History of the Candidates: from Budapest (1950) to Toronto (2024)
The Candidates Tournament, the final test that a player must pass to challenge the World Champion in chess, has a rich history dating back to 1950. This event emerged as a response to the need for a systematic approach to determine a world championship challenger. Prior to 1950, contenders had to navigate a maze of negotiations directly with the champion, secure funding, and organise a match – a process that lacked structure and consistency. The turning point came in 1950 when Budapest hosted the inaugural Candidates Tournament, a 10-player double round-robin to select the Challenger for the then World Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik. This tradition, set in Budapest, continued almost every third year until 1993, alternating between tournaments and matches. However, the early 1990s saw a disruption due to the split in the world championship structure. The Candidates Tournament returned to prominence in 2007 as part of the unified cycle, initially in the form of matches. The modern-day era has witnessed notable tournaments in London 2013, Khanty-Mansiysk 2014, Moscow 2016, Berlin 2018, Yekaterinburg 2020-21 and Madrid in 2022, each contributing to the glorious history of the championship qualification process. Toronto is the next chapter in this great story of chess. The Inaugural Tournament in Budapest (1950) The inaugural Candidates Tournament was held in Budapest from April 11 to May 18, 1950. It was a double round-robin with ten contenders—Bronstein, Boleslavsky, Smyslov, Keres, Najdorf, Kotov, Stahlberg, Lilienthal, Szabo, and Flohr. The event in Budapest became the only Candidates Tournament to end in a tie for first place with no tiebreaker in place. Bronstein and Boleslavsky had to play a playoff match held in Moscow in the summer of 1950. It ended in another tie, but Bronstein won the first decisive game and became the official Challenger. He drew a match with Botvinnik, who retained his title, as an equal score favoured the champion at the time. The Memorable Second Candidates (1953) The second Candidates stands out as one of the most famous chess tournaments ever, thanks to the timeless popularity of excellent tournament books by participants David Bronstein and Miguel Najdorf. The tournament was a massive affair – a double round-robin with 15 contestants, meaning each participant played 28 games. The superb lineup contributed to the rich chess heritage of this event: Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, Geller, Najdorf, Kotov, Taimanov, Averbakh, Boleslavsky, Szabo, Gligoric, Euwe, Stahlberg (named in order of final standings). The clear winner, Vasily Smyslov, went on to draw his first match with Botvinnik, who, therefore, retained the title. Amsterdam 1956 and the Success of Vasily Smyslov Photo: GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL) The 1956 Candidates Tournament in Amsterdam showcased the remarkable success of Vasily Smyslov, who secured victory for the second consecutive time. Finishing 1.5 points above the field of 10 players, he lost only one game – to 19-year-old debutant Boris Spassky. Having reached his prime form, the next year, Smyslov beat Botvinnik 12½-9½ in the match for the title and became the 7th World Chess Champion. Yugoslavia 1959 – A Chess Odyssey After winning the rematch against Smyslov 12½–10½ in 1958, Botvinnik was again the World Champion and awaited a new Challenger. In 1959, Yugoslavia hosted the Candidates Tournament, narrowing down to eight participants. In a quadruple round-robin, meaning each player meeting every opponent four times, 28 games were played in total. Three cities in Yugoslavia hosted the event, with the first half played in Bled and then moving to Zagreb and finally Belgrade. Despite the disastrous result against Keres (1-3), the young 22-year-old debutant Mikhail Tal swept through the rest of the field – Petrosian, Smyslov, Gligoric, the other remarkable newcomer 16-year-old Fischer, Olafsson and Benko. Half a year later, “the magician from Riga” took the title from Botvinnik, defeating the Soviet chess Patriarch 12½–8½. Curacao 1962 – The Caribbean Challenge And again, the World Champion was Mikhail Botvinnik. Like Smyslov, Tal held the title only for a year before handing it back to the Patriarch, who won the rematch 13-8. The next Challenger for the resilient and ever-resourceful but ageing 50-year-old Botvinnik was to be determined in the Caribbean. The eight-player quadruple round-robin format stood another test – Petrosian, Geller, Keres, Fischer, Korchnoi, Benko, Tal and Filip were to stay on the tropical island for two months. Tal’s deteriorating health did not let him finish the event, and he withdrew after 21 rounds. At the height of the Cold War, all eyes were on the performance of 19-year-old Bobby Fischer, but he was not yet ready to stand up against the Soviet chess machine, especially when its players had the benefit of making short draws between each other. Tigran Petrosian won the tournament without losing a single game and went on to become the 9th World Champion. 1965-1968 – The Era of Matches The Candidates Matches of 1965 and 1968 were the golden era of Boris Spassky, who won both events. In their first match, Tigran Petrosian held his title by one point, 12½–11½, but in the second encounter, three years later, he was defeated by the younger opponent (Spassky was eight years his junior) 12½–10½. 1971 – Fischer’s Dominance The next cycle went into the history of chess as Robert (Bobby) Fischer’s crescendo of dominant victories, culminating in the famous 1972 Reykjavik Spassky-Fischer face-off, dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer’s remarkable victories in the Candidates matches, beating Taimanov 6–0, Larsen 6–0, and Petrosian 6½–2½, paved the way for him to face Spassky. In the World Championship Match, he dethroned Spassky with 12½–8½ and became the 11th World Chess Champion. 1977 – 1984 – Anatoly Karpov’s Era In the decade following the Match of the Century, Anatoly Karpov gathered momentum and turned into the chess scene’s leading actor, winning the Candidate Matches 1974 and becoming the 12th World Champion following Fischer’s withdrawal. His historic battles with Victor Korchnoi, winner of the 1977-78 and 1980 Candidate Matches, and later with Garry Kasparov, winner of the 1983-84 Candidate Matches, are some of the 20th-century chess saga’s most
Tata Steel Masters 2024: Firouzja rejoins the leaders
Gukesh D, Anish Giri and Alireza Firouzja are going to the rest day as joint leaders of the Tata Steel Masters 2024 after the French GM beat the World Champion with white pieces. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored a very important victory over Nodirbek Abdusattorov and joined his opponent, Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa R. With just a half point between the leaders and this quartet tied for fourth place, the event is still wide open. Alireza Firouzja – Ding Liren | 1-0, 43 moves The game saw a rare line of the QGA in which White sacrificed a pawn and got more than sufficient compensation. The World Champion tried to disentangle with b5-b4, which Alireza met with an exchange sacrifice. In this critical position, Black could have held his ground with either 18…Nfd5 or 18…Ned5. Instead, Ding played 18…Qc7? most likely missing 19. Ne4! and after 19…Qxc2 White captured the f6-knight with check. With two minor pieces for a rook, it did not take Alireza long to wrap up the game. Anish Giri – Wei Yi | ½-½, 33 moves The Chinese GM comfortably equalized in the Gruenfeld Defence and after Anish’s sluggish maneuver Nf3-d1-d3-f4 got a real chance to grab the initiative. After a simple 19… Nxd5 20. exd5 Bf5, it is not that easy for White to complete the development of his queenside. Wei, however, sacrificed a pawn with 19…Be6 but after 20. Nxe7+ Kh8 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Qxe5 Bxe5 24. Re1 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Rd5 26. Re2 Kg7 27. Be3, the position became dead-equal. A draw was agreed upon three moves down the road. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 1-0, 65 moves In a calm line of the Two Knights, Ian got a slight edge, which he increased by sacrificing a pawn to shatter Black’s pawn structure. 18. c5! dxc5 19. Nb2 Nd4 20. Qd3 Qb8 21. Rea1 At this point, Black should have regrouped with Bd8-c7, but after missing this maneuver, Nodirbek fell under heavy pressure. On move 34, Ian could have won a pawn, but he preferred not to rush things, offering Nodirbek some drawing chances. However, instead of 35…g5, Black played pseudo-active 35…e4+? and after 36. Kf4 Ke7 37. Rd6 Rc8 38. h3 Ne8 39. Rd1 Nf6 40. Rd6 Ne8 41. Rd2 Nf6 42. Nd6 Ra8 43. Nxe4 Ian won a pawn. The rest was smooth sailing for Nepomniachtchi, who confidently converted his advantage. Vidit Gujrathi – Alexander Donchenko | ½-½, 43 moves Interestingly, up to move 14, the opponents followed the game Bu Xiangzhi – Vidit (2019), which ended in a draw. Now, playing on the white side, the Indian introduced a novelty 14.Rfe1, and after advancing his d5-pawn, managed to sideline Black’s knight. White then pressed on the queenside, but Alexander was up to the task. Following a tactical skirmish, most of the pieces were swept from the board, and the opponents agreed upon a draw in a dead-even position. Max Warmerdam – Praggnanandhaa R | 1-0, 43 moves The Dutchman obtained a very promising position on the wide side of the Bogo-Indian and exerted heavy pressure on Black’s backward pawns. Most likely, White’s best chance was 28. Bh3, tying Black’s bishop to f5-pawn and gradually preparing Rc1-c6. After Max missed this chance, Pragg managed to trade his a7-pawn to White’s d5-pawn and reached a draw in a rook endgame. Ju Wenjun – Gukesh D | ½-½, 52 moves Gukesh essayed a rare line of Bogo-Indian trying to outplay the Women’s World Champion in an unbalanced position. After some complicated maneuvering the opponents liquidated into an endgame in which Black had a dangerous initiative. To Ju’s credit, she found several the only moves to maintain the balance. After the precise 33. g3! f3 34. Re3 Ke6 35. Nf4+! Kf5 36. Nh5 Rd2+ 37. Kf1 Rd1+ 38. Kf2 Rd2+ 39. Kf1 Rd5 40. g4+ Kg6 41. Ng3 White avoided all the dangers, and the players split a point ten moves later. Jorden Van Foreest – Parham Maghsoodloo | ½-½, 41 moves True to his active style, Parham sacrificed a pawn on the black side of the Moscow Variation of Sicilian for an active play. However, with several natural but imprecise moves, he allowed Jorden to consolidate while Black’s activity petered out. Soon, the Dutchman returned the favour by unforcedly damaging his pawn structure with 26.f4, and Black almost equalized. In the end, Van Foreest made his last attempt to break through, but Maghsoodloo was on his guard and forced drawing exchanges with several precise moves. Masters pairings Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 Official website: tatasteelchess.com
Armenian Championship 2024: Hovhannisyan and Gaboyan clinch titles
GM Robert Hovhannisyan and WIM Susanna Gaboyan are the new champions of Armenia, winning their second and third national titles, respectively. Both winners qualified for the Armenian national team. The 84rd Armenian Championship and the 79th Women’s Armenian Сhampionship were held simultaneously in the Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan from January 12-20. Both events were 10-player round robins with classical time control. As it often the case in the open event, the race for the championship remained tight until the very last round. Heading into Round 9 Samvel Ter-Sahakyan was narrowly leading with 5.5/8, a half-point ahead of Robert Hovhannisyan and Mamikon Charibyan. However, a costly loss to Tigran Haryutunyan dashed the leader’s hopes for the title, while Hovhannisyan (pictured below) notched up a crucial victory over Artur Davtyan and clinched gold, scoring 6/9 as another contender Charibyan lost to Manuel Petrosyan. Three players tied for second place with 5.5/9 with Manuel Petrosyan and Zaven Andriasian taking silver and bronze, respectively, based on their superior Sonnenborn-Berger. Final standings open: 1 GM Hovhannisyan, Robert 2611 6 2 GM Petrosyan, Manuel 2627 5½ 3 GM Andriasian, Zaven 2581 5½ 4 GM Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel 2649 5½ 5 GM Harutyunyan, Tigran K. 2523 5 6 GM Gharibyan, Mamikon 2504 5 7 IM Davtyan, Artur 2477 4 8 FM Piliposyan, Robert 2367 3 9 FM Chaqryan, Erik 2308 3 10 Tiraturyan, David 2258 2½ In the women’s championship, WIM Susanna Gaboyan (pictured below) dominated the field conceding the opponents just three draws and won the title with an excellent score of 7.5/9. WFM Mariam Avetisyan provided a spirited challenge to the champion but lost the direct encounter, ultimately finishing half a point behind in second place. Milena Gasparyan came third, netting 5.5 points. Final standings women: 1 WIM Gaboyan, Susanna 2179 7½ 2 WFM Avetisyan, Mariam 2043 7 3 Gasparyan, Milena 1802 5½ 4 WFM Khachatryan, Anna 2022 5 5 WFM Grigoryan, Arpine 2025 4½ 6 Stepanyan, Alvard 1514 4 7 Kobak, Polina 2120 4 8 Harutyunyan, Meline 1536 3½ 9 WGM Gevorgyan, Maria 2272 2½ 10 Khachatryan, Mariam 1567 1½ Photos: official website Official website: chessfed.am/en