The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced the qualification paths for players wishing to compete in the FIDE Women’s Freestyle Chess World Championship in 2026.
This qualification system connects the new Freestyle events with the established women’s calendar. It offers clear routes for top grandmasters, rising talents and online specialists to compete for the world title in this format.
There are eight places in total.
1 place: Freestyle chess wild card. The winner of the exhibition match between Bibisara Assaubayeva and Alexandra Kosteniuk, held alongside the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship (February 2026).
3 places: Best results among women at the 2026 Grenke Freestyle Open (April 2026).
1 place: A spot for top players. The qualifier invites participants from the Women’s Candidates (eight spots), as well as the top four players in the FIDE Women’s Standard rating list as of 1 May 2026, among those who have not yet qualified.
The total number of participants is 12. If Bibisara Assaubayeva qualifies via the Freestyle chess wild card path, her place will be taken by the next player in the FIDE Standard rating list as of 1 May, 2026.
1 place: Online qualifier for all titled players. A general qualifier open to all titled players (June 2026).
2 places: Two spots will be determined through over-the-board (OTB) qualifiers. Organisers willing to host open tournaments in the Freestyle/Chess 960/Fischer Random Chess format can apply to host these qualifiers. If no applications for hosting such OTB qualifiers are received by 31 March 2026, two slots may be reallocated to online formats (e.g. one additional spot for the top-12 online tournament) and another spot – a qualifier for titled players.
The FIDE Council has approved the aforementioned qualification pathways and authorised the Management Board to adopt detailed rules for implementing the above general qualification pathways.
Freestyle Chess is also known as Chess960 or FIDE Fischer Random Chess, as per the FIDE Charter. The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship is a continuation of FIDE’s previous events in the Fischer Random format (held in 2019 and 2022).
Qualification paths for FIDE Women’ Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 (PDF)