The Candidates 2020
December 24, 2019
From ChessTalk:
https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...piad-announced
The Candidates tournament, in which eight top grandmasters will contest for the right to challenge the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), will take place in Yekaterinburg from March 15 till April 5. Four participants are already known: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Ding Liren and Wang Hao (both China). Two other participants will be determined following the results of the Grand Prix Series; one slot will be granted to the player with the best average rating in 2019. The eighth participant will be nominated by the organizers.
Updating the list of candidates:
From chess24.com:
Ian Nepomniachtchi's victory yesterday over Wei Yi meant that he clinched qualification for the Candidates Tournament by finishing in overall second in the series, behind fellow Russian Alexander Grischuk. There was no controversy there, but the fate of the one remaining wild card spot in the tournament wasn't immediately clear.
Today that led to an open letter from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's manager:
Open Letter to the Russian Chess Federation
Qualification for the Candidates Tournament to be held in Yekaterinburg, March 2020, concluded yesterday in Jerusalem. Congratulations to Ian Nepomniatchi for winning the tournament, and for taking the 7th qualifying spot. The 8th and last place will be awarded by the organizers to a player eligible according to FIDE rules ("wild card"); a questionable privilege that we hope will disappear for the next world championship cycle.
On November 11th, in a press conference announcing the Russian international chess events of 2020, the President of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF), Andrei Filatov, had stated that he was pleased with the organization of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, because it "guaranteed the presence of a Russian player".
The situation has changed since then, as Sacha Grischuk and Ian Nepomniatchi both qualified via the FIDE Grand Prix. The RCF could therefore choose to give the wild card to the only eligible Russian player, Kirill Alekseenko, for his third place at the Grand Swiss that took place on the Isle of Man. But on a purely sporting level, it could legitimately pick Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL), three times eligible and first non-qualified player by 2019 average rating, 2019 World Cup, and 2019 FIDE Grand Prix!
Whether it opts for a third Russian player or for the most obvious sporting choice, the RCF remains sovereign in its decisions. However, we suggest it takes into consideration the possibility of organizing a MVL-Alekseenko match in order to earn the wild card spot. It would have the merit of preserving sporting equity and would, I believe, meet the wishes of a vast majority of chess enthusiasts throughout the world.
Laurent Vérat,
MVL Manager
manager@mvlchess.com
The letter was published this morning, but even before it circulated the Russian Chess Federation seem to have extinguished any remaining French hopes. RCF President Andrey Filatov is quoted as follows:
I would also like to mention a young grandmaster from Saint Petersburg Kirill Alekseenko, who took the first non-qualifying place in the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. According to the FIDE Regulations, he (the only one from the Russian players) can be nominated by the organizer of the Candidates Tournament. I'd like to thank the head of the Sima-Land company, President of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation Andrey Simanovsky. His company has become the main sponsor of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg and thanks to it another Russian player got an opportunity to get a wild card.
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/mvl...enko-is-chosen
__________
From the English Chess Forum:
Filatov confirms Alekseenko gets the wild card place despite the growing pressure for an MVL-Alekseenko play-off match for it.
Sutovsky's take on it for FIDE via FB:
"I feel there is a gross misunderstanding about the wild-card to Candidates. FIDE is not selecting a player to be awarded with the wild-card. Organizers are. And while there are several brand names that could be selected, it is just natural that the Russian organizers want to have a Russian player. And yes, I agree that the practice of providing a wild-card into the Candidates shall be abandoned altogether, and I will do my utmost to get rid of it - as was already done with Women's Candidates earlier this year."
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...238779#p238779
December 24, 2019
From ChessTalk:
https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...piad-announced
The Candidates tournament, in which eight top grandmasters will contest for the right to challenge the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), will take place in Yekaterinburg from March 15 till April 5. Four participants are already known: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Ding Liren and Wang Hao (both China). Two other participants will be determined following the results of the Grand Prix Series; one slot will be granted to the player with the best average rating in 2019. The eighth participant will be nominated by the organizers.
Updating the list of candidates:
- | ||||||
World | ||||||
No | Name | Rating | Rank | Qualified as | ||
- | ||||||
1 | Fabiano Caruana | 2822 | 2 | 2018 World Championship runner-up | ||
2 | Ding Liren | 2801 | 3 | 2019 World Cup runner-up | ||
3 | Alexander Grischuk | 2777 | 5 | 2019 Grand Prix series winner | ||
4 | Anish Giri | 2769 | 8 | Highest average rating for 2019 | ||
5 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2767 | 9 | 2019 Grand Prix series runner-up | ||
6 | Teimour Radjabov | 2765 | 10 | 2019 World Cup winner | ||
7 | Wang Hao | 2756 | 16 | 2019 Grand Swiss winner | ||
8 | Kirill Alekseenko | 2704 | 37 | Organizer Wild Card | ||
- |
From chess24.com:
Ian Nepomniachtchi's victory yesterday over Wei Yi meant that he clinched qualification for the Candidates Tournament by finishing in overall second in the series, behind fellow Russian Alexander Grischuk. There was no controversy there, but the fate of the one remaining wild card spot in the tournament wasn't immediately clear.
Today that led to an open letter from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's manager:
Open Letter to the Russian Chess Federation
Qualification for the Candidates Tournament to be held in Yekaterinburg, March 2020, concluded yesterday in Jerusalem. Congratulations to Ian Nepomniatchi for winning the tournament, and for taking the 7th qualifying spot. The 8th and last place will be awarded by the organizers to a player eligible according to FIDE rules ("wild card"); a questionable privilege that we hope will disappear for the next world championship cycle.
On November 11th, in a press conference announcing the Russian international chess events of 2020, the President of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF), Andrei Filatov, had stated that he was pleased with the organization of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, because it "guaranteed the presence of a Russian player".
The situation has changed since then, as Sacha Grischuk and Ian Nepomniatchi both qualified via the FIDE Grand Prix. The RCF could therefore choose to give the wild card to the only eligible Russian player, Kirill Alekseenko, for his third place at the Grand Swiss that took place on the Isle of Man. But on a purely sporting level, it could legitimately pick Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL), three times eligible and first non-qualified player by 2019 average rating, 2019 World Cup, and 2019 FIDE Grand Prix!
Whether it opts for a third Russian player or for the most obvious sporting choice, the RCF remains sovereign in its decisions. However, we suggest it takes into consideration the possibility of organizing a MVL-Alekseenko match in order to earn the wild card spot. It would have the merit of preserving sporting equity and would, I believe, meet the wishes of a vast majority of chess enthusiasts throughout the world.
Laurent Vérat,
MVL Manager
manager@mvlchess.com
The letter was published this morning, but even before it circulated the Russian Chess Federation seem to have extinguished any remaining French hopes. RCF President Andrey Filatov is quoted as follows:
I would also like to mention a young grandmaster from Saint Petersburg Kirill Alekseenko, who took the first non-qualifying place in the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. According to the FIDE Regulations, he (the only one from the Russian players) can be nominated by the organizer of the Candidates Tournament. I'd like to thank the head of the Sima-Land company, President of the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation Andrey Simanovsky. His company has become the main sponsor of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg and thanks to it another Russian player got an opportunity to get a wild card.
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/mvl...enko-is-chosen
__________
From the English Chess Forum:
Filatov confirms Alekseenko gets the wild card place despite the growing pressure for an MVL-Alekseenko play-off match for it.
Sutovsky's take on it for FIDE via FB:
"I feel there is a gross misunderstanding about the wild-card to Candidates. FIDE is not selecting a player to be awarded with the wild-card. Organizers are. And while there are several brand names that could be selected, it is just natural that the Russian organizers want to have a Russian player. And yes, I agree that the practice of providing a wild-card into the Candidates shall be abandoned altogether, and I will do my utmost to get rid of it - as was already done with Women's Candidates earlier this year."
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...238779#p238779
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