For the first time in history, contenders for the men's and women's world champion titles will be determined at the same time and in the same place - in Toronto from April 3 to 22. For women, this will be only the third candidates tournament since the International Chess Federation changed the format for determining the best female athlete in the world. Previously, the title was determined in competitions held using the knockout system, and only since 2019 has a match for the crown been held, similar to the men's one.
Chinese Ju Wenjun has been sitting on the chess throne for almost six years, and eight participants, including vice world champion Lei Tingjie, will compete for the right to challenge her again in Canada. Russia will be represented in this tournament by two chess players - Ekaterina Lagno and Alexandra Goryachkina. Both qualified for the competition ahead of all other participants, taking first and second places at the FIDE Grand Prix back in May last year.
Bulgarian Nurgul Salimova and Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk received tickets to Toronto thanks to finishing in the top three at the World Cup, Indian representative Rameshbabu Vaishali and Chinese Tan Zhongyi made it through the Grand Swiss, and Humpy Koneru - as the owner of the best ranking for January 2024 (5th place ).
Experts consider Goryachkina to be one of the main favorites of the competition, who currently occupies the highest place in the world table of ranks among this eight - third. The fact that she already won the qualifying tournament in 2019 speaks for the 25-year-old Russian woman. In addition, this cycle she won the World Cup. In the final, Goryachkina defeated Salimova in a tiebreaker. At the same time, according to the American grandmaster Lev Alburt, Alexandra “has both high ups and deep downs.”
In this sense, Lagno, who played in the 2018 World Championship final with Wenjun, has a higher chance of success in Toronto. However, Ekaterina is considered more of a master of blitz than of classical chess - she has three world titles in this discipline. The main rivals of the Russians are Lei Tingjie, who already went through the crucible of the championship match last year and is probably eager to take revenge on her compatriot for her defeat, and the 16th world champion Tan Zhongyi.
“If you look at the rating, the class, our girls will be a little higher. But Chinese chess players know how to pull themselves together and show their best at the most crucial moment. I noticed this during team tournaments. They need to be beaten cleanly. If you give them chances, they always use them,” said senior coach of the Russian women’s national team Sergei Rublevsky, whose words are quoted by Sport-Express.
Also attracting attention is 22-year-old Vaishali Rameshbabu, the older sister of one of the favorites in the men's draw, Rameshbabu Pragnanandha. They are both debutants in the competition. Moreover, for the first time in the history of chess, a brother and sister take part in the Candidates Tournament in the same qualifying round.
The chess players will have to play 14 rounds in two rounds in Toronto - they will play each other twice. The games will be played with classic time control. Participants are given 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, and then another half hour until the end of the game, with an addition of 30 seconds for each move, starting from the first.
The starting round will take place on April 4, and in it Russian, Chinese and Indian chess players will compete in head-to-head competition, and Muzychuk will meet with Salimova. This distribution of pairs is not accidental - it is designed to minimize the opportunities for team tactics and agreements between compatriots.
At the same time, according to some experts, it is the beginning that can outline the circle of the main favorites. Thus, former coach of Ian Nepomniachtchi Vladimir Potkin, speaking about the features of the upcoming tournament, noted that due to acclimatization in the first few days, participants may make more mistakes and blunders than usual. Accordingly, the winner will be the one who can use this wisely.
There are four days off during the tournament - after the 4th, 7th, 10th and 12th rounds. Interestingly, on the first day of rest, April 8, chess players will be able to witness a rare natural phenomenon - a total solar eclipse, which will be visible in Mexico, the USA and Canada.