Why Candidates is a tournament of immense difficulty in the world of chess

Barely had the world championship challenger caught his breath after qualifying for the world championship, he was interviewed by International Master Lawrence Trent, who asked him how he planned to celebrate his victory. Carlsen’s answer was revealing. “My thoughts have not gone further than getting back to my hotel and lying down. That’s what’s next for me.”

Trent prodded him further, asking if he was more exhausted physically or emotionally. “It’s a lethal combination right now,” offered Carlsen.

In the decade that has followed, Carlsen scythed his way through the world of chess, racking up five crowns after battling through five World Championship jousts, before eventually abdicating his throne.

A case can be made that the World Championship battle is more forgiving than the Candidates. If you err, you come back with redrawn battle plans and take on the same opponent once more. At the Candidates, though, one loss can suddenly become a slippery slope.

It is into this tournament of suffering that R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali — head for the next three weeks. Each player in the eight-man open event and the eight-women corresponding tournament will play the other opponents twice and the winner after 14 rounds will earn the right to challenge the world champions next year.

The missing Magnus effect

Srinath points out that Magnus’s decision to forsake his crown and not compete at the current Candidates cycle in the open event means that players, even first-timers, will want to win this time, knowing an easier battle awaits them at the World Championship against Ding Liren. There is also a possibility that the world no.1 Carlsen could decide to compete in the next Candidates, thus making that one more difficult to win.

“Defeating anyone else in the World Championship is definitely relatively easier than trying to beat Magnus in a match,” Srinath said. (FIDE/Stev Bonhage)

“Defeating anyone else in the World Championship is definitely relatively easier than trying to beat Magnus in a match. This makes winning the 2024 Candidates more lucrative. Ding has not been in his best shape at all in the past one year. He has a year more and even a weakened Ding is by no means easy. But if he plays at his current form at the World Championship, then the challenger will be the favourite against Ding,” points out Srinath.

However, Srinath warns against trying to floor the pedal in a desperate bid to come out flying from the start of the tournament.

“For any player competing for the first time, ideally it’s important to not get overawed by the occasion. Throwing the kitchen sink might actually backfire. This is not the kind of event where you can blitzkrieg your opponent. It’s really important to wait for your chances,” says Srinath.

Experience matters

Some of the greatest last names in the world of chess — Petrosian, Najdorf, Euwe, Spassky, Tal, Fischer, Korchnoi, Karpov, Anand, Topalov, Kramnik, Carlsen and Liren — have fought their way out of the trenches of the Candidates tournament before they were deemed worthy of taking a crack at the king’s throne.

For all three Indian contenders in the open category (and Vaishali in the women’s event), the Candidates will be their first brush with an event with the stakes so high.

There are two ways of neatly dividing the eight-man open category. The 30 somethings — Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura — who have been around for a while at the elite level, and have considerable experience of how to tackle such events. Then come the players in their late 20s: Vidit Gujrathi and Nijat Abasov. And the final group is the one that has made the world sit up and take notice since the pandemic, 20-year-old Alireza Firouzja, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa and 17-year-old Gukesh, who is the second youngest player ever at the Candidates after Bobby Fischer.

“In many senses it’s a battle of generations. It’s a good platform for youngsters to make their mark at the highest level,” says RB Ramesh, who is Pragg’s coach and has also been instrumental in the development of Vaishali.

The other way of separating the eight-man pack is prior Candidates experience. On one side are the haves: Nepomniachtchi (playing at his third consecutive Candidates tournament and chasing his third win), Caruana (fifth Candidates appearance), Nakamura and Firouzja. And the have nots: Vidit, Gukesh, Pragg and Abasov.

In the women’s category too, Viashali steps into her first Candidates event, while Humpy has been there last time.

Over the next three weeks, Pragg, Gukesh, Vaishali, Vidit and Humpy will try and climb the staircase, one treacherous step at a time through a haze of opponents, to be able to take on Liren and Ju Wenjun in the World Championship battle.

But they must be wary. As the sign behind Carlsen warned, “Beware of the steps.”