Alireza Firouzja will be in Toronto in April to play in the Candidates’ Tournament. The Frenchman earned his ticket via the Elo ranking by nibbling 8 points over the last few days at the admittedly minor Rouen tournament, to overtake American Wesley So. A few days earlier, his victories and points in Chartres had been wiped out by the FIDE after a tinkering with the rules, which they didn’t dare repeat. If there were any doubts about Firouzja’s motivation in recent months, his efforts in the home straight have finally been rewarded.
The seven other qualifiers for the Candidates are Norway’s Magnus Carlsen (World Cup winner), Russia’s Ian Nepomniantchi (World Championship finalist), who will be lining up under a neutral flag, the Indians Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2nd World Cup), Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Grand Swiss winner), Dommaraju Gukesh (FIDE circuit winner), the Americans Fabiano Caruana (3rd World Cup) and Hikaru Nakamura (2nd Grand Swiss).
