Magnus Carlsen says Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are co-favourites to win the Candidates; ‘I don’t think Pragg is ready to win the tournament,” Carlsen said.
In a day’s time, eight of the biggest names in the world of chess will jostle to get their shot at challenging Ding Liren for the World Champion’s crown.
The one name missing from action is former world champion Magnus Carlsen, who relinquished his crown without a pawn marching down the chess board and then chose to skip the Candidates as well this year.
Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com.
Here’s a basic guide to all the eight Open Candidates contenders and a look at what the world no.1 has said about the Candidates’ chances:
Praggnanandhaa
Qualified for Candidates by: Finishing 2nd at 2023 World Cup
Rating: 2747
Ranking: World No.14
One fact you need to know: The 18-year-old Pragg became the world’s youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final, where he qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. On his way, he defeated the likes of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, both of whom are at the Candidates, besides defeating good friend and current India No.1, Arjun Erigaisi.
Behind the scenes at the #FIDECandidates players’ photoshoot today! 📷 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pUG3b0YkkQ
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 3, 2024
Magnus’ verdict: “I don’t think Pragg is ready to win the tournament. He’s very unlikely to win. But I also cannot see it going really poorly for him. He has weak moments, but he’s fairly stable psychologically. He has an improving repertoire and is very serious. ”
D Gukesh
Qualified for Candidates as: 2023 FIDE Circuit Winner
Rating: 2743
Ranking: World No.16
One fact you need to know: The 17-year-old Gukesh is the second youngest participant in the Candidates in history, after Bobby Fischer. He became a Grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 7 months and 17 days in January 2019, thus becoming the second youngest GM ever. Over the years, Gukesh has strung together many firsts. He became the youngest player to surpass a rating of 2750+, and became the first Indian to overhaul the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as India’s top-ranked player in the FIDE’s published rankings after 36 years.
A sneak peek at the pre-tournament interviews of the #FIDECandidates and the Women’s Candidates 2024!
📍 The Candidates is set to take place in 🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada, from April 3 to 23!
👉 For the first time ever, the tournament will be held in North America, promising an epic… pic.twitter.com/EI4D8UDGO6
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 3, 2024
Magnus’ verdict: “I cannot imagine him winning the Candidates. I think he will certainly win at least a couple of games, but will have some fairly bad losses as well. I don’t think he will do poorly, but I don’t think he will do too well either. He’s not quite ready yet to make the leap. It’s more likely that he has a bad event.”
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
Qualified for Candidates by: Finishing 1st at 2023 Grand Swiss
Rating: 2727
Ranking: World No 25
One fact you need to know: The 29-year-old Vidit, who is competing in his first Candidates event, worked with grandmaster Anish Giri at a training camp in the past as the Dutch player prepared for the Candidates tournament himself.
Magnus’ verdict: “Vidit has improved a lot, especially from a psychological point. I’m sure he will be very serious and well prepared. He will not win the tournament. Although, I feel he has the capacity to make a really good score if things go his way. I really like the way he plays. But I can also see him losing quite a few games.
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Qualified for Candidates as: The runner-up at FIDE World Championship 2023 Match
Rating: 2758
Ranking: World No 7
One fact you need to know: This is the third consecutive Candidates tournament for the 33-year-old Nepomniachtchi, who won both previous editions with a round to spare. Nepomniachtchi is only the third player in history to win the Candidates twice (next to Vasily Smyslov and Boris Spassky).
Magnus’ verdict: “Ian hasn’t shown much in the last few years except for at the Candidates tournament. He shows flashes here and there. I just haven’t seen anything from Ian for a very long time, he didn’t play that well in the last World Championship match either. I’m yet to be completely convinced by him.”
Who will win the #FIDECandidates 2024?
Ian Nepomniachtchi
🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R
🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana
🇦🇿 Nijat Abasov
🇺🇸 Hikaru Nakamura
🇮🇳 Vidit Gujrathi
🇫🇷 Alireza Firouzja
🇮🇳 Gukesh D♟️ The 2024 #FIDECandidates & Women’s Candidates officially begin on April 3rd with the… pic.twitter.com/Tho8arHMff
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 2, 2024
Alireza Firouzja
Qualified for Candidates by: Securing the rating spot
Rating: 2760
Ranking: World No 6
One fact you need to know: The Iran-born French GM, who is also known for his trendy outfits during games, courted controversy in his bid to secure his spot at the Candidates. There were allegations that matches were being organised for him against weaker players in France so that he could secure. He eventually edged out Wesley So to earn the rating spot.
Magnus’ verdict: “I’m an Alireza true believer! I’ll put him in the ‘will do well’ category. That’s reasonable considering difficulties at the last Candidates tournament.”
Fabiano Caruana:
Qualified for Candidates by: Finishing 3rd at 2023 World Cup
Rating: 2803
Ranking: World No 2
One fact you need to know: Besides Nepo, Caruana is the only player in the eight-man field to have won the Candidates in the past. The Italian-American GM has also been at the Candidates in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022. He won the 2018 Candidates in Berlin to secure a prize fight against Carlsen.
Magnus’ verdict: “I think Fabi has a great chance to win. His pedigree is very strong. He seems to have regained some strength in classical chess after he had a little bit of down. He’s probably not as good as he was at his best, which was back in 2018. But he has as good a chance as anyone.”
Nijat Abasov
Qualified for Candidates by: Finishing 4th at 2023 World Cup
Rating: 2632
Ranking: World No 114
One fact you need to know: Abasov qualified for the Candidates only because Carlsen refused to compete at the Candidates. At the World Cup, he went on a giant-killing run despite starting as the 69th seed, defeating the likes of Anish Giri, Peter Svidler (who’s rumored to be a trainer for Pragg for the Candidates), and Vidit Gujrathi (himself a Candidate in the 2024 event). He’s so far yet to touch the hallowed 2700 rating mark.
Magnus’ verdict: “I think he’s most likely going to suffer. Once you start losing it’s hard to stop the bleeding when you’re a considerably weaker player than the others, which I think Abasov is. He will not have it easy.”
Hikaru Nakamura:
Qualified for Candidates by: Finishing 2nd at 2023 Grand Swiss 2nd
Rating: 2789
Ranking: World No 3
One fact you need to know: Nakamura is one of the world’s best-known chess streamers. A bit of a motormouth, he recently traded verbal punches with former world champion Vladimir Kramnik in a cheating controversy, with the American not holding back and saying the Russian did not “have a brain”.
Magnus’ verdict: “I think Hikaru has never had a better chance to become world champion than this. I would say he is a co-favourite to win the Candidates, along with Caruana. He’s been quite consistent recently in classical chess. He has a good chance.”
Source:indianexpress,com