The Candidates Tournament and the Women’s Candidates Tournament will be played simultaneously next year in Toronto. Four spots are still up for grabs in the open event, while three participants remain to be decided among the women. In both cases, two spots will be decided in the upcoming Grand Swiss tournaments. Let us recap who already qualified, and who are the frontrunners to get the remaining spots. | Pictured: Elite grandmasters apparently discussing a position during the Grand Swiss opening ceremony. | Photo: Anna Shtourman
The Tata Steel Chess India Blitz tournament came to an end after rounds 10 to 18 were played on Saturday. Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk was the outright winner with a 12/18 score. Grischuk finished ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who both collected 11/18 points. Arjun Erigaisi and rapid-tournament winner Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were the two remaining players to end with a plus score. | Photo: Vivek Sohani
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu had a strong showing on day 1 of the Tata Steel India Blitz tournament. The youngster grabbed five wins in a row at the start of the event, but then suffered a few setbacks, which did not prevent him from ending the day as the sole leader. Vidit Gujrathi and Alexander Grischuk are sharing second place a half point behind Pragg. | Photo: Vivek Sohani
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid with 7 points and an undefeated performance. The Frenchman distanced himself from the rest of the field by 1½ points with a round to spare. Teimour Radjabov finished in sole second place with 5½ points, while Praggnanandha Rameshbabu, Alexander Grischuk and Vidit Gujrathi scored 5 points each. | Photo: Vivek Sohani
Out of the four players who were sharing the lead after the first day of action at Tata Steel India Rapid tournament, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave recorded the best score in rounds 4-6. The Frenchman is now the sole leader in Kolkata with 4½ out of 6 points. Teimour Radjabov stands in sole second place, a half point back. | Photo: ChessBase India