidates Tournament 2026.^[1][2]

It will be a double round-robin tournament. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to play the Women's World Chess Championship 2026 against the reigning Women's World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun.

The eight players to qualify will be:^[3]

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(February 2026)
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25	Zhu Jiner (winner)	23	2578	2
	Aleksandra Goryachkina (runner-up)	27	2534	7
The top three finishers in the Women's Chess World Cup 2025	Divya Deshmukh (winner)	20	2497	12
	Koneru Humpy (runner-up)	38	2535	6
	Tan Zhongyi (third place)	34	2535	5
The top two finishers in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2025	Vaishali Rameshbabu (winner)	24	2470	16
	Kateryna Lagno (runner-up)	36	2508	9
Highest place in the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25 not already qualified[a]	Bibisara Assaubayeva	21	2497	11

In conjunction with the Open Candidates Tournament 2026, the runner-up of the previous championship match no longer automatically qualifies, unlike any previous Women's Candidates Tournament. Instead, the 2025 match is part of the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25, a new qualification path which is a circuit that includes the 2024 and 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Grand Prix series, the World Cup and the Grand Swiss.^[4] A player's score is the sum of her highest scores in up to 5 qualifying events.^[5]

•  : Qualified for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026
•  : Current World Champion – ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification
•  : Player qualified for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 via another path
•  : Player ineligible for Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 qualification

The table is collapsed by default and can be sorted on any column.

Top 25 players as of December 2025^[5]

No.	Player	Points	Events	World Rapid 2024	World Blitz 2024	World Champ	Grand Prix	World Cup	Grand Swiss	World Rapid 2025	World Blitz 2025
1	Koneru Humpy	280.00	4	1st 84.00	—N/a	—N/a	4th 60.00	2nd 80.00	—N/a	T 2nd-3rd 56.00	—N/a
2	Tan Zhongyi	216.10	5	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—N/a	2nd 25.00	5th 40.00	3rd 50.00	T 3rd-5th 60.00	T 7th-14th 2.60	—N/a
3	Zhu Jiner	214.00	4	—N/a	T 5th-8th 8.00	—N/a	1st 120.00	—N/a	—N/a	2nd 70.00	T 3rd-4th 16.00
4	Aleksandra Goryachkina	185.78	3	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	2nd 100.00	—N/a	—N/a	1st 84.00	T 7th-15th 1.78
5	Vaishali Rameshbabu	176.30	4	—N/a	T 3rd-4th 16.00	—N/a	—N/a	T 5th-8th 20.00	T 1st-2nd 110.00	T 4th-6th 30.30	—N/a
6	Kateryna Lagno	167.10	4	T 2nd-7th 38.50	T 3rd-4th 16.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 1st-2nd 110.00	T 7th-14th 2.60	—N/a
7	Bibisara Assaubayeva	147.40	5	T 8th-12th 1.40	T 5th-8th 8.00	—N/a	6th 30.00	—N/a	T 3rd-5th 60.00	—N/a	1st 48.00
8	Divya Deshmukh	142.60	3	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	7th 20.00	1st 120.00	—N/a	T 7th-14th 2.60	—N/a
9	Anna Muzychuk	114.60	3	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	3rd 80.00	—N/a	—N/a	T 7th-14th 2.60	2nd 32.00
10	Ju Wenjun	86.50	2[b]	T 2nd-7th 38.50	1st 48.00	1st 0.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
11	Song Yuxin	81.78	3	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 5th-8th 20.00	T 3rd-5th 60.00	—N/a	T 7th-15th 1.78
12	Lei Tingjie	64.60	3	—N/a	2nd 32.00	—N/a	—N/a	4th 30.00	—N/a	T 7th-14th 2.60	—N/a
13	Harika Dronavalli	58.50	2	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 5th-8th 20.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
14	Afruza Khamdamova	38.50	1	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
	Alexandra Kosteniuk	41.10	2	T 2nd-7th 38.50	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 7th-14th 2.60	—N/a
16	Savitha Shri Baskar	30.30	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 4th-6th 30.30	—N/a
	Ekaterina Atalik	30.30	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 4th-6th 30.30	—N/a
18	Mariya Muzychuk	26.40	3	T 8th-12th 1.40	—N/a	—N/a	T 8th-9th 5.00	—N/a	T 6th-8th 20.00	—N/a	—N/a
19	Nana Dzagnidze	25.00	2	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 8th-9th 5.00	T 5th-8th 20.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
20	Irina Krush	20.00	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 6th-8th 20.00	—N/a	—N/a
	Ulviyya Fataliyeva	20.00	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 6th-8th 20.00	—N/a	—N/a
22	Valentina Gunina	16.00	1	—N/a	T 5th-8th 8.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	5th 8.00
	Eline Roebers	16.00	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	T 3rd-4th 16.00
24	Carissa Yip	8.00	1	—N/a	T 5th-8th 8.00	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
	Antoaneta Stefanova	8.00	1	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	6th 8.00

The tournament will be an eight-player, double round-robin tournament, meaning there will be 14 rounds with each player facing each of the others twice: once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces. The tournament winner will qualify to play Ju Wenjun for the World Championship in 2026.

The time control will be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 1. Players will get 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.

Tiebreaks for the first place will be addressed as follows:^[2]

• If two players are tied, they will play two rapid chess games at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If a three- to six-way tie occurs, a single round-robin will be played. If seven or eight players are tied, a single round-robin will be played with a time limit of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move.
• If any players are tied for first after the rapid chess games, they will play two blitz chess games at 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. In the case of more than two players being tied, a single round-robin will be played.
• If any players are still tied for first after these blitz chess games, the remaining players will play a knock-out blitz tournament at the same time control. In each mini-match of the proposed knock-out tournament, the first player to win a game will win the mini-match, or if there are two draws then an armageddon game will decide the match winner.

Ties for places other than first will be broken by, in order: (1) Sonneborn–Berger score; (2) total number of wins; (3) head-to-head score among tied players; (4) drawing of lots.

• Women's Candidates Tournament

• Official site, FIDE
• Regulations for the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, FIDE