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World Championship Candidates (2022) The original eight qualifiers for this tournament were Ian Nepomniachtchi, the loser of the 2021 World Championship; the winner (Jan-Krzysztof Duda) and runner-up (Sergey Karjakin) of the 2021 World Cup; the winner (Alireza Firouzja) and runner-up (Fabiano Caruana) of the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021; the winner (Hikaru Nakamura) and runner-up (Richard Rapport) of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022; and FIDE designee Teimour Radjabov. FIDE selected Radjabov as atonement for his absence from the World Championship Candidates (2020/21), which he had withdrawn from due to what proved to be well-founded concerns about COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic had ended up interrupting that event after it had been halfway completed; the second half of the tournament was played the following year. In March 2022, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission ruled that Karjakin had breached the FIDE Code of Ethics by making a series of public statements supporting Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It barred him from playing in FIDE-related tournaments, including the 2022 Candidates tournament, for a period of six months. The Russian Chess Federation appealed this ruling, but FIDE affirmed it. This opened up another spot in the tournament. FIDE stated that it would go to the highest-rated player, based on the May 2022 FIDE rating list, who had not already qualified and who had played at least 30 officially rated games between June 2021 and May 2022. Ding Liren was the highest rated player who was not world champion or already qualified. However, he had only played four of the required thirty rated games due to his inability to travel to tournaments outside China during the COVID-19 pandemic. He thus needed to play at least 26 rated games in March and April, and to maintain a high rating while doing so, lest he be overtaken in the rating list by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov or Levon Aronian. The Chinese Chess Association organized three different rated events involving Ding on short notice, thereby allowing him to meet the minimum games requirement. He performed well in those events, moving from No. 3 to No. 2 on the rating list, and thus qualified for the Candidates tournament. In the Candidates tournament, typically only first place is important, since the winner goes on to play the world champion for the title. This tournament had added drama: world champion Magnus Carlsen had stated that he might not defend his title the following year. FIDE announced that if he did not do so, the top two finishers in this tournament would compete for the title in 2023. The players competed in the Candidates tournament with this uncertainty hanging over their head. The tournament was held at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022. As at the 2020/21 Candidates tournament, Nepomniachtchi won with a round to spare. He led from start to finish and won handily, winning five games and drawing the rest. He thus joined a distinguished handful of players - Smyslov, Spassky, and Korchnoi being the others - to win two consecutive Candidates tournaments. Apart from Nepomniachthi's runaway victory, the tournament ended up being a fight for second among the other players, who had difficulty getting over 50%. The marquee game of the last round was between Hikaru Nakamura, who was in second with 7.5/13, and Ding Liren, his closest rival, just half a point behind. Ding had a slight advantage in the endgame, and ground out a win to finish second, 1.5 points behind Nepomniachtchi. This proved to be critical when Carlsen announced two weeks later that he would not defend his title. This meant that Nepomniachtchi and Ding would face off the following year in the Nepomniachtchi - Ding World Championship Match (2023). Wikipedia article: Candidates Tournament 2022 Previous: World Championship Candidates (2020/21). Next: World Championship Candidates (2024)  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 56  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Duda vs Rapport ½-½ 69 2022 World Championship Candidates B44 Sicilian 2. Radjabov vs Firouzja ½-½ 71 2022 World Championship Candidates D39 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin, Vienna Variation 3. Caruana vs Nakamura 1-0 50 2022 World Championship Candidates C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 4. Ding Liren vs Nepomniachtchi 0-1 32 2022 World Championship Candidates A20 English 5. Rapport vs Firouzja ½-½ 60 2022 World Championship Candidates B53 Sicilian 6. Nakamura vs Radjabov 1-0 75 2022 World Championship Candidates C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 7. Nepomniachtchi vs Caruana ½-½ 33 2022 World Championship Candidates C50 Giuoco Piano 8. Duda vs Ding Liren ½-½ 41 2022 World Championship Candidates C53 Giuoco Piano 9. Radjabov vs Nepomniachtchi ½-½ 30 2022 World Championship Candidates E04 Catalan, Open, 5.Nf3 10. Ding Liren vs Rapport ½-½ 40 2022 World Championship Candidates D86 Grunfeld, Exchange 11. Caruana vs Duda ½-½ 51 2022 World Championship Candidates B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 12. Firouzja vs Nakamura ½-½ 53 2022 World Championship Candidates E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 13. Rapport vs Nakamura ½-½ 44 2022 World Championship Candidates C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 14. Ding Liren vs Caruana ½-½ 64 2022 World Championship Candidates D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 15. Duda vs Radjabov ½-½ 41 2022 World Championship Candidates C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 16. Nepomniachtchi vs Firouzja 1-0 39 2022 World Championship Candidates B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 17. Firouzja vs Duda ½-½ 36 2022 World Championship Candidates C42 Petrov Defense 18. Caruana vs Rapport ½-½ 24 2022 World Championship Candidates B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 19. Nakamura vs Nepomniachtchi ½-½ 34 2022 World Championship Candidates C42 Petrov Defense 20. Radjabov vs Ding Liren ½-½ 47 2022 World Championship Candidates E00 Queen's Pawn Game 21. Radjabov vs Rapport ½-½ 40 2022 World Championship Candidates B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 22. Nepomniachtchi vs Duda 1-0 35 2022 World Championship Candidates A06 Reti Opening 23. Nakamura vs Ding Liren ½-½ 42 2022 World Championship Candidates C53 Giuoco Piano 24. Firouzja vs Caruana 0-1 42 2022 World Championship Candidates E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 25. Ding Liren vs Firouzja ½-½ 54 2022 World Championship Candidates A20 English  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 56    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 9 OF 46 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jun-23-22    spingo: Nepo v Duda, at move 16, there is the opportunuty to fall into Noah's Ark trap. Normally for the ♗ gets 2 pawns, and a wide open king. Jun-23-22    KoNUlla: Its imo to early to say who the real favorite is when only 1/3d is played, remember Nepo often start strong then fell off after 6-7 rounds, but he got the biggest chance right now, I still think Caruana will win and think he and karjakin are the only 1 with any real chance vs Carlsen And when Carlsen said he was not sure it was right after his longest wc-circle lasting 3 years were the championship was moved so I think he was really fed up of the whole thing then, maybe his perspective have changed. Ofcourse he said similiar things even when he was a teenager and pulled out of one candidate cycle so maybe he will not play the winner, but I don't think this will happen Jun-23-22    spingo: Radjabov v Rapport is a good game. At move 30 I have no idea who is winning. Jun-23-22    Atterdag: Radjabov had a winning position, but blew it totally. Firouzja suffered another defeat - Caruana showed his strength. Jun-23-22    saffuna: Radjabov missed one winning move, 39. Bh2. Seems he just wanted to escape without a draw after being under pressure. Jun-23-22    Willber G: <Atterdag: Radjabov had a winning position, but blew it totally.> At which point would you say this was? I didn't notice it but I haven't seen any analysis. Jun-23-22    saffuna: Playing 39. Rf7 instead of 39. Bh2 according to chessbomb. Jun-23-22    Willber G: Ah, I see <Jim> has answered it. Jun-23-22    Pedro Fernandez: Hey, my great friend <HeMateMe>. Are you sure Nepo will win Candidates? I suggest you deep read That Lemma in your Bio. Some quiet canonical and orthodox? Yeah! Cheers. Jun-23-22    Fanques Fair: The sixth round proved what was already apparent : Firouzja, Rapport and Duda aren´t strong enough to play at this level . Maybe they will someday, but not now. MVL, So, Giri and others are much better players , more experienced and should be there. The FIDE classification system to the candidates is obviously inadequate. I mean not only these young players results so far in the tournament are weak, but the way they lose their games. Jun-23-22    fisayo123: I thought there was a qualification process and those "much better" players were not good enough to qualify. Don't get your complaint <Fanques Fair> Jun-23-22    Fanques Fair: I´ve been saying that for years : the rating system is NOT the most reliable measure for the strenght of a player, because it is geographically concentrated and depends on invitations to strong tournaments , etc. There are dozens of GMs around the world who would play better than half of this field in an event like this. Jun-23-22    Fanques Fair: The only window of the candidates that is wide and open enough to outsiders is the World Cup, but as it is an eliminatory event and only gives one only place in the tournament , it does not resolve the problem. I think the old Interzonal tournaments are much more fair . Jun-23-22    saffuna: <...depends on invitations to strong tournaments...> A massive flaw at the heart of top-level chess. In many if not most plays depends on the whims of tournament organizers. Entry is not dependent on any formalized system. Jun-23-22    MissScarlett: Richard Drawport. Jun-23-22    diceman: <MissScarlett: Richard Drawport.> Richard Rap Drawport. Jun-23-22    Williebob: While not discounting the ideas and opinions expressed about the Candidates' selection process, rating system, or tournament invitations, I feel that an important factor is rarely (if ever) acknowledged: Top players are very, very careful and picky about where/when and especially against whom they plan to play. For example, Wesley So may never get a "chance" (sorry for the scare quotes but it's to my point) to play for the WCC, but at least part of this happens by way of avoiding risk. Staying in the Top Ten for many years looks like a good career in chess, in other words. Invitations versus career ambitions. Looks like a major headache from down here! Jun-23-22    MissScarlett: Richard Drawport. Jun-23-22    harrylime: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Jun-23-22    harrylime: Gazza ... where are you mate ??? GAZZA?? GAZZA ?????? Jun-23-22    plang: <Fanques Fair: The sixth round proved what was already apparent : Firouzja, Rapport and Duda aren´t strong enough to play at this level . Maybe they will someday, but not now. MVL, So, Giri and others are much better players , more experienced and should be there.> The 3 alternatives you mention have each played in more than one previous Candidates Tournament. What is wrong with having some new blood? I love the way whenever there is a tournament whoever finishes near the bottom gets criticized for not belonging. One of the three you mention is at -2 and the other two are at -1 - is that really "not belonging?" Someone will always finish at the bottom - it doesn't automatically mean they don't belong. Jun-24-22    perfidious: <Fanques Fair: The sixth round proved what was already apparent : Firouzja, Rapport and Duda aren´t strong enough to play at this level.....> An old chestnut rears its head: one is only as good as one's last tournament or last game. Jun-24-22    Willber G: <plang: Someone will always finish at the bottom - it doesn't automatically mean they don't belong.> Well said. Jun-24-22    harrylime: The quality of chess at show is embarrassing lol lol But hey You've got your STREAMS Jun-24-22    harrylime: Carlsen is laffin his ..... off just now Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 46) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 9 OF 46 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. 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