Speculations on the Candidates' wild card

oh I didn't know that. Thanks

Maybe Germany should organize a bunch of friendly matches for Nisipeanu, and instruct his opponents to lose?

Like Zurab Azmaiparashvili? https://gregshahade.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/azmaiparashvili-is-a-cheating-racist-scumbag/ 

@Destroyer_Mark_1420 Magnus is the World Champion therefore can't participitate in the Candidates Tournament. It would be against the rules.

Damn...

If would be funnier if he played and didn't win.

 

... which, realistically speaking, would be likely. Mathematically each person has a 1/8 chance of winning, and as of late Carlsen has not been nearly dominant enough against his peers to increase his chances significantly.

The sponsor/official partner of the Candidates have this management team:

Olga Tartakovskaya, Dimitry Griko, Kirill Kul, Michael Kasumov, Sergey Kalgashkin, Julia Oleynik, Sergey Kazakov, Georgy Sorokin, Alexander Lobachev

https://www.egcapitaladvisors.com/about-us/management-team/

So Kramnik it is :-)

So you're saying the names sound Russian? But what if they're actually, say, Ukranian?

Well, it's a Russian company and that maybe matters more than the possible ethnicity of the management..  But if Kramnik qualifies by himself I suppose Grischuk would be a possible wild card.

And if Grischuk qualifies via the Grand Prix?

It seems like a lot of this will be cleared up in a few days once two players reach the final of the World Cup, so maybe this discussion should be put on hold.  That being said, Wei Yi would be an interesting choice.  He has the rating and people really like him due to his style of play and his age, plus there are no Chinese players currently in the Candidates, although Ding Liren is still in the WC and has a chance via the Grand Prix.  Ivanchuk would be another good choice due to his style and incredible ability.  Given that the Grand Prix is in Germany, Kramnik is a logical choice because of his dominance of the annual tournament in Dortmund.  

It should be noted that the wild card is chosen by Agon, so any player that they sponsor or have a good relationship with is a likely candidate (pun intended )

No Ivanchuk possible? He just beat Giri in Round 4 Day 1.

I would personally love to see Ivanchuk make it into the Candidates' Tournament. He may not fair so well in a RR, but if they went back to the individual match format, he'd probably stand a decent chance. I believe it's going to come down to a Carlsen-So match, though - as much as I would hate to see So as the challenger. According to the interviews I've read, he's hungry for a shot at the crown - more so than most of the elite. My favorites would be 1) Aronian for obvious reasons 2) Kramnik for the nostalgia - I had just began tournament play in the USCF when he won his match with Kasparov and followed that match religiously... and 3) Nakamura, just because I love the guy's playing style. Naka isn't ready though... not for Carlsen.

"And if Grischuk qualifies via the Grand Prix?"

Its not like those are the only Russian top players. Then I suppose Svidler would be a logical pick. Could even end up with Karjakin (lost title match), Kramnik (rating), Svidler (World Cup), Fedoseev (World Cup), Grischuk (Grand Prix) and Nepomniachtchi (wild card)  in the Candidates :-) 

I seriously doubt that. Picking a Russian player other than Kramnik or Grischuk (or arguably other than Kramnik, period) when someone like So or MVL hasn't qualified would be just too obviously biased. No Candidates' Tournament organizer, Russian or not, would go to such lengths. It's not like organizers in the past have always picked someone of the nationality they are most closely affiliated with. For the past three cycles, at least (I'm not clear on the specifics before then because I hadn't started following chess), they have not picked anyone who is glaringly less deserving of a spot in the tournament than someone else who did not qualify.

"Picking a Russian player other than Kramnik or Grischuk (or arguably other than Kramnik, period) when someone like So or MVL hasn't qualified would be just too obviously biased"

Biased?! :-) Of course it is biased :-) The Azeri sponsors have picked Mamedyarov and Radjabov, the Russian sponsors have picked Svidler, the Armenian sponsor picked Aronian etc. Back in 2002 the Germans picked Lutz. 

I agree that sponsors pick people from certain countries all the time, but if the field is already half Russian (or more) I doubt they'll pick another one.  At a certain point it becomes overkill.  Plus, the event is in Germany and there are no eligible German players.  I think Nepo would be a bad choice for the wildcard.  He's only played a few supertournaments and his results haven't been very good

I feel like If MVL Kramnik or So don't qualify they have a good shot because thy didn't make the candidates last year. 

My ideal scenario is Aronian/So in World Cup. Caruana/Kramnik by rating (with So qualified already). Memyadarov and possibly MVL in Grand Prix. And if MVL doesn't get in through Grand Prix with all the others qualified he seems like an obvious pick for wildcard.

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