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.

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".