2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament
The 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament restarts on 19th April 2021 in the beautiful city of Yekaterinburg, Russia.
The first half of the event ran from 16th to 26th March 2020. However, the Russian government disrupted the event when it announced the closure of its airspace with other countries amid a rapidly escalating CV19 pandemic.
The second half of the event will run from 19th to 28th April 2021. The website of the event can be found here.
Press conference on the FIDE Candidates Tournament was held today, on April 13, in Moscow, at the Rossiyskaya Gazeta Media Center.The winner of the 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament will be the Challenger to reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen. The World Championship Match will run from 24th November to 16th December 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Cross table at the end of the first half.Magnus Carlsen has been World Champion since 2013 when he defeated Viswanathan Anand. He has since defended his title thrice.
The first time was in 2014 against Viswanathan Anand. The second time was in 2016 against Sergey Karjakin of Russia and the third time in 2018 against Fabiano Caruana of the USA.
Russian World Chess Champion?
The 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament is a critical event for Russian chess fans. Russia has three participants, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk and Kirill Alekseenko.
The last World Champion from Russia was Vladimir Kramnik, who lost his title to Viswanathan Anand in 2007.
Sergey Karjakin came agonisingly close in 2016 when he managed to hold Magnus Carlsen to a 6-6 draw in the first stage before losing 3-1 in the tie-breaks.
Russia’s hopes lie with Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Grischuk to win the Candidates and bring the world title back to Russia. Will the pressure from the home crowd be too much to bear for these great Russian stars?
Interesting facts about Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is the 4th largest city in Russia, with a population of just over 1.4 million people. The city is in the Ural mountains in the Asian part of Russia.
The city was started in 1723 by Vasily Tatischev and named after Empress Catherine I, the second wife of Peter the Great.
Yekaterinburg was called Sverdlovsk from 1924 to 1991. The name changed after the collapse of the USSR.
The Russian Empire ended in Yekaterinburg. In 1918, the Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas Romanov, his wife Alexandra and their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei.
The site of the execution, Ipatiev House, is now the ‘Church on the Blood.
It is the first main stop on the Trans-Siberian Express and is dubbed the ‘window to Asia’.
Heading east to Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg is the first major stop on the legendary train route.
Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolution, had visited Yekaterinburg in 1967.
80% of all copper coins in the Russian Empire came from the mines in Yekaterinburg.
Partners supporting the FIDE Candidates Tournament
Sima-land, a wholesale online store, as the General Partner.
Algorand, as the Official Blockchain Partner.
Kaspersky, as the Official Cybersecurity Partner.
PhosAgro, a leading chemical company, as the CFR General Partner.
Chessable, as Event Partner.
Pine Creek Golf Resort, the first and only world-class golf resort in the Urals, as event Partner.
Mercedes Benz Russia, as event Partner.