FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2022 is breaking interest records before it actually started. A massive interest is building up in the audience in what can be the most unpredictable Candidates of recent years. We feel the heat here at Chessdom as one day before the start of the event 186 and news articles and 56 game articles on the topic have generated close to 500 000 visits! We are used to seeing such numbers for the Chess Olympiad or the World Chess Championship, but never for a Candidates tournament, a day before it starts.
This record breaking interest is no surprise. It all started with the saga around the 6 months ban of Sergey Karjakin, continued with the massive sprint by Ding Liren to qualify by rating, went through Anish Giri criticizing the procedure and Alexander Grischuk’s comments on the situation. Adding to the mix the exciting Grand Prix finish with Naka and Rapport qualifying the buildup was complete. But news continue coming – will Ding Liren arrive on time? Is the ceiling at the playing hall good enough for Nakamura’s likes? Will the MMA practice by Duda be key for a title? Who are the seconds of the players? Did Nepo use a supercomputer? In the last days on average every 30 minutes there is a news on Chessdom about the Candidates and tomorrow we will follow all events from Madrid live on our main page, on the Chessdom Twitter account and on Facebook.
Compilation of some of our 186 news articles: the buildup to the Candidates including Karjakin’s case: Karjakin ban by FIDE announced / Karjakin posts comments on the ban, decides not to appeal, but Kremlin supports Karjakin / Top players comment on Karjakin ban / Giri criticizes the Candidates replacement procedure / All stories on Sergey Karjakin here Ding Liren’s run: Ding Leren completes the eligibility requirement for Candidates 2022 FIDE Grand Prix: Nakamura and Rapport qualify for the Candidates / Richard Rapport interview after his victory / Richard Rapport changes federation before the Candidates More: Candidates tiebreak rules announced / Nakamura to live stream from Candidates / Duda shares his secret training / Ding Liren manages to leave China / Magnus Carlsen will be following the Candidates / Nepo used a supercomputer for the Candidates / The fan zone in Madrid / Caruana press conference
We know one thing for sure, Candidates are going to be on fire with the ongoing heat in Madrid and Juga di Prima taking the stage More on the Candidates: Candidates Chess 2022 / Candidates 2022 pairings / Live games Candidates 2022Candidates Chess Round 1, June 17:Duda – Rapport, Ding Liren – Nepomniachtchi, Caruana – Nakamura, Radjabov – Firouzja