In-Depth Review Of The Candidates 2024: An Extensive Analysis

After 14 rounds and over three weeks of play, 17-year-old GM  Gukesh Dommaraju won the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament to qualify as the World Chess Championship Challenger. While doing so, he also became the youngest player in history to do so breaking the record of Former World Chess Champion the Legendary Garry Kasparov. 

Kasparov, the man who dominated the world of chess for two decades, had this to say on Gukesh breaking his record, "Congratulations! The Indian earthquake in Toronto is the culmination of the shifting tectonic plates in the chess world as the 17 year old Gukesh D will face the Chinese champion Ding Liren for the highest title. The "children" of Vishy Anand are on the loose!"

In this article I will deep dive into the tournament and beyond, cover all the players(open section only) a few more than the others, share my thoughts and opinions of other notable players and also talk about some other things in general and trivia which might interest you.

Youngest Candidates Winners

• Pre-Tournament Favourites

  I'll start this article from the very beginning and hence talk about the pre-tournament favourites, A report on chess.com(who will win candidates) courtesy Tai Pruce-Zimmerman who ran the numbers gave the best statistics to GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Hikaru Nakamura to win the tournament an opinion which was seconded by Former World Champions GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Viswanathan Anand. However I personally believed that GM's Ian Nepomniachtchi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Gukesh Dommaraju had the best chances and I hope to show the same to my readers via this article.

• Fabiano Caruana

   

  

  I can't say that I was rooting for Fabi to win, with three Indians in the field, but as much as the young boy in me somewhere, who has been a Fabiano Caruana fan since Game 6 of the 2018 WCC Match wanted him to win the 2024 FIDE Candidates, the grown up me also knew it was much far away from being a reality than it seemed. Here are a few reasons that made me reach my inference.

  Firstly, GM Fabiano Caruana with and without his second GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov are two extremely different players. I am well aware of the fact that, it is never the car but the person behind the wheel... and I am not by far dejecting or trying to undermine the potential of Fabiano Caruana, but even the most talented and skilled professionals need the best of tools to unleash their true potential. In my humble opinion Fabiano's biggest strength is his opening preparation which has not been quite like what it used to be with Rustam as his second, one that would blow his opponents out of the water. Here is a game to elaborate my point:

  
  The novelty on move 18. Bc4!! was the idea of GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

  Secondly, Hikaru has lately gotten the better of Caruana, to be specific ever since his win over Caruana in the 2022 FIDE Candidates. The current US number 2 and the biggest Online Chess streamer globally has managed dominate the US Chess Champion repeatedly. Not only has he defended worse positions with his extremely resilient and staunch defence, he has also successfully managed to breach through Caruana's solid play, while also converting his slight edges into decisive advantages in their recent encounters more than just once.

  Thirdly, Nepo who has arguably been the biggest boulder in Caruana's path between him and the World Chess Champion Title. In both the previous candidate tournaments namely the 2020-21 edition and the 2022 edition, Nepomniachtchi has been playing a game of catch with Fabiano. I don't know if Ian is a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio or was inspired by one of his notable performances, but his message to Fabiano and rest of the field in the previous two candidates as well as in this edition was 'Catch me if you can'. Well if Ian had already not proved to be the biggest of problems between Fabiano and another shot at the World Championship, Nepo made it quite clear by denying Fabi yet another chance. In the final round of this years candidates tournament Ian held his own against Fabiano in an essentially lost position and eventually drew the game. Had Fabiano won, he would have tied Gukesh in the standings and there would have ben a playoff to decide who gets the right to challenge Ding for the crown.  

  

  The last three candidate tournaments don't define Caruana's potential. I am sure he will bounce quite like he did after his loss to Nakamura in this years edition. Caruana is widely recognised and regarded as the best player when it comes to Modern Day Chess Opening preparation. I am often reminded of his game at Tata Steel against GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek, where Caruana demonstrated to the entire world that the 'Dark-Squared Bishop' in the King's Indian Defence can be traded for the White Knight on c3 and laughed in the face of Russian School of Chess while doing so. From a metaphorical lens a befitting reply by the Americans to the Russians, from Fabiano to Ian... Here is the game:

• Hikaru Nakamura

  

  Now moving on to Hikaru, I personally don't have much to say about his performance from this edition of the candidates, precisely because I feel his games were rather basic especially considering how high the stakes were. In my humble opinion Nakamura's opening choices and ideas were unimpressive compared to rest of the players in the field. I also feel that the quality of his play was rather 'casual' if that is an appropriate word to describe it, even more so if we factor in how much of a favourite he was to win the tournament.

  I'd like to quote arguably the most solid player in history and currently one of the leading experts on modern day chess opening(s) preparation, "I can't imagine him winning. It's not like l don't want him specifically to not win, but him streaming and winning Titled Tuesdays, and dominating online chess and then also playing OTB chess and winning the candidates? It just all seems superficial and absurd to me." ~ GM Anish Giri.  

  In my humble opinion as a chess professional and an aficionado I second Giri's opinion. I have nothing against Nakamura either and it'd be very inspiring to see him achieve it all someday, if he does.

  In the words of GM Vidit Gujrathi, "Classical chess is the purest form of chess." And for those who don't know it is extremely different from online chess. There is a gigantic and a very sharp contrast between online and OTB chess, and from that between blitz(Hikaru's forte) and classical chess(Gukesh's forte). So from a completely neutral, unbiased and realistic standpoint imaging someone 'dominate' the two extreme ends of a spectrum really does seem absurd.

• Alireza Firouzja  

  

  
  
  

  GM Alireza Firouzja performed poorly in Toronto and his performance was even worse than his run at Madrid in 2022. Firouzja who had shown great ambition to qualify for this years candidates skipping the World Rapid and Blitz Championship to score 7/7 in a tournament in Rouen to secure the FIDE rating spot ahead of GM Wesley So didn't exhibit the same zeal to win this years candidates. The chess fans had high expectations from Firouzja who had become the youngest player in history to cross the 2800 Chess Elo Rating mark. There were a lot of speculations regarding him, where many chess pundits believed he could be the heir to Carlsen's throne and the next to carry forward the legacy of GM Garry Kasparov and GM Magnus Carlsen (both Carlsen and Kasparov, who dominated chess in their respective era's, too broke through the 2800 rating barrier at an early age). Firouzja won two games and lost six in this years candidates. While he did give the tournament winner Gukesh his only loss, which also might be Alireza's only positive takeaway from the tournament, it was his win against GM Nijat Abasov in round eleven that showed a glimpse of how talented a chess player Firouzja is. Here is the game:

  Alireza's form is a mystery... does the young talent struggle to cope with nerves? Or is this just a lull in a great career to follow? Only time will tell!

• Ian Nepomniachtchi  

  

  
  
  

  It's time to dive into the almost historic run of Mr. Candidate(A new pseudonym that Ian has earned unofficially). Just like the last two editions of the candidates, we saw Ian channel his inner Leonardo DiCaprio and play catch me if you can with the rest of the playing field till the penultimate round of the tournament. In doing so Ian created history by leading three consecutive candidates for a Record 40-Rounds and an unbeaten 28-Game streak.

  Ian knowingly walked into his opponents opening preparation being fully aware of the fact that each of them would have cooked some 'Homebrewed-Poison' in the Petrov's Defence a.k.a. Petroff's Defence. Despite various factors acting against Ian, he courageously and valiantly fought head-on against all his opponents and didn't crack even a single time. In the final round Ian had his back against the wall(needed to win on demand with the black pieces, against an in-form Fabiano).

  The great and former World Chess Champion GM Mikhail Tal said, "to play for a draw with the white pieces is a crime." Ian went a step further to make his great predecessor proud and took the fight to Caruana while playing for a win in the final round. However after things went south and Ian was at the brink of defeat, he once again showcased his undying resilience which he had demonstrated throughout the tournament to deny Fabiano the full point and snatched the draw from the jaws of defeat. Here is the game:

  
  
  

  After the draw and OTB analysis between the players Nepomniachtchi realised that he was lost and apologised to Caruana. This gesture encompasses the humility in Ian, I am reminded of Cinderella who believed that anything was possible so long as one had courage and was kind. If anyone was to ever randomly, out of the blue ask any chess player who they think is a gentleman... I am certain 9/10 would take the name of GM Boris Gelfand. I am sure after this gesture another name that will come to the minds of chess players will that be of Ian's. Here is what the newest member of the 'Gentlemen Chess Players' club had to say on Gukesh's win , "I have never seen a player who had so much control throughout the tournament. In these 14 games he never had a worse position." 

  I'll conclude by saying that Ian has breathed new life in the Russian Defence a.k.a Petroff's Defence, I can already see it's popularity growing amongst players both in online and OTB chess, whilst doing so he has also proved to the world that he is indeed the leading expert of the Petroff's defence and has made another great predecessor of his Alexander Petrov proud.

• Vidit Santosh Gujrathi  

  

  
  
  

  Now onto the Indian players, I thought it's best to start with the Captain that led the Indian Contingent to victory in the 2020 Chess Olympiad. Vidit arguably had the best start of the tournament compared to the other two Indian players, a solid draw against Gukesh in the first round followed by a brilliant win against Nakamura with the black pieces in round two. Here are the games:

  Vidit unleashes a spectacular clearance tactic with the beautiful 17. Bg4!! leaving his light-squared bishop En Prise.

  Vidit sacrifices his bishop light-squared bishop again with the brilliant 11. Bxh3!! This time for initiative.

  Vidit who had a dream run at the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss with a score of +7 -1 =3, seemed to be in tremendous form and was expected to have a good result at the culmination of the tournament. However, 2 consecutive losses to Pragg and Nepo in rounds three and four and again 2 consecutive losses to Nepo and Caruana in rounds eleven and twelve killed any chances of Vidit winning the tournament. Even though the tournament didn't go Vidit's way, the biggest positive that Vidit and his team will take home is defeating Hikaru 2-0 in the event. Here is the other game:

   

  Another Important highlight for me was Vidit's game against Nepomniachtchi in round 10. The thing that specifically impressed me the most was the different approach to the opening preparation by Vidit and his team. While Pragg and Hikaru(the only two players other than Vidit who chose to test Nepo in the Petroff's Defence) brewed poison for Ian in the Classical variation(1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3) of the Petroff's Defence, Vidit chose the Paulsen Attack variation(1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4) of the Petroff's Defence. Here is the game:

  
  To conclude I'd say, "defeating Hikaru Nakamura once is a great achievement in itself especially when the stakes are this high but Vidit accomplished this Herculean task twice and that too in crushing fashion both the times proving to the world that he is Nakamura's Kryptonite." Vidit played brilliant chess throughout the tournament... one not so great tournament result will never tarnish his legacy.

• Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

  

  
  
  

  Pragg needs no introduction, the young talent from India who had already made the news by becoming the youngest-ever player to be a Chess World Cup finalist was the biggest pre-tournament favourite amongst the three Indian players in the field. This was all because of his incredible run at the Chess World Cup 2023 where he played phenomenal chess to defeat the Chess World No. 2 & 3 on his route to the final round and his amazing performance in Wijk Aan Zee at Tata Steel Chess where he defeated both the reigning World Chess Champions GM Ding Liren(open) and GM Ju Wenjun(women).

  GM Vladimir Kramnik has significantly shaped opening theory in chess. To quote Vishy Anand from 2012, "I don't know exactly how many lines he's established, but you get the impression that for the last 10 years we've only been using his ideas. His stamp on opening theory is much more significant than mine." Kramnik's results with the white pieces against the King's Indian Defence made Kasparov drop the opening from his repertoire, and caused the opening to drop in popularity from top-level play for many years. Kramnik's use of the Berlin Defence in his 2000 World Chess Championship match against Kasparov led to a massive increase in the opening's popularity. Kramnik was the world's leading exponent of the Petrov's Defence for much of his career and he also revived the Catalan Opening.

  I have always wondered who will be the heir to Kramnik's throne and carry forward his legacy of opening theory in Modern Day chess. While many chess pundits believed it would be either GM Daniil Dubov, Magnus Carlsen or Fabiano Caruana... a few also speculated it to GM Anish Giri or Ian Nepomniachtchi. However, in my humble opinion Pragg might be the rightful heir to Kramnik's legacy.

  In recent times Pragg has shown better understanding and knowledge of chess opening theory and has dominated the above mentioned players in competitive play, managing to get a clear advantage and better positions right out of the opening. His opening preparation against Gukesh in round two and Nepomniachtchi in round five of this years candidates are a testament of the same. Here are the games:

  
  
  

   

  
  
  

  Ian has an unfair advantage over all his opponents as he plays with seventeen pieces instead of sixteen, the extra piece being his clock but it was only Pragg with his incredible opening preparation that had Ian down on the clock by over an hour in their round five clash. Even though the tournament result wasn't great for Pragg as he finished with a 50% score with +3 -3 =8, it is worth noting that Pragg achieved a 50% score despite suffering three losses with the white pieces. I am certain that this tournament will be a significant chapter with immense learning for the young talent and it would surprise no one if he grew into a world champion in the years to follow.

• Nijat Abasov 

  

   

  Before I move on to share my thoughts on the winner of this years candidates tournament winner, I'll briefly talk about Nijat. Abasov who was the sixty-ninth seed in the 2023 Chess World Cup qualified for this years candidates by finishing fourth in the tournament and GM Magnus Carlsen having withdrawn from the 2024 candidates. Nijat was given an almost nil chance to win the candidates, in furtherance of that statistic he became the only other player apart from GM Anish Giri to not win a single game at the candidates. While Anish had drawn each of his 14-games at the 2014 edition of the candidates, for Abasov it was an even more sad state of affairs as he finished with +0 -7 =7 with a score of 3.5/14. In my opinion the key takeaway for Abasov will be his games with the white pieces barring his games against GM's D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa (the only games he lost with the white pieces) and his solid draw with the black pieces against a blood thirsty Nepomniachtchi in round eight. Here is the game:

  
  
  

• Gukesh Dommaraju

  

  Finally it is time to talk about the 'man of the hour' Gukesh Dommaraju and share my thoughts on his phenomenal run at the 2024 edition of the candidates. But before I illuminate the present with my comments I would like to take my readers down the memory lane to briefly discuss the last round of the Cannes Open 2020.

  Many of you might know Gukesh from the 2023 Chess Olympiad, the 2023 Chess World Cup or the 86th edition of Tata Steel Chess in Wijk Aan Zee, but I have known Gukesh since the 2020 Cannes Chess Festival when he swept me off my feet with his incredible win in a wild game against IM Harutyun Barseghyan in the final round. Here is the game:

  
  
  

  Time to dive into Gukesh's historic run at the 2024 edition of the candidates. Personally I believe the biggest reason contributing to Gukesh's success at the candidates was his zeal to win the tournament. To quote GM Magnus Carlsen, "What was noticeable about Gukesh, even compared to other young stars, was that he was playing extremely ambitious chess and that he was playing the same way against everybody. Like really powerful, ambitious chess."

  It was Gukesh's zeal due to which he was able to put up a staunch defence against Pragg's insane preparation in round two and after finding the brilliant 21. Ra7!! it was Gukesh who had emerged victorious in a match that many believed he was bound to lose. A similar thing happened in Gukesh's match against Abasov in round five. Gukesh was better out of the opening and had a clear advantage until he was in time trouble and had to make six moves in less than a minute before reaching time control. Once the dust settled after move 40, the position on the board was roughly equal and a draw seemed the most likely result, Gukesh like a true champion didn't give up and kept on grinding his opponent in an equal Queen and Pawn endgame. After a marathon game having refused the draw via three-fold repetition twice in the game on moves 58 and 65, Gukesh had successfully squeezed water from stone and had snatched the full point from his opponent. Here is the game:

  
  
  

  The next big factor contributing to Gukesh's win was his ability to stay calm in tense positions. Gukesh's second and trainer GM Grzegorz Gajewski in the post tournament press conference said, "his [Gukesh's] biggest strength is that he remains calm and doesn't get excited or panicky in tricky positions."

  I am reminded of a shloka from Bhagavad Gita...

  duḥkheṣhv-anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣhu vigata-spṛihaḥ ।

  vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir uchyate ॥

  Translation: One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.

  ~ Chapter 2, Verse 56

  The most notable moment in the tournament where Gukesh displayed his prowess to remain composed was during his penultimate round clash against Firouzja. With less than a minute on the clock, in an objectively winning position Gukesh had to find only moves to convert his advantage and take the full point home, which he did with finesse and ease. Here is the game:

  Gukesh found moves 51 through 63 with less than a minute on his clock playing only on increment.
  
  

  An interesting fact is that Firouzja who swapped places with Gukesh on the live ratings list, was the only player who defeated Gukesh at the 2024 candidates in their seventh round clash, giving the winner of the tournament his sole loss of the event, which otherwise would have been a spotless run for the young lad. Funnily enough in a candid conversation over dinner with former World Chess Champion GM Viswanathan Anand before the start of the tournament... Vishy had asked Gukesh to choose whether he would like to win his game or lose his game before the rest day? Gukesh had answered saying he would prefer losing before the rest day... good for him as that is exactly what happened. Another interesting incident related to the Alireza-Gukesh game from round seven came to light in the post tournament press conference, when a reporter asked Gukesh, "when did you have the feeling that you could win the tournament?" to which Gukesh replied, " I wasn't a hundred percent sure even after the last game but to pin-point a moment where I really felt that I could win the tournament, was probably after the seventh game, after I lost to Firouzja."

  Lastly, the most important and key factor according to me which contributed in Gukesh's win at the 2024 candidates was his attitude towards the game. Throughout the tournament we observed Gukesh routinely arrange the pieces after signing the scoresheet once the match was over. When asked about this habit in an interview with ChessBase India, Gukesh said, " I mean it is like the basic respect you give to the chessboard yeah." 

  To say the least, the past year wasn't great for Gukesh, speaking strictly from a tournament outcome perspective. Gukesh encountered quite a few heart-wrenching finishes in tournaments which he could have potentially won. I think it was only about time that Caissa balanced her scales and tipped them over in favour of the young lad, who had lost by a whisker in the tie-breaks at the 86th Tata Steel Chess in Wijk Aan Zee earlier this year.

  In my concluding remarks I'll say, "with a performance rating of 2847 and a stellar performance, Gukesh deserved to win the 2024 candidates." With this win Gukesh has become the youngest-ever World Chess Championship Challenger and the first Indian after GM Vishy Anand to compete for the ultimate chess crown. For the very first time both the players participating in the World Chess Championship match will be from Asia. In what will be a historic match only time will tell if Gukesh will be able to win the title and bring the crown home after a decade long gap.