Nakamura shares first place at Dulles Open, is now eligible for Candidates' rating spot

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/11/2025 – Hikaru Nakamura has completed his campaign to qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament by reaching the required 40 classical games. The world number two played the Washington Dulles Open last weekend, sharing first place and fulfilling the FIDE threshold. His strategy of entering smaller North American tournaments has proved effective, leaving him well-placed to claim the rating qualification spot for the Candidates. | Photo: Rick Massimo / US Chess
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Nakamura to play Candidates Tournament... "barring something crazy happening"

Hikaru Nakamura's campaign to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament has taken an unorthodox but methodical course. Rather than relying on qualification through major events such as the World Cup or Grand Swiss, the famed streamer has aimed for the rating spot - a path that requires both maintaining one of the highest ratings in the world and completing a minimum of 40 rated classical games during the year. With the rating itself never in doubt, his challenge has been to reach the necessary game count.

To achieve this, Nakamura has entered a succession of smaller North American tournaments, playing well below his usual competitive level. He began his series of appearances at the Louisiana Championship over Labour Day weekend and followed up with victory at the Iowa Championship in mid-September. Both events were clear successes, though his opponents were rated hundreds of points below him.

He then travelled to Summerside, Prince Edward Island, for the Maritime Open Chess Championship, held from 11 to 13 October. Playing in the six-round Swiss, Nakamura finished with 5½ points, winning the event outright.

The last step came the last weekend at the Washington Dulles Open, which was a five-round event which took place on 7-9 November. The five-time US Champion shared first place there with Daniel Girsh on 4½ points after drawing his final-round game with GM Praveen Balakrishnan. The tournament drew considerable attention from local players, who were keen to follow his games and post-game analyses.

Organisers described a surge of interest once his participation became known, and spectators filled the analysis area to observe the world number two in action. For Nakamura, the tournament provided the final games needed to meet the FIDE threshold.

By completing the Dulles Open, Nakamura reached the 40-game mark required to be eligible for the Candidates rating spot. With Fabiano Caruana already qualified through the 2024 FIDE Circuit and Magnus Carlsen unlikely to return to the cycle, Nakamura remains the clear frontrunner for this place. His six-month average rating remains safely above that of his closest competitors, and his decision to compete in local events has fulfilled its purpose.

The charismatic grandmaster still started his video recap noting that he is practically qualified for the Candidates, "barring something crazy happening"!

Nakamura's final recap

All available games

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.