One rating for three time controls

The Total Chess World Championship Tour has presented a proposal for a new rating system that combines players' classical, rapid and blitz ratings into a single figure. Announced on 14 October, the Total Chess Rating is intended to provide a measure of overall playing strength across the three main time controls. The system will initially be tested as a pilot, with the organisers inviting public feedback ahead of the Total Chess event scheduled to take place in Budapest from 10 to 21 November.

The proposal was developed by Dr Mehmet Mars Seven, a researcher at King's College London, in collaboration with Norway Chess. According to Seven, the original idea came from Norway Chess CEO Kjell Madland, who wanted a straightforward way to compare players' abilities across different formats. The system uses existing FIDE ratings as its starting point and produces a new figure on the familiar Elo scale.

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Importantly, the Total Chess Rating is independent of FIDE's official rating lists and will not alter players' classical, rapid or blitz ratings. FIDE has agreed to observe the system during its pilot phase, following discussions within a working group involving the international federation and Norway Chess.

Norway Chess has been recently named "Best Tournament (Round Robin)" at the first FIDE Excellence Awards | Photo: Total Chess

How the new rating works

The new system combines a player's three FIDE ratings using a mathematical formula rather than calculating their simple arithmetic average. The distinction is based on the logarithmic nature of Elo ratings, in which a fixed difference between two ratings corresponds to a particular expected result.

The proposed method converts each of the three ratings into a measure of playing strength, calculates the average of those three values and then converts the result back into an Elo rating. The three formats receive equal weight, although the nonlinear conversion means that stronger individual ratings can have a greater influence on the final figure.

For example, Magnus Carlsen's ratings on 1 October were 2823 in classical, 2801 in rapid and 2860 in blitz. Their arithmetic average is 2828, while the proposed formula produces a Total Chess Rating of 2830.

The resulting figures retain the usual interpretation of Elo differences. A player rated 2800 would have an expected score of approximately 64% against an opponent rated 2700. This does not mean that the higher-rated player would win 64% of their games, since the calculation also accounts for draws.

The organisers argue that the formula provides a consistent overall ranking while approximately reproducing the results expected when games are distributed equally across the three formats. The mathematical reasoning, including the formula and its underlying assumptions, is explained in the full methodology published by Total Chess.

Carlsen tops the inaugural ranking

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Total Chess has published an initial ranking of 100 players based on their FIDE ratings as of 1 October 2026. Carlsen heads the list with 2830 points, followed by Hikaru Nakamura on 2779 and Nodirbek Abdusattorov on 2774.

Alireza Firouzja occupies fourth place with 2765, while Javokhir Sindarov completes the top five on 2753. Arjun Erigaisi, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu round out the top ten.

Top ten players by Total Chess Rating — 1 October 2026

Source: Total Chess. Players with identical rounded ratings are ordered according to their unrounded values.

The complete top-100 ranking is available on the official Total Chess website.

Part of the new Total Chess championship

The rating proposal accompanies the introduction of the Total Chess World Championship Tour, a competition developed by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE. The project was announced earlier this year, with Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland joining as a strategic investor in Norway Chess through Chess Mates, a company established with businessman Morten Borge.

The new tour aims to determine a FIDE World Combined Champion through competitions featuring three formats: fast classic, rapid and blitz. The inaugural full season is scheduled for 2027 and is expected to feature four tournaments in different cities.

Before that, a pilot event will be held in Budapest in November, featuring 24 players. The field includes Carlsen, Caruana, Wesley So, Vincent Keymer, Abdusattorov, Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa, among others.

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The competition will begin with four groups of six players, who will contest double round-robin tournaments using the fast classic time control of 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. The knockout stage will combine four blitz games, two rapid games and one Fast Classic game per match, with a weighted scoring system.

Games played under the fast classic format will count towards participants' official FIDE classical ratings, and consequently will also affect the classical component used in calculating their Total Chess Rating.

Public consultation until December

Total Chess has invited players, organisers, mathematicians and chess followers to comment on the proposed rating system. Feedback submitted by 6 November can be considered ahead of the Budapest pilot, while the broader consultation will remain open until 24 December 2026.

The organisers intend to discuss the methodology with players, FIDE representatives and other stakeholders during the Budapest event. Following the pilot and consultation period, Total Chess plans to publish the results of the review, including any significant modifications to the calculation method, in early 2027.

Comments and suggestions can be sent to Dr Mehmet Mars Seven at mehmet.mars.seven@kcl.ac.uk, with a copy to info@totalchess.com.

Links

• Total Chess website
• Total Chess World Championship Tour announces six more stars for pilot
• Erling Haaland invests in Norway Chess to launch Total Chess World Championship Tour