Barring abasov

World Champion GM Ding Liren: The three Indian chess Grandmasters who have qualified for the open category Candidates 2024 tournament to be held in Toronto though not fancied to win, can surely upset the chances of higher rated and fancied foreign competitors.

This can be seen from the past game scores of the three Indian GMs in the open category are: GM R.Praggnanandhaa (2,743, World Rank 13th), GM D.Gukesh (2,725-25th) and GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2,742 – 14th) - against the other fancied competitors.

Apart from the three Indians, the five players in the open category are: GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2,769, World Rank 5th), GM Fabiano Caruana (2,804, ranked 2nd), GM Hikaru Nakamura (2,788, ranked 3rd), GM Alireza Firouzja (2,759, 6th) and GM Nijat Abasov (2,641, rank 102nd), the replacement player if Magnus Carlsen decides to withdraw from the event.