Candidates 2024 identifies two more players.

Vidit Gujrathi and Hikaru Nakamura topped the Grand Swiss, securing their spots in the 2024 Candidates Tournament – the competition to determine the contender for the World Chess Championship title against Ding Liren.

Vidit and Nakamura are the fifth and sixth players, respectively, to participate in next year's Candidates Tournament, following Ian Nepomniachtchi, Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and Fabiano Caruana. However, since 2023 World Cup champion Carlsen announced he would not be participating in the Candidates Tournament, this spot went to the fourth-place finisher in the World Cup, Nijat Abasov.

Hikaru Nakamura and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi drew in the eighth game of the Grand Swiss at the Isle of Man, United Kingdom, on November 2, 2023. Photo: Chess — Hikaru Nakamura and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi drew in the eighth game of the Grand Swiss at the Isle of Man, United Kingdom, on November 2, 2023. Photo: *Chess*

The Grand Swiss is the strongest Swiss-system standard chess tournament of the year, bringing together 114 players with an average Elo rating of 2,652. Despite losing the first game to Erwin L'Ami, Vidit scored 8.5 points in the remaining 10 games to win the tournament and receive $80,000. Nakamura finished second with 8 points and an undefeated record, winning $60,000. According to the rules, the top two players of the Grand Swiss qualify for the Candidates tournament.

Vidit is currently India's third-ranked player, behind Viswanathan Anand and Praggnanandhaa. The 29-year-old has made remarkable progress in the past few years, entering the world's Top 20 for the first time. Nakamura, meanwhile, rose to third in the world after the Grand Swiss, participating in the Candidates tournament for the second consecutive time.

The Candidates tournament is the most important individual tournament in chess, bringing together eight players who have qualified through preliminary rounds to choose a challenger. Le Quang Liem, currently one of the highest-ranked players in the tournament, has never participated in the Candidates.

There are two remaining spots in the 2024 Candidates Tournament: one for the player with the highest Elo rating in January 2024, and the other for the player with the best performance in FIDE-recognized tournaments (FIDE Circuit) in 2023.

Alireza Firouzja (Elo 2763) has a strong chance of securing an Elo-rated spot, although Anish Giri (2754) and Wesley So (2752) are close behind. These three players will all participate in the 2023 Sinquefield Cup, a tournament that could decide the Elo spots. For the FIDE Circuit, Gukesh Dommaraju is leading, but So and Giri are close behind. Ideally, India could contribute three players to the Candidates tournament: Praggnanandhaa, Vidit, and Gukesh.

The 2024 Candidates tournament will take place from April 2nd to April 25th in Toronto, Canada, with eight players competing in a double round-robin format. The winner will play in the World Chess Championship final against Ding Liren later in 2024.

Xuan Binh

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