New Delhi: A total of five Indians will participate in the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Candidates Tournament, starting April 3 in Toronto, Canada. Notably, both men’s and women’s competitions will be held at the same venue for the first time.
In India's chess history, this is the first time that three men players -- GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, GM Vidit Gujrathi and GM Dommaraju Gukesh will compete in the prestigious tournament. Before the trio, GM Viswanathan Anand was the only Indian to have competed in the tournament in the men's tournament. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and GM Koneru Humpy would be eyeing to win the women's event.
Paragganandhaa and Vaishali will also script history when they start their respective campaigns, becoming the first-ever brother-sister duo to compete in the Candidates Tournament. Despite losing to Magnus Carlsen in the Chess World Cup 2023 final, Paraggnandhaa managed to seal the second spot at the Candidates Tournament. With this, the 18-year-old became the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer (15 years) and Carlsen (15 years) to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Indian chess stars GM R. Vaishali and GM Vidit Gujrathi won the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament to get a qualification ticket for the tournament while GM D Gukesh became the third Indian man to qualify after Anish Giri failed to top FIDE World Blitz Tournament at Samarkand in Uzbekistan. GM Koneru Humpy became the fifth Indian to qualify after she achieved the highest rank in the January 2024 FIDE ratings.