Come April, chess followers in India – their quantity is rising quickly – can have their eyes set on Toronto. The Canadian metropolis is internet hosting the Candidates event. It is certainly one of the most vital occasions in the chess calendar, for it determines the challenger who will face the reigning World champion.
In chess, a World champion enjoys a large privilege. Unlike the World champions of most sports activities, they normally needn’t hassle about reaching the ultimate, the World title match. The champion simply has to be keen to defend his crown – and never all champions are – whereas the challenger has to come by a powerful qualification cycle, culminating with the Candidates event.
So all Ding Liren – he grew to become the first Chinese man to win the World championship earlier this 12 months after defeating Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi – has to do is to discover out who, from amongst the eight Candidates in Toronto, earns the proper to challenge him. Two Indians – R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi – have already change into the Candidates. There are probabilities for D. Gukesh too, however he wants to do exceedingly effectively in the tournaments he might be enjoying this month.
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Until now, just one Indian has performed at the Candidates – five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand. The final time he performed in a Candidates event was in 2016 in Moscow, the place he completed third (4 years earlier, he had gained his final World title in the identical metropolis).
And the Indian presence is confirmed in the Women’s Candidates event as effectively, by R. Vaishali, Praggnananadhaa’s elder sister. She is probably going to be joined by Koneru Humpy, former World speedy champion and certainly one of the strongest feminine chess gamers in historical past. Humpy has the expertise of enjoying in the Women’s Candidates.
Humpy is delighted that there’s going to be a strong Indian presence in Toronto for the Candidates. “I think it is a fantastic achievement that Praggnanandhaa, Vidit and Vaishali have already qualified,” she tells The Hindu over cellphone from her Vijayawada residence. “I feel I should also be able to make it on account of my World ranking.”
Praggnanandhaa was the first one to make it, again in August, together with his beautiful present at the Chess World Cup at Baku, the place he completed runner-up to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. The gamers who safe the high three locations at the World Cup qualify for the Candidates.
Great day for Indians
Gujrathi grew to become the second Indian to qualify for the Candidates, in the open part, early this month by successful – in opposition to all expectations, as he was seeded solely fifteenth – the Grand Swiss event in the Isle of Man. Remarkably, Vaishali, seeded twelfth, gained the girls’s title.
“That was one of the greatest days for Indian chess,” says Humpy. “For Indian players to win both the open and women’s titles in such a strong event was really amazing. The performances of both Vidit and Vaishali were superb. After losing in the first round, Vidit came back strongly to post so many wins; that is never easy in a tournament featuring top players.”
Pravin Thipsay, India’s third Grandmaster, agrees. “I feel Vidit is a changed player now,” he says. “He is looking hungrier for success and that is good news for Indian chess. I think he is also motivated by the younger Indian players like Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, who have all hogged the limelight with their exploits on the global stage.”
He feels that with the kind Gujrathi is in, he has a good likelihood at the Candidates. “Praggnanandhaa also could do well,” he says. “It is, of course, a strong field that Toronto will see.”
Indeed. World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana, No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi have already certified, and gamers like Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So are additionally in the working to be part of the listing.
Thipsay believes Humpy – if she qualifies – has a superb alternative to emerge as the winner of the Women’s Candidates event. “She is very strong and is also very experienced,” he says. “I am happy that Vaishali has also qualified; her progress over the last year or so has been impressive.” Seven of the eight locations in the Women’s Candidates have been determined. They are Lei Tingjie – she was the runner-up to the World champion and fellow Chinese Ju Wenjun – Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Nurgyul Salimova, Anna Muzychuk, Tan Zhongyi and Vaishali. The final slot might be crammed up by the highest-rated participant on FIDE’s January listing who has not in any other case certified.
Hou Yifan is the World No. 1, however she, like her male counterpart Carlsen, isn’t anticipated to journey to Toronto. She is the second strongest lady participant ever in chess, however three years in the past, she grew to become a professor at the School of Physical Education at Shenzhen University. Humpy had misplaced to her in the 2011 World title match.
Good help from AICF
Humpy is glad that the Women’s Candidates might be a double round-robin affair. “That is the right format for the Candidates,” she says. “The last time, in 2022, it was held as a knock-out event. I had one bad match, and I was out of the tournament in the first round itself.”
She believes the presence of a number of Indians at the Candidates might be one other increase to chess in the nation. The All India Chess Federation’s (AICF) choice to allocate ₹2 crore for Praggnanandhaa, Gujrathi and Vaishali to support of their preparation for the Candidates wants to be lauded.
This isn’t one thing you’ll usually see in Indian sport, the place there may be a tendency to bathe the champion with cash after the triumph. The vital sum of cash from the AICF ought to be a enormous reduction to the gamers. That will assist them set up top-quality teams of seconds, sparring companions that’s, for his or her marketing campaign in Toronto. They deserve all the help they’ll get.
