FIDE introduced the Excellence Awards this year to celebrate achievement across the chess world, from players and federations to tournaments and content creators. The awards will be presented every two years, and this first edition covered September 2024 to August 2026, a period that includes Norway Chess 2025 in Stavanger and Norway Chess 2026 in Oslo.
Our category honours the round-robin tournament that has made the greatest contribution to competitive chess over those two years, judged on the quality of its field, the standard of its organisation and its wider impact on the chess community. We were one of ten nominees, alongside events such as the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic.
What is a round robin tournament?
In a round robin tournament, every player faces every other player. Norway Chess uses a double round robin: six players meet each opponent twice, once with the white pieces and once with the black, over ten rounds.
Other formats work differently. Open tournaments often have large fields and pair players each round against opponents with similar scores, while knockout events eliminate players match by match.
What makes Norway Chess different?
Norway Chess was founded in Stavanger in 2013, aiming to bring together the world's best players. And it has done so ever since, with top chess players coming to Norway every year.
Along the way, the tournament has brought new ideas to elite chess.
Viewers feel closer to the players: since 2015, the Confessional Booth has let players step away from the board during their games and share their thoughts live.
Every game produces a winner: since 2019, if a classical game ends in a draw, the players go straight into Armageddon, a fast, sudden-death game that always ends with a winner.
Equal prize money
Among the developments FIDE recognised was the establishment of our women's tournament with an equal prize fund. We launched Norway Chess Women in 2024 with the same format, the same number of players and the same prize money as the main tournament, and it has run on those terms every year since.
We believe equal prize money should be the standard at the top level of chess, and we are glad to see it acknowledged at this level.
“Being recognised alongside events like Tata Steel and the Sinquefield Cup is a real honour. We are especially proud that Norway Chess Women runs on equal terms with the main event, and we hope that soon it is simply how elite chess is done." - Benedicte Westre Skog, Chief Operating Officer, Norway Chess.
Thank you
Nandini Kumar, India Head and Press Officer at Norway Chess and Total Chess, received the award on behalf of the team in Uzbekistan. Thank you to FIDE, the jury and the awards panel, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Most of all, thank you to everyone who has been part of Norway Chess: the players, our partners, the team behind the scenes and the fans.