The organizers of the Total Chess World Championship Tour published a proposal for the new Total Chess Rating system. The main idea of the system is to combine a player’s strengths into a single rating.

The Total Chess Rating is calculated from a player’s existing FIDE Classical, Rapid, and Blitz ratings. It uses the traditional Elo scale to reflect a player’s level. The Total Chess Rating is not an average of the three current ratings.

The new system exists separately from official FIDE ratings and does not affect them. FIDE will observe the Total Chess rating during the pilot testing period.

Total Chess released the system as a pilot for public review and feedback ahead of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in November.

Rank Player Total Chess Rating
1. 🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen 2830
2. 🇺🇸 Hikaru Nakamura 2779
3. 🇺🇿 Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2774
4. 🇫🇷 Alireza Firouzja 2765
5. 🇺🇿 Javokhir Sindarov 2753
6. 🇮🇳 Arjun Erigaisi 2751
7. 🇷🇺 Ian Nepomniachtchi 2745
8. 🇺🇸 Wesley So 2740
9. 🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana 2740
10. 🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 2736

The Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot will take place from November 10 to 21 at the Anantara New York Palace Hotel in Budapest, Hungary. The event will serve as the pilot event for the new Total Chess World Championship Tour.

Results from the pilot tournament will count toward the overall standings of the 2026-2027 tour. The top 2 players from the overall tour standings will qualify for the 2028 Candidates Tournament.

The Total Chess World Championship Tour is a new series created by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE combining Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz disciplines. The Tour aims to crown a unified World Combined Champion across all time controls. The main events of the first edition of the tour will begin in March 2027.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE