Fabiano Caruana first to get a spot at the 2026 Candidates Tournament

by Johannes Fischer
1/4/2025 – The dispute over Magnus Carlsen's trousers in the rapid tournament and the crowning of two world champions in the blitz section, which was not provided for in the rules, dominated the news cycle surrounding the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 - with one important sporting decision taking a back seat: thanks to his performance in New York, Fabiano Caruna won the FIDE Circuit 2024 and thus qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Caruana's sixth consecutive Candidates Tournament

One way to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament is through the FIDE Circuit, a new competition introduced by FIDE, which comprises a series of tournaments. Depending on the format and strength of each tournament, players earn Circuit points based on their performance, which are tallied at the end of the year. The player with the most points secures a place in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Two spots are awarded in this manner: one for 2024 and another for 2025.

The last two tournaments where players could earn Circuit points for 2024 were the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. Before these tournaments, Fabiano Caruana was narrowly ahead of Arjun Erigaisi in the Circuit standings. Caruana managed to maintain this lead and secured victory in the 2024 FIDE Circuit.

FIDE Circuit 2024

Source: FIDE

With this, Caruana has become the first player to qualify for the upcoming Candidates Tournament. Previously, the runner-up of the previous World Championship match was automatically qualified for the Candidates Tournament, but FIDE has abolished this rule. If Ding Liren wishes to make another attempt at the World Championship title, he will need to qualify through other means.

For Caruana, this will be his sixth Candidates Tournament. His first appearance was in Moscow in 2016, where he finished tied for 2nd-3rd place, narrowly behind Sergey Karjakin.

Two years later, in 2018, at the Berlin Candidates Tournament, Caruana performed better and won the event. In the subsequent World Championship match against Magnus Carlsen in London, 2018, Caruana achieved a 6-6 draw in classical games, as all 12 games ended in draws. However, Carlsen convincingly won the rapid tie-break with a score of 3-0.

Caruana also participated in the next three Candidates Tournaments. In 2020-21, he finished tied for 3rd-4th place, while in 2022, he placed 5th, marking his worst performance in an edition of the Candidates Tournament.

At the 2024 Candidates in Toronto, Caruana played against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final round. With a victory, he could have tied with Dommaraju Gukesh in 1st place, which would have necessitated a tiebreak to determine who would face Ding Liren in the World Championship match in November. The game against Nepomniachtchi was dramatic, as Caruana missed several winning opportunities and ultimately had to settle for a draw after 109 moves, finishing tied for 2nd-4th place.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 This move is more aggressive than 5...Be7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Caruana knows the alternative from Black's point of view: 9.Nge2 h5 10.h4 Bg4 11.Qb3 Nxg3 12.Nxg3 Nc6 13.Bb5 Bxc3+ 14.Qxc3 Rh6= ½-½ Rapport,R (2740)-Caruana,F (2766) Tata Steel-A 85th Wijk aan Zee 2023 (4) 9...h5 10.f3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Be6 12.Bd3 c6 13.0-0-0 Nd7 14.f4 So far, games always continued with 14.Nge2 e.g.: Nb6 15.Kb1 Qe7 16.g4 h4 17.Na4 Nxa4 18.Qxa4 a5 19.e4 dxe4 20.Bxe4= 1-0 Mamedyarov,S (2772)-Motylev,A (2640) Wch Rapid Moscow 2019 (12) 14...Bg4 15.Nf3 Qe7
After White's long castling, Black's pawn storm on the kingside comes to nothing. White, on the other hand, has good control over the centre. With the last move Black also prepares castle long. 16.e4 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Bxf3 17...dxe4 18.Bxe4 0-0-0 18...Qxe4?? 19.Rhe1+- 19.Rde1 18.gxf3 dxe4 19.Bxe4 gxf4 20.g4 0-0-0 20...h4!? After 21.Kb1 0-0-0 22.d5 Ne5 23.dxc6 Nxc6 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Qxc6+ Kb8 White's advantage is only slight, despite the black king's vulnerability. 26.Qb5+ Ka8 27.Qc6+ Kb8 21.d5 h4 In case of 21...c5?? there follows 22.d6 Qe6 23.Qa5 with an advantage: Kb8 23...Qc4+ 24.Kb1 Nb6 25.Qxa7 Qa6 26.Bf5++- 24.Qc7+ Ka8 25.Qxb7# 22.dxc6 Compared to the variation on Black's 20th move, White has an extra tempo here. Nc5 22...Ne5 23.cxb7+ Kb8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Kb1 Qc7 26.Qxc7+ Kxc7 27.Rxh4+- 23.Bf5+ Kb8 24.Kb1 b6 25.Rd7 Rxd7 26.cxd7 Rd8 27.Qd4 Nxd7 28.Rd1 Qc5 29.Qxf4+ Qc7 30.Qd2 h3 31.Be4
The black pieces are unable to move. White threatens Qd5 and has a winning position. 31...a5 32.Qd5 Ka7 33.Qxf7 h2 34.Qh7 34.f4!?+- 34...Kb8 35.a3 Qe5 36.Qh6 Qc7 37.g5 Rg8 38.Rh1 38.f4!? Qxf4?? 39.Qc6+- 38...Nc5 39.Bh7?! This move allows the following quality sacrifice. Clearer was 39.Bc2 39...Rxg5! 40.Qxg5 Qxh7+
With the knight and the advanced passed pawn Black now has good practical chances, especially with time running out. 41.Ka1? This gives away the advantage. More precise, according to the engines, was 41.Ka2 e.g.: Qf7+ 41...Qc2 42.Qe5+ Ka7 43.Qxh2 43.Rxh2? Qc4+ 44.Kb1 Qd3+ 45.Ka2 45.Kc1?? Nb3# 45...Qb3+= 43...Qb3+ 44.Ka1 Qxf3 45.Qh5 Qf4 46.Qd5 with better winning chances, although White has lost his f-pawn here. 42.Ka1 Nb3+ 43.Kb1 Qxf3 44.Qe5+ Ka7 45.Qxh2 Qd3+ 46.Ka2 Qc4 47.Rd1 but White still has to work hard for the win. 41...Qc2 42.Qg8+ Ka7 43.Ka2 a4 44.f4 Nb3 45.Qg7+ Ka6 46.Qc3 Qg2 47.Qc4+ Kb7 48.Re1 Nc5 48...h1Q?? 49.Re7+ Kb8 50.Qc7+ and mate. 49.Qf1 Qd5+ 50.Kb1 Qf5+ 51.Ka1 Qc2 51...Ka7= as per the engines. 52.f5 Nd3 53.Rb1 Nc5 54.f6 The f-pawn still offers White hopes of a win. Nb3+ 55.Ka2 Nd2 56.Qh1+ Ka7 57.Rc1 Qb3+ 58.Ka1 Qe6 59.Rc7+ 59.Rd1!? Nb3+ 60.Kb1 Qxf6 61.Qxh2 59...Ka6 60.f7 Nb3+ 61.Kb1
61...Qf5+? 61...Nd2+ 62.Kc2 Qf5+ 63.Kxd2 Qf2+ 64.Kd3 Qg3+ 65.Ke2 Qe5+ with perpetual check or the c7-rook falls with check. 62.Ka2 Nc5 63.Qa8+ Kb5 64.Qc6+ Ka6 65.Qa8+ Kb5 66.Qc6+ Better was 66.Qe8+ Ka6 67.Qe2+ Nd3 67...Ka5 68.Ra7++- 68.f8Q Qd5+ 69.Ka1 h1Q+ 70.Qff1 Qxf1+ 71.Qxf1 Ka5 72.Ra7+ Kb5 73.Qe2+- 66...Ka6 67.Re7 Qf1=
68.Qa8+ Kb5 69.Qe8+ Ka6 70.Qa8+ Kb5 71.Qe8+ Ka6
72.Re4 Giving up the exchange gives White an extra pawn, but it's not enough get the coveted win. Nxe4 73.Qxa4+ Kb7 74.Qxe4+ Ka7 75.Qa4+ Kb7 76.Qd7+ Ka6 77.Qc8+ Ka7 78.f8Q Qxf8 79.Qxf8 h1Q 80.a4 Qd5+ 81.Ka3 Qd3+ 82.b3 Qd4 83.Qf7+ Kb8 84.Qe8+ Ka7 85.Qe7+ Kb8 86.Qe1 Qd6+ 87.Qb4 Qf6 88.Qd2 Qe7+ 89.b4 Qe6 90.Qd3 Ka7 91.Qc3 Kb8 92.Qb3 Qf6 93.Qe3 Qd6 94.Kb3 Qd5+ 95.Kb2 Qd6 96.Qe8+ Ka7 97.Qf7+ Kb8 98.Kc3 Qe5+ 99.Kd3 Qd6+ 100.Kc4 Qc6+ 101.Kb3 Qd6 102.Qf3 Qd4 103.Qe2 Qd5+ 104.Ka3 Qd6 105.Qb5 Qd4 106.Kb3 Ka7 107.Qe2 Qd5+ 108.Ka3 Qd4 109.Kb3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2803Nepomniachtchi,I2758½–½2024FIDE Candidates 202414.2

Currently ranked 2nd in the world, Caruana will be among the favourites at the 2026 Candidates if he manages to maintain his form and playing strength over the next two years.

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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