Candidates chess | Nakamura or Caruana are favourites, while no one in front among women

The Candidates tournament features top players competing for a chance to challenge world champions Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun.

The Candidates tournament is always an eagerly anticipated one. All the world’s best players compete fiercely to qualify to fight for the right to challenge the defending world champions — Ding Liren in the open section and Ju Wenjun in the women’s section this time.

This year, in Toronto, both the men’s and the women’s Candidates events are being held simultaneously. Both are eight-player double-round robin events.

The men’s field splits evenly into two groups. Four of the players have played in the candidates previously, while the other four are competing for the first time in this event.

Fabiano Caruana was the dominant player in 2023; he took unshared first place both in Bucharest and in St. Louis and has been impressive throughout.

Hikaru Nakamura also had a sensational year, though he does not play as much. He is ruthless in grabbing any opportunities that come his way. He demonstrated this by winning Norway Chess and qualifying in the Grand Swiss. Ian Nepomniachtchi hasn’t fully recovered from his defeat in the world championship against Liren last year. His play since then has been fairly subdued. Alireza Firouzja is enormously talented and can be a danger to anyone, but both Ian and Alireza struggle with unpredictable form.

Since the Candidates tournament favours stability as much as ability, I lean towards Nakamura or Caruana as favourites.

Among the four players who are competing in the Candidates for the first time are three Indians. The chess world is very excited to see how they will fare. Their leap in strength in the last year and a half has been spectacular.