February 14, 2020, Moscow

The drawing of lots for the Candidates Tournament was held in the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation, with the presence of the newly appointed Minister of Sport, Oleg Matytsin, the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, and the famed tennis player Anastasia Myskina (winner of Roland Garros 2004). Also present was the legendary chess coach Anatoly Bykhovsky. 

The participants of the competition received the following numbers:

1. Teimour Radjabov
2. Ding Liren
3. Anish Giri
4. Alexander Grischuk
5. Kirill Alekseenko
6. Ian Nepomniachtchi
7. Wang Hao
8. Fabiano Caruana

Arkady Dvorkovich: “We’re glad that Russia, the long-time partner of FIDE, is hosting the Candidates event, the key leg of the world championship cycle. There will be players from China, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, USA, and Russia. We welcome all chess lovers to visit Yekaterinburg or to follow this amazing event online”. The FIDE President also expressed gratitude to the general sponsor of the Candidates tournament, the company Sima-Land.

Oleg Matytsin: “Before we started this ceremony we discussed with Anastasia Myskina that a lot of great sports are called “chess in motion”: football is “chess in motion”, tennis also, but the great mystery of chess is always there as the game itself and the best chess players are admired all over the world. Russia is known for its chess traditions and we’re happy to host such a great tournament, we can guarantee that the organizational level will be top-notch as always for the events hosted by Russia.”

The FIDE Candidates 2020 will take place in Yekaterinburg, Russia from March 15 until April 05.  Eight top grandmasters will contest in a double round-robin tournament for the right to challenge the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway).

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020 pairings:

R 01 (March 17, 2020)
Radjabov – Caruana
Ding Liren - Wang Hao
Giri - Nepomniachtchi
Grischuk - Alekseenko

R 02 (March 18, 2020)
Caruana – Alekseenko
Nepomniachtchi - Grischuk
Wang Hao - Giri
Radjabov – Ding Liren

R 03 (March 19, 2020)
Ding Liren - Caruana
Giri - Radjabov
Grischuk - Wang Hao
Alekseenko - Nepomniachtchi

R 04 (March 21, 2020)
Caruana - Nepomniachtchi
Wang Hao - Alekseenko
Radjabov - Grischuk
Ding Liren - Giri

R 05 (March 22, 2020)
Giri - Caruana
Grischuk - Ding Liren
Alekseenko – Radjabov
Nepomniachtchi - Wang Hao

R 06 (March 23, 2020)
Grischuk - Caruana
Alekseenko - Giri
Nepomniachtchi - Ding Liren
Wang Hao - Radjabov

R 07 (March 25, 2020)
Caruana - Wang
Hao Radjabov - Nepomniachtchi
Ding Liren - Alekseenko
Giri - Grischuk

R 08 (March 26, 2020)
Caruana - Radjabov
Wang Hao - Ding Liren
Nepomniachtchi - Giri
Alekseenko - Grischuk

R 09 (March 27, 2020)
Alekseenko - Caruana
Grischuk - Nepomniachtchi
Giri - Wang Hao
Ding Liren - Radjabov

R 10  (March 29, 2020)
Caruana - Ding Liren
Radjabov - Giri
Wang Hao - Grischuk
Nepomniachtchi - Alekseenko

R 11 (March 30, 2020)
Nepomniachtchi - Caruana
Alekseenko - Wang Hao
Grischuk - Radjabov
Giri - Ding Liren

R 12 (March 31, 2020)
Caruana - Giri
Ding Liren - Grischuk
Radjabov - Alekseenko
Wang Hao - Nepomniachtchi 

R 13 (April 02, 2020)
Wang Hao - Caruana
Nepomniachtchi - Radjabov
Alekseenko - Ding Liren
Grischuk - Giri

R 14 (April 03, 2020)
Caruana - Grischuk
Giri - Alekseenko
Ding Liren - Nepomniachtchi
Radjabov - Wang Hao

*For a double round-robin tournament, it is recommended to reverse the order of the last two rounds of the first cycle (rounds 6 and 7), in order to avoid three consecutive games with the same color.

Tournament page

Photos: Eteri Kublashvili and Dmitry Zharkov