Picture courtesy: Chess.com
-
- Published: June 12, 2022 12:26
New Delhi: Candidates tournament is the most valuable tournament in chess, as the winner of this tournament plays the world champion for the title. The last Candidates tournament was won by GM Ian Nepomniachtchi who then lost to GM Magnus Carlsen and Magnus is still the defending champion.
This year the tournament will be held in the Palace of Santona located in Madrid, Spain. The tournament will be played from June 16 to July 5, 2022. The Candidates tournament is played in a double round-robin format since 2013.
Who all qualified and what was the qualification method?
- Ian Nepomniachtchi- Ian being the world championship challenger and winner of the Candidates, qualifies automatically for the 2022 Candidates tournament. He is currently ranked 7th in the world and has a rating of 2766.
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda- The top two finishers of the Chess World Cup qualify to play the Candidates. Duda won the Chess World Cup 2021 and qualified for the tournament. He is currently ranked 16th in the world with a rating of 2750. Duda has been in tremendous form lately.
- Alireza Firouzja- The winner and the runner-up of the FIDE Grand Swiss qualify for the Candidates. 19 years old Alireza won the FIDE Grand Swiss and qualified for the tournament. He also crossed the magical number of 2800 recently, but his current rating has come down to 2793. He is currently ranked as the world’s number 3 player. Many chess followers are seeing Firouzja become the world champion soon.
- Fabiano Caruana- Fabiano is the winner of the Candidates tournament 2018 and there is a lot of hope for him. Fabi qualified for this year’s Candidates by being the runner-up in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021. Caruana did not have a good Candidates last year, but he is known for his good opening preparations and calculations, which is why he is called ‘The Machine’. Fabiano is currently ranked 4th with a rating of 2783.
- Hikaru Nakamura- Hikaru was the most surprising entry to the tournament, as he is known to be good with shorter time formats of chess and not well focused in the classical format. He proved everyone wrong and qualified by winning the FIDE Grand Prix 2021. Hikaru stands at 11th place in the world with a rating of 2760.
- Richard Rapport- Rapport stood second in the FIDE Grand Prix 2021 and qualified for the Candidates. The Hungarian grandmaster is ranked 8th in the world and has a classical rating of 2764.
- Ding Liren- Sergey Karjakin who was the runner-up in the Chess World Cup 2021, was disqualified from the Candidates by FIDE as he publicly approved of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This gave Ding a chance to participate in the tournament. But, to qualify by rating quota, Ding needed to have played at least 30 rated games between June 2021 and May 2022, out of which he had only played 4 due to covid restrictions. So, the Chinese Chess Association organised 3 tournaments for Ding and he qualified for the Candidates. He is currently ranked 2 in the world and has a rating of 2806.
- Teimour Radjabov- Radjabov qualified for the Candidates tournament 2020-21 as the winner of the Chess World Cup 2019, but he had to withdraw due to COVID-19. So, FIDE decided that Radjabov should get a direct entry into the Candidates. Currently, he is ranked 13th with a rating of 2753.
Schedule and Pairings
*First-named player will have the white pieces.
| Round 1 – 17 June 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Ding Liren | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Round 2 – 18 June 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Ding Liren | – |
| Round 3 – 19 June 2022 | ||
| Ding Liren | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Round 4 – 21 June 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Ding Liren | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Round 5 – 22 June 2022 | ||
| Fabiano Caruana | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Ding Liren | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Round 6 – 23 June 2022 | ||
| Teimour Radjabov | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Ding Liren | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Round 7 – 25 June 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Ding Liren | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Round 8 – 26 June 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Richárd Rapport | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Ding Liren | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Round 9 – 27 June 2022 | ||
| Alireza Firouzja | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Ding Liren | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Round 10 – 29 June 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Ding Liren | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Round 11 – 30 June 2022 | ||
| Hikaru Nakamura | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Ding Liren | – |
| Round 12 – 1 July 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Ding Liren | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Round 13 – 3 July 2022 | ||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Richárd Rapport | – |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | – |
| Alireza Firouzja | Ding Liren | – |
| Teimour Radjabov | Fabiano Caruana | – |
| Round 14 – 4 July 2022 | ||
| Richárd Rapport | Teimour Radjabov | – |
| Fabiano Caruana | Alireza Firouzja | – |
| Ding Liren | Hikaru Nakamura | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Ian Nepomniachtchi | – |
In an announcement, Magnus Carlsen said he may withdraw from the World Championship match if he did not get to play Alireza Firouzja as his challenger. He also said being the world champion is not his aim anymore, he is just aiming at reaching the 2900 rating mark.