Gukesh's win over the candidates!!!

17-year-old D Gukesh makes history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament, becoming the youngest challenger to the world title. Gukesh, from Chennai, finished with nine points out of 14, securing a match against world champion Ding Liren. He surpassed Garry Kasparov's record, who was 22 when he qualified. "So relieved and so happy. I was following this crazy game (between Fabio Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi), and then I went for a walk with my second (Gregorz Gazevsky), I think that helped," Gukesh said after winning.

Gukesh also won a cash award of 88,500 Euros (approx Rs 78.5 lakh). The total prize fund of the Candidates was 5,00,000 Euros.

He became only the second Indian after the great Viswanathan Ana ..

Read more at:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/gukesh-wins-candidates-becomes-youngest-ever-
challenger-for-world-title/articleshow/109510995.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The 2024 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024. The tournament took place at The Great Hall in Toronto, Canada, from April 3–22, 2024.[1] The event was held alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament.[2][3] The event was won by Gukesh D, which made him the youngest ever winner of a Candidates Tournament, and the youngest ever World Chess Championship challenger.[4][5]
As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, it was a double round-robin tournament.[6][7] The winner of the tournament earned the right to play the World Chess Championship 2024 against the current World Chess Champion Ding Liren.[8]

Qualification[edit]

The qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament were:[9][10][11]

Withdrawal of Magnus Carlsen[edit]

Despite qualifying for the Candidates Tournament by winning the 2023 FIDE World Cup,[15][16] former World Champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to compete in Toronto.[17] He had previously stated his disinclination after reaching the semifinals of the World Cup, stating that "under the current format there is absolutely no chance" he will play the Candidates.[18] In January 2024, after official confirmation of the candidates list, Magnus Carlsen formally confirmed his decision to decline FIDE's invitation to play in the Candidates Tournament by stating "I would say the main reason is that I don't enjoy it. It's as simple as that."[19] As a result, Nijat Abasov, who finished fourth at the World Cup, qualified to the Candidates Tournament 2024 as Carlsen's replacement.[20][21]

FIDE and Grand Chess Tour agreement[edit]

In April 2022, before announcing all the qualification methods, FIDE announced that the top two finishers in the 2023 Grand Chess Tour would qualify to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. FIDE promised that more details would follow, but later announced qualification paths excluding the Grand Chess Tour, without providing an explanation for the change.[22][23] However, the Grand Chess Tour tournaments counted toward the qualifying path of the FIDE Circuit.[10]

FIDE circuit qualifier[edit]

Gukesh D qualified via the FIDE Circuit after winning the Chennai Grand Masters in December 2023, the first super tournament (2700+ average rating) held in India.[24][25]

FIDE Rating qualifier[edit]

The highest rated player in the January 2024 rating list who has not yet qualified for the Candidates or World Championship, and has participated in at least four FIDE Circuit classical events, qualified for the Candidates.[26][27][28]
The rating qualifier turned out to be hotly contested. After a poor showing in the 2023 Sinquefield Cup, rating spot front-runner Alireza Firouzja lost nearly thirteen rating points, putting him behind Wesley So in the live ratings. In an attempt to surpass So, the Chartres Chess Club organized three two-game matches between Firouzja and grandmasters Alexandre Dgebuadze (52 years old, rated 2439), Andrei Shchekachev (51 years old, rated 2506), and Sergey Fedorchuk (42 years old, rated 2546). These matches, held in Chartres, France, were collectively referred to as "Alireza Firouzja's Race to Candidates". Firouzja needed to win all six games (or win the first five and not play the sixth) to overtake So in the live ratings. He indeed won the first five games after some controversy (such as Shchekachev resigning in a position that turned out to be equal in game 3), but decided to play the sixth game anyway. In what was effectively a must-win game, Firouzja overpushed and landed in a bad endgame, but with both players in time trouble, Fedorchuk accepted Firouzja's draw offer. The 5.5/6 result still left Firouzja behind So in the live rating list.[29]
The last-minute nature of the event as well as the hand-selecting of opponents drew criticism, including from So, who revealed he turned down similar opportunities because he disagreed with the morality of such events. Shortly after these matches were announced, FIDE affirmed that it had the right to not rate any specific event, and the United States Chess Federation called on FIDE to not rate Firouzja's games. FIDE's response drew criticism from many, including Ian Nepomniachtchi, who pointed out that Ding Liren had also played last-minute games to qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022, to no reaction from FIDE.[29]
On December 25, FIDE announced new rules, effective immediately, requiring events with at least one player rated over 2700 (or at least one woman player rated over 2500) to be registered at least one month in advance; however, the rule would not be applied retroactively for Alireza Firouzja's Race to Candidates tournament. This requirement could be waived with the approval of the FIDE president or QC Chairman. That same day, Alireza Firouzja's matches (as well as another match in Chartres in which Firouzja did not play) were removed from FIDE's website.[30][31]
Having fallen short, Firouzja withdrew from the World Rapid and Blitz championship to participate in the Open de Rouen tournament,[32] which was a minor Swiss-system tournament with a top prize of €700. Firouzja won all 7 games, including a win against former world championship challenger Gata Kamsky. This gained Firouzja enough rating to surpass So on the January 2024 rating list even if the Chartres event was not rated, which turned out to be the case.[33] Firouzja was officially confirmed as the rating qualifier on the January ratings list.[34]