As chess has grown globally, so has the importance of different formats. But one long-standing question has remained: is there a single rating that can represent a player’s overall strength across all three major formats?
Today, the Total Chess World Championship Tour is publishing a proposal for the Total Chess Rating, a new system that combines a player’s strengths in the three formats into a single Elo-based rating.
We are releasing the system as a pilot for public review and feedback ahead of the Total Chess World Championship Tour event in Budapest from 10 to 21 November.
“The original vision for a single rating bringing together the major chess formats came from Norway Chess CEO Kjell Madland,” said Dr. Mehmet Mars Seven of King’s College London, who conducted the research behind the proposal. “The aim is to provide a clear and accessible measure of a player’s overall strength across the three formats.”
One number across three formats
The Total Chess Rating is calculated from a player’s existing FIDE classical, rapid and blitz ratings and it lives on the familiar Elo scale.
This means differences between Total Chess Ratings can be interpreted in the same way as standard Elo differences. For example, if one player has a Total Chess Rating of 2800 and another 2700, the 100-point difference corresponds to an expected score of approximately 64% for the higher-rated player.
At the pilot stage, Total Chess Ratings have been calculated for the top 100 players based on FIDE ratings.
The new system is itself separate from and does not affect players’ official FIDE ratings. FIDE will observe the Total Chess Rating during the pilot period, following discussions within the Working Group between Norway Chess and FIDE.
For rating purposes, results from Total Chess’s “fast classic” format count toward players’ FIDE classical ratings and hence toward the classical component of the Total Chess Rating.
The first Total Chess rankings
Based on ratings as of October 1, Magnus Carlsen leads the inaugural Total Chess ranking with a rating of 2830, followed by Hikaru Nakamura at 2779 and Nodirbek Abdusattorov at 2774.
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 |
Top 10 players by Total Chess Rating as of October 1, 2026.
Why not simply average the three ratings?
Because Elo ratings are logarithmic rather than linear, a simple arithmetic average does not accurately combine the playing strengths represented by the three ratings.
The full proposal sets out the formula and the mathematical reasoning behind the system in more detail.
Budapest pilot and public feedback
The Total Chess Rating will enter a pilot period ahead of the Total Chess World Championship Tour in Budapest from 10 to 21 November.
Total Chess welcomes public comments, constructive criticism, and suggestions on the proposed system. To allow feedback to be considered ahead of the Budapest event, we encourage comments and suggestions to be submitted by 6 November 2026, while the wider public consultation will remain open until 24 December 2026.
The Budapest event will provide an opportunity to discuss the system with players, FIDE representatives and other stakeholders. Following the pilot, Total Chess will share the outcome of the review, together with any significant changes to the methodology, in the new year.
Read more here for the full Total Chess Rating proposal and methodology.
For feedback, contact mehmet.mars.seven@kcl.ac.uk and copy info@totalchess.com.
