World Chess960 Championship

2009 World Chess960 champion Hikaru Nakamura at Mainz

The World Chess960 Championship is a match or tournament held to determine a world champion in Chess960 (also known as Fischer random chess), a popular chess variant in which the positions of pieces on the players' home ranks are randomized with certain constraints. Prior to 2019 FIDE did not recognize a Chess960 world champion or sponsor regular tournaments in the format, but the Chess Classic at Mainz and other non-FIDE affiliated organizations have hosted high-profile Chess960 tournaments and matches. Time controls for Chess960 are non-standardized, and usually conform to the wishes of the tournament sponsor or organizer. As a result, Chess960 championships have been held with irregular time controls ranging from rapid (Mainz) to blitz and bullet.[1]

FIDE has organized world championships in 2019[2] and 2022, with an upcoming championship in 2024. The inaugural champion in 2019 was Wesley So. The current champion in 2022 is Hikaru Nakamura.

  1. ^ "Chess Classic Mainz 2007 – Vishy Anand to play Chess960".
  2. ^ "Chess.com Announces FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship". Chess.com. April 20, 2019.