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Candidates Tournament 2024: Five Indians to compete to win title for first time

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By ETV Bharat English Team

Published : Jan 4, 2024, 4:43 PM IST

India's five chess players -- Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Dommaraju Gukesh, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy will be competing in the Candidates Tournament. The tournament will start on April 3.

India's five chess players -- Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Dommaraju Gukesh, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy will be competing in the Candidates Tournament. The Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali will be the first brother-sister duo to contest in the same edition of the Tournament history.
File: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Dommaraju Gukesh, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy (Source: ETV Bharat portal and their respective official X handles)

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.

The Candidates Tournament serves as the final tournament to find out the challengers for the world champions. The winner of the elite tournament earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion. Notably, Chinese Ding Liren (Men’s) and Ju Wenjun (Women’s) are the current reigning world champions.

List of players to participate in Candidates Tournaments (Men's event):

  1. Ian Nepomniachtchi (World Championship match runner-up)
  2. Magnus Carlsen (FIDE WorldCup winner)
  3. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (FIDE World Cup runner-up)
  4. Fabiano Caruana (FIDE World Cup third place)
  5. Vidit Gujrathi (FIDE Grand Swiss winner)
  6. Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE Grand Swiss runner-up)
  7. Alireza Firouzja (Highest-ranked player in FIDE rating)
  8. Gukesh Dommaraju (FIDE Circuit winner)

List of players to participate in Candidates Tournaments (Women's event):

  1. Lei Tingjie (Women's World Championship match runner-up)
  2. Kateryna Lagno (FIDE Women Grand Prix winner)
  3. Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE Women Grand Prix runner-up)
  4. Nurgyul Salimova (Women's World Cup runner-up)
  5. Anna Muzychuk (Women's World Cup third place)
  6. Vaishali (Women's Grand Swiss winner)
  7. Tan Zhongyi (Women's Grand Swiss runner-up)
  8. Koneru Humpy (Highest ranked player in FIDE rating)

Read More

  1. D Gukesh secures his berth in FIDE Candidates tournament; beats Anish Giri in race to qualify
  2. Vaishali Rameshbabu becomes India's third female chess Grandmaster; inks history
  3. Magnus Carlsen beats R Praggnanandhaa in tiebreaker, wins Chess World Cup; know how much money winner and runner-up will take home

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.

The Candidates Tournament serves as the final tournament to find out the challengers for the world champions. The winner of the elite tournament earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion. Notably, Chinese Ding Liren (Men’s) and Ju Wenjun (Women’s) are the current reigning world champions.

List of players to participate in Candidates Tournaments (Men's event):

  1. Ian Nepomniachtchi (World Championship match runner-up)
  2. Magnus Carlsen (FIDE WorldCup winner)
  3. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (FIDE World Cup runner-up)
  4. Fabiano Caruana (FIDE World Cup third place)
  5. Vidit Gujrathi (FIDE Grand Swiss winner)
  6. Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE Grand Swiss runner-up)
  7. Alireza Firouzja (Highest-ranked player in FIDE rating)
  8. Gukesh Dommaraju (FIDE Circuit winner)

List of players to participate in Candidates Tournaments (Women's event):

  1. Lei Tingjie (Women's World Championship match runner-up)
  2. Kateryna Lagno (FIDE Women Grand Prix winner)
  3. Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE Women Grand Prix runner-up)
  4. Nurgyul Salimova (Women's World Cup runner-up)
  5. Anna Muzychuk (Women's World Cup third place)
  6. Vaishali (Women's Grand Swiss winner)
  7. Tan Zhongyi (Women's Grand Swiss runner-up)
  8. Koneru Humpy (Highest ranked player in FIDE rating)

Read More

  1. D Gukesh secures his berth in FIDE Candidates tournament; beats Anish Giri in race to qualify
  2. Vaishali Rameshbabu becomes India's third female chess Grandmaster; inks history
  3. Magnus Carlsen beats R Praggnanandhaa in tiebreaker, wins Chess World Cup; know how much money winner and runner-up will take home

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Candidates TournamentPraggnanandhaaKoneru HumpyMagnus Carlsen

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