Candidates Tournament 2024

The 2024 Candidates Tournament will be an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the 2024 World Chess Championship match. It is scheduled to be held from 2 April to 25 April 2024 in Toronto, Canada, alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament.[1][2]

Candidates Tournament 2024
Tournament information
LocationToronto, Canada
Dates2 April–25 April 2024
AdministratorFIDE
Tournament
format(s)
Double round-robin tournament
Participants8

As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, it will be a double round-robin tournament.[3] The winner of the tournament will earn the right to play the World Chess Championship 2024 against the current World Chess Champion Ding Liren.

Qualification

The eight players to qualify will be:[4][5][6]

Qualification method Player Age Rating World
ranking
(October 2023)
2023 World Championship runner-up FIDE Ian Nepomniachtchi[lower-alpha 1] 33 2771 6
The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2023[lower-alpha 2] Norway Magnus Carlsen (winner) (Expected to withdraw) 33 2839 1
India R Praggnanandhaa (runner-up) 18 2738 16
United States Fabiano Caruana (3rd place) 31 2786 2
Azerbaijan Nijat Abasov (4th place) (expected replacement for Carlsen) 28 2679 58
The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss
Tournament 2023		 TBD
TBD
The winner of the 2023 FIDE Circuit[8] TBD
Highest rating for January 2024[lower-alpha 3] TBD

Participation of Magnus Carlsen

Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen has qualified for the Candidates Tournament by winning the 2023 FIDE World Cup. However, Carlsen had previously stated that he lacks motivation to play classical chess because of the large amount of preparation required for a game, and is not likely to participate in the Candidates Tournament as a result.[9] He reiterated this disinclination after reaching the semifinals of the World Cup, stating that "under the current format there is absolutely no chance" he will play the Candidates. If Carlsen does not play, Nijat Abasov, who finished fourth at the World Cup, will qualify to the Candidates Tournament 2024 as Carlsen's replacement.[10][11]

FIDE and Grand Chess Tour agreement

In April 2022, before announcing all the qualification methods, FIDE announced that the top two finishers in the 2023 Grand Chess Tour would qualify to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. FIDE promised that more details will follow, but later announced qualification paths excluding the Grand Chess Tour, without providing an explanation for the change.[12][13] However, as of August 2023, it is likely that all tournaments of the Grand Chess Tour will count toward the qualifying path of the FIDE Circuit.[5]

FIDE Rating qualifier

The highest rated player in the January 2024 rating list who has not yet qualified for the Candidates or World Championship, and has participated in four FIDE Circuit classical events, will qualify to the Candidates. The current leader among eligible players is GM Anish Giri.[14][15][16] However, both Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja are expected to become eligible for qualification[lower-alpha 4], and given their significant rating lead over other players, it is expected that one of them will qualify via rating.[17][18]

Ranking Player Rating[19] Candidates FIDE Circuit Eligible for rating qualification
1 Norway Magnus Carlsen 2839 Qualified[20] 4+ No
2 United States Fabiano Caruana 2786 Qualified[20] 4+ No
3 United States Hikaru Nakamura 2780 3 No
4 China Ding Liren 2780 World Champion[15] 2 No
5 France Alireza Firouzja 2777 2 No
6 FIDE Ian Nepomniachtchi 2771 Qualified[15] 3 No
7 Netherlands Anish Giri 2760 4+ Yes
8 India Gukesh D 2758 4+ Yes
9 India Viswanathan Anand 2754 1 No
10 United States Wesley So 2753 4+ Yes

Notes
  1. Russian players' flags are displayed as the FIDE flag, as Russian and Belarusian flags have been banned from FIDE-rated events in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7]
  2. The regulations stated that it would be the top three finishers other than Ding and Nepomniachtchi. (And that if both finished in the top four of the World Cup, then the World Cup qualifiers would be the other two players in the top four; and two players with the highest rating in the January 2024 ranking list would qualify for the event instead of one). However neither of these players reached the World Cup semifinals: Ding elected not to play, and Nepomniachtchi lost in the fifth round.
  3. Provided the player has played at least 4 classical time control tournaments eligible for the 2023 FIDE Circuit.
  4. Both players are participating in the FIDE Grand Swiss, and Firouzja will play in the 2023 Sinquefield Cup

References
  1. "Toronto will host the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournaments".
  2. "FIDE Candidates, Women's Candidates 2024 To Be Held In Toronto". Chess.com.
  3. https://wcc.fide.com
  4. "FIDE reforms qualifications paths to Candidates Tournament".
  5. "FIDE Announces 2024 Candidates Tournament Qualification Paths". Chess.com.
  6. "FIDE revamp Candidates qualification system". chess24.
  7. FIDE Condemns Military Action; Takes Measures Against Russia, Belarus, chess.com, 28 February 2022
  8. "FIDE Circuit 2023". FIDE.
  9. "Carlsen On Lack Of Motivation, Classical Chess, New WC Formats & Family Life". chess.com. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  10. "Under the current format there is absolutely no chance. I think everybody should operate under the assumption that I will not play at the Candidates and that everybody else who's in the semifinals is qualified for the Candidates," says Magnus Carlsen., twitter.com, 16 August 2023
  11. FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024: Qualification paths
  12. "Grand Chess Tour becomes part of the World Championship Cycle". www.fide.com. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  13. "FIDE revamp Candidates qualification system". chess24.com. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  14. "FIDE World Championship Cycle". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  15. "FIDE reforms the qualifications paths to the Candidates Tournament". www.fide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  16. "FIDE World Championship Cycle". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  17. McGourty (Colin_McGourty), Colin (2023-10-20). "Qatar Masters 2023: Yakubboev Wins Title After Arjun Heartbreak". Chess.com. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  18. Isle Of Man, Kramnik's New Blog, Hikaru VS Alireza in Candidates Showdown, retrieved 2023-10-27
  19. "FIDE Ratings and Statistics". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  20. "Magnus Carlsen secures first World Cup victory, Prag finishes second, Caruana third". www.fide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
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