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The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent World Champion. The next FIDE World Chess Candidates tournament will take place in Moscow, Russia from 10th to 30th of March, 2016.
In the early history, it was contested as a triennial tournament, but after the split of the World Championship in the early 1990s, followed with the changes in the determination of the World Champion Challenger, the tournament is held on a variable time basis.
The number of players in the tournament varied over the years, between eight and fifteen players. Most of these qualified from Interzonal tournaments, though some gained direct entry without having to play the Interzonal.
The first Interzonal/Candidates World Championship cycle began in 1948. Before 1965, the tournament was organized in a round-robin format. From 1965 on, the tournament was played as knockout matches, spread over several months. In 1995-1996, the defending FIDE champion (Anatoly Karpov) also entered the Candidates, in the semi-finals, so the winner was the FIDE world champion.
FIDE discontinued the Candidates Tournaments after 1996, though they have returned in a different form for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007.
During its 1993 to 2006 split from FIDE, the "Classical" World Championship also held three Candidates Tournaments (in 1994-1995, 1998 and 2002) under a different sponsor and a different format each time. In one of these cases (Alexei Shirov in 1998) no title match eventuated, under disputed circumstances (see Classical World Chess Championship 2000).
The tables below show the qualifiers and results for all interzonal, Candidates and world championship tournaments. Players shown bracketed in italics (Bondarevsky, Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky in 1950, Botvinnik en 1965, Fischer in 1977, Carlsen in 2011) qualified for the Candidates or were seeded in the Candidates, but did not play. Players shown in italics with an asterisk (like: Stein* and Bronstein*) were excluded in 1962 or 1965 from the Candidates by a rule limiting the number of players from one country. Players listed after players in italics (Flohr in 1950, Geller in 1965, Spassky in 1977, Grischuk in 2011) only qualified due to the non-participation of the bracketed players.
The "Seeded into Final" column usually refers to the incumbent champion, but this has a different meaning for the World Chess Championship 1948, in which five players were seeded into the championship tournament, the Classical World Chess Championship 2000 in which two players were seeded into the championship final, the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 in which eight players were seeded into the final championship tournament, and the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007, in which four players were seeded into the final championship tournament.
| Years | Interzonal Format | Interzonal Qualifiers | Seeded into Candidates | Candidates Format | Candidates Winner(s) | Seeded in Final | Championship Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | None | In 1946-1947, FIDE decided that six players would participate to a tournament. FIDE selected Keres and Fine as the winners of the AVRO 1938 chess tournament which had been recognized as a Candidates tournament for the championship. Reshevsky was selected as multiple champion of the USA, Botvinnik as Soviet champion, Euwe as former world champion and Smyslov was selected because he was one of the few Soviet grandmasters. Fine withdrew from the 1948 tournament. |
5 players, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Euwe |
The Hague/ Moscow 1948 quintuple round robin, 1. Botvinnik 14 / 20 2. Smyslov 11 3.-4. Keres, Reshevsky 10½ |
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| 1948-51 | Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1948 20 players, single round robin, 8 qualified |
1. Bronstein, 2. Szabo, 3. Boleslavsky, 4. Kotov, 5. Lilienthal, 6.-9. Najdorf, Ståhlberg, (Bondarevsky), Flohr |
Smyslov, Keres (Euwe, Fine, Reshevsky) |
Budapest 1950 10 players, double round robin 1.-2. Boleslavsky, Bronstein 3. Smyslov; 4. Keres |
Bronstein (won playoff match against Boleslavsky) |
Botvinnik (1948 champion) | Moscow 1951 24 games match Drawn 12-12, Botvinnik retained title |
| 1952-54 | Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm) 1952 21 players, single round robin, 8 qualified |
1. Kotov, 2.-3. Taimanov, Petrosian, 4. Geller, 5.-8. Averbakh, Ståhlberg, Szabo, Gligorić |
Bronstein, Boleslavsky, Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Najdorf, Euwe | Zürich 1953 15 players, double round robin 1. Smyslov 2.-4. Bronstein, Keres, Reshevsky |
Smyslov | Botvinnik (1951 champion) | Moscow 1954 24 games match Drawn 12-12, Botvinnik retained title |
| 1955-57 | Göteborg 1955 21 players, single round robin, 9 qualified |
1. Bronstein, 2. Keres, 3. Panno, 4. Petrosian, 5.-6. Geller, Szabo, 7-9. Filip, Pilnik, Spassky | Smyslov | Amsterdam 1956 10 players, double round robin 1. Smyslov 2. Keres |
Smyslov | Botvinnik (1954 champion) | Moscow 1957 Smyslov won 12½-9½ |
| 1958 | Rematch | Botvinnik, Smyslov | Moscow 1958 Botvinnik won 12½-10½ |
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| 1958-60 | Portorož 1958 21 players, single round robin, 6 qualified |
1. Tal, 2. Gligorić, 3.-4. Petrosian, Benko, 5.-6. Olafsson, Fischer |
Smyslov, Keres | Yugoslavia 1959 8 players, quadruple round robin 1. Tal; 2. Keres; 3. Petrosian; 4. Smyslov |
Tal | Botvinnik (1958 champion) | Moscow 1960 Tal won 12½-8½ |
| 1961 | Rematch | Botvinnik, Tal | Moscow 1961 Botvinnik won 13-8 |
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| 1962-63 | Stockholm 1962 23 players, single round robin, 6 qualified |
1. Fischer, 2.-3. Geller, Petrosian, 4.-5. Korchnoi, Filip, 6.-8. Stein*, Benko |
Tal, Keres | Curaçao 1962 8 players, quadruple round robin 1. Petrosian; 2. Keres; 3. Geller; 4. Fischer |
Petrosian | Botvinnik (1961 champion) | Moscow 1963 Petrosian won 12½-9½ |
| 1964-66 | Amsterdam 1964 24 players, single round robin, 6 qualified |
1.-4. Smyslov, Larsen, Spassky, Tal, 5. Stein*, 6. Bronstein*, 7. Ivkov, 8.-9. Portisch |
Keres, (Botvinnik), Geller | 1965: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Spassky beat Geller Tal beat Larsen |
Spassky beat Tal in the final |
Petrosian (1963 champion) | Moscow 1966 Petrosian won 12½-11½ |
| 1967-69 | Sousse 1967 23 players, single round robin, 6 qualified |
1. Larsen, 2.-4. Korchnoi, Geller, Gligorić, 5. Portisch, 6.-8. Reshevsky |
Spassky, Tal | 1968: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Tal Spassky beat Larsen |
Spassky beat Korchnoi in the final |
Petrosian (1966 champion) | Moscow 1969 Spassky won 12½-10½ |
| 1970-72 | Palma de Mallorca 1970 24 players, single round robin, 6 qualified |
1. Fischer, 2.-4. Larsen, Geller, Hübner, 5.-6. Taimanov, Uhlmann |
Petrosian, Korchnoi | 1971: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Petrosian beat Korchnoi Fischer beat Larsen |
Fischer beat Petrosian in the final |
Spassky (1969 champion) | Reykjavík 1972 Fischer won 12½-8½ |
| 1973-75 | 1973: Two 18 players, single round robin Interzonals; 3 qualified from each |
Leningrad 1973: 1.-2. Korchnoi, Karpov, 3. Byrne; |
Spassky, Petrosian | 1974: 8 players, matches Semi-finals : Korchnoi beat Petrosian Karpov beat Spassky |
Karpov beat Korchnoi in the final |
Fischer (1972 champion) | 1975: Karpov won on forfeit |
| Petropolis 1973: 1.Mecking, 2.-4.: Portisch, Polugaevsky |
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| 1976-78 | 1976: Two 20 players, single round robin Interzonals; 3 qualified from each |
Biel 1976: 1. Larsen, 2.-4. Petrosian, Portisch |
Korchnoi, (Fischer), Spassky | 1977-78: 8 players, matches Semi-finals : Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky Spassky beat Portisch |
Korchnoi beat Spassky in the final (1977-78) |
Karpov (1975 champion) | Baguio City 1978 Karpov won 6-5 after 32 games (draws not counting) |
| Manila 1976: 1. Mecking, 2.-3. Polugaevsky, Hort |
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| 1979-81 | 1979: Two 18 players, single round robin Interzonals; 3 qualified from each |
Riga 1979: 1.-2. Tal, Polugaevsky, 3.-4. Adorján; |
Korchnoi, Spassky | 1980: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Korchnoi beat Polugaevsky Hübner beat Portisch |
Korchnoi beat Hübner in the final |
Karpov (1978 champion) | Meran 1981 Karpov won 6-2 after 18 games (draws not counting) |
| Rio de Janeiro 1979: 1.-3. Portisch, Petrosian, Hübner |
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| 1982-85 | 1982: Three 14 players, single round robin Interzonals; 2 qualified from each |
Las Palmas 1982: 1. Ribli, 2. Smyslov; |
Korchnoi, Hübner | 1983-84: 8 players, matches Semi-finals: Kasparov beat Korchnoi Smyslov beat Ribli |
Kasparov beat Smyslov in the final (1984) |
Karpov (1981 champion) | Moscow 1984-85 Unlimited match abandoned after 48 games with Karpov leading 5-3 (draws not counting) |
| Toluca 1982: 1.-2. Portisch, Torre |
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| 1985 | Moscow 1982: 1. Kasparov, 2. Beliavsky; |
replay : Karpov, Kasparov | Moscow 1985 24 games match Kasparov won replay 13-11 |
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| 1986 | Rematch | Karpov, Kasparov |
London/Leningrad 1986 Kasparov won 12½-11½ |
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| 1985-87 | 1985: Three 16-18 players, single round robin Interzonals; 4 qualified from each |
Biel 1985: 1. Vaganian, 2. Seirawan, 3. Sokolov, 4.-6. Short; |
Korchnoi, Ribli, Smyslov, Spassky (seeded in tournament) Karpov (seeded in 1987 final) |
Montpellier 1985: 16 players, single round robin tournament, 1.-3. Yusupov, Sokolov, Vaganian, 4.-5. Timman |
Linares 1987: Karpov beat matches winner (Sokolov) in the final. |
Kasparov (1985 champion) | Seville 1987 24 games match Drawn 12-12, Kasparov retained title |
| Taxco 1985: 1. Timman, 2. Nogueiras, 3. Tal, 4. Spraggett; |
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| Tunis 1985: 1. Yusupov, 2. Beliavsky, 3. Portisch, 4.-5. Chernin |
1986: 4 players played two rounds of matches: Yusupov beat Timman; Sokolov beat Vaganian and Yusupov. | ||||||
| 1987-90 | 1987: Three 17-18 players, single round robin Interzonals; 3 qualified from each |
Subotica 1987: 1.-3. Sax, Short, Speelman; |
Sokolov, Timman, Vaganian, Yusupov, Spraggett Karpov (seeded in second round) |
1988: 14 players played one round of matches, 1989: Karpov joined winners in quarter finals Semi-finals (1989): Karpov beat Yusupov Timman beat Speelman |
Karpov beat Timman in the final (1990) |
Kasparov (1987 champion) | New York/Lyon 1990 Kasparov won 12½-11½ |
| Szirák 1987: 1.-2. Salov, Hjartarson, 3.-4. Portisch; |
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| Zagreb 1987: 1. Korchnoi, 2.-3. Seirawan, Ehlvest |
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| 1990-93 | Manila 1990 64 players Swiss, 11 qualified |
1.-2. Gelfand, Ivanchuk, 3.-4. Anand, Short, 5.-11. Sax, Korchnoi, Hübner, Nikolić, Yudasin, Dolmatov, Dreev |
Timman, Yusupov, Speelman Karpov (seeded in second round) |
1991: 14 players, played one round of matches, 1991: Karpov joined winners in quarter-finals Semi-finals (1992): Short beat Karpov Timman beat Yusupov |
Short beat Timman in the final (1993) |
Kasparov (1990 champion) | London September-October 1993: Kasparov defeated Short 13-8 under the auspices of the PCA; |
| Netherlands /Djakarta September-November 1993: Karpov defeated Timman 12½-8½ under the auspices of FIDE | |||||||
| 1993-95 (PCA) | Groningen December 1993 54 players Swiss, 7 qualified |
1.-2. Adams, Anand, 3.-7. Kamsky, Kramnik, Tiviakov, Gulko, Romanishin |
Short | 1994-95: 8 players, matches Semi-finals : Kamsky beat Short Anand beat Adams |
Anand beat Kamsky in the final (1995) |
Kasparov (1993 PCA champion) | New York September-October 1995 20 games match Kasparov won 10½-7½ |
| 1993-96 (FIDE) | Biel July 1993 73 players Swiss, 10 qualified |
1. Gelfand, 2.-9. Van der Sterren, Kamsky, Khalifman, Adams, Yudasin, Salov, Lautier, Kramnik, 10.-15. Anand |
Timman, Yusupov | 1994: 12 players played two rounds of matches. | Semi-finals (February 1995): Karpov beat Gelfand, Kamsky beat Salov |
Elista 1996 20 games match Karpov won 10½-7½ |
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| Karpov (seeded in the semi-finals) | 1995: Karpov joined winners (Gelfand, Kamsky, Salov) in the semi-finals. | ||||||
After 1996, interzonals ceased to exist, but FIDE continued to organize qualifying zonal tournaments.
| Classical championships (1998-2004) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Candidates format | Seeded into Candidates | Candidates Winner(s) | Seeded in Final | Championship Final | ||
| 1998 (Classical) | Cazorla, May-June 1998 10-game match |
Kramnik, Shirov (on rating) |
Shirov won 5½-3½ | Kasparov (1995 champion) |
Match never took place | ||
| 2000 (Classical) | None | Two players seeded in final: Kasparov (1995 champion); Kramnik (on rating) |
London: October- November 2000 16-game match Kramnik won 8½-6½ |
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| 2002-2004 (Classical) | Dortmund July 2002 preliminaries: two four players double round robins; Semi-finals: the first from each group met the second from the other group in mini-matches |
Preliminaries: group 1: 1. Shirov, 2.Topalov, 3.Gelfand, 4.Lutz group 2: 1.Bareev, 2.Leko, 3.Adams, 4.Morozevich Semi-finals : Leko beat Shirov and Topalov beat Bareev. |
Leko (beat Topalov in the final) |
Kramnik (2000 classical champion) |
Brissago: September-October 2004 14-game match drawn 7-7, Kramnik retained title |
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| FIDE championships (1997-2005) | |||||||
| Years | Candidates format | Seeded into Candidates | Finalists | Championship Final | |||
| 1997-1998 (FIDE) | Groningen December 1997, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament |
100 players, Quarter-finalists: Adams, Van Wely, Short, Krasenkov, Gelfand, Dreev, Anand and Shirov. |
Anand (beat Adams in candidates final) Karpov (1996 FIDE champion) |
Lausanne: January 1998 6-game match Drawn 3-3; Karpov won rapid playoff 2-0 |
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| 1999 (FIDE) | Las Vegas July-August 1999, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament |
100 players, Quarter-finalists: Kramnik, Adams, Movsesian, Akopian, Shirov, Nisipeanu, Khalifman, J. Polgar |
Semi-finals: Khalifman beat Nisipeanu, Akopian beat Adams |
Las Vegas 1999 6-game match Khalifman won 3½-2½ |
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| 2000 (FIDE) | New Delhi (6 rounds)/final in Tehran November-December 2000 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with final match played in Tehran |
100 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Khalifman, Adams, Topalov, Tkachiev, Grischuk, Shirov and Bareev |
Semi-finals: Anand beat Adams, Shirov beat Grischuk |
Tehran December 2000 6-game match Anand won 3½-½ |
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| 2001-2002 (FIDE) | Moscow November-December 2001 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls |
128 players, Quarter-finalists: Anand, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Lautier, Svidler, Gelfand, Ponomariov and Bareev |
Semi-finals: Ponomariov beat Svidler, Ivanchuk beat Anand |
Moscow January 2002 8-game match Ponomariov won 4½-2½ |
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| 2004 (FIDE) | Tripoli June-July 2004 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament with relatively quick time controls |
128 players, Quarter-finalists: Topalov, Kharlov, Kasimdzhanov, Grischuk, Radjabov, Dominguez, Adams, Akopian |
Semi-finals: Adams beat Radjabov, Kasimdzhanov beat Topalov |
Tripoli July 2004 6-game match drawn 3-3; Kasimdzhanov won rapid playoff 1½-½ |
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| 2005 (FIDE) | None | 8 players seeded in final: Kasimdzhanov (FIDE champion); Adams (as FIDE 2004 finalist); Anand, Morozevich, Topalov (on rating), Leko (as classical 2004 finalist), J. Polgár and Svidler (on rating) |
San Luis: 8 players, double round robin, September-October 2005 1. Topalov : 10/14 2.-3. Anand and Svidler : 8½/14 4.Morozevich: 7/14 |
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| Reunification | |||||||
| 2006 | Reunification match | Topalov (FIDE champion), Kramnik (classical champion) |
Elista October 2006 12-game match drawn 6-6, Kramnik won rapid playoff 2½-1½ |
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After the reunification of the FIDE and "classical" titles, the Chess World Cup and FIDE Grand Prix series were introduced as qualification for the Candidates Tournament.
| Years | Qualification format | Qualifiers | Seeded into Candidates | Candidates Format | Candidates Winner(s) | Seeded in Final | Championship Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-2007 | Chess World Cup 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk November-December 2005 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament; + mini-matches to establish places 1 through 16. top 10 qualify |
1.Ponomariov, 2.Aronian, (3.Bacrot,) 4.Grischuk, 5.Bareev, 6.Gelfand, 7.Rublevsky, 8.Gurevich, 9.Kamsky, 10.Carlsen, 11.Malakhov |
Kasimdzhanov, Leko, Adams, J. Polgár (5th-8th of 2005 championship), Shirov, Bacrot (on rating) |
Elista: May-June 2007 16 players, two rounds of matches, 4 players qualify for championship tournament |
Aronian, Gelfand, Grischuk, Leko |
Anand, Svidler, Morozevich (2nd-4th in 2005); Kramnik (2006 Champion) |
Mexico City: September 2007 8 players, double round robin 1. Anand 9/14 2.-3. Kramnik and Gelfand: 8/14 |
| 2008 | Rematch | Kramnik, Anand | Bonn October 2008 12-game match Anand won 6½-4½ to retain the title. |
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| 2007-2010 | Chess World Cup 2007 Khanty-Mansiysk November-December 2007 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament |
Kamsky beat A. Shirov 2½-1½ in the final. |
Topalov (2005 FIDE champion) |
Sofia February 2009, 8-game match |
Topalov won 4½-2½ | Anand (2008 champion) |
Sofia April-May 2010 12-game match Anand won 6½-5½ to retain the title. |
| 2008-2012 | FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2010 2 qualified |
Aronian, Radjabov (Grischuk) |
(Carlsen) Grischuk, Kramnik (on rating), Kamsky, Topalov, Mamedyarov |
Kazan May 2011, 8 players, matches Semifinals: Gelfand defeated Kamsky; Grischuk defeated Kramnik |
Gelfand defeated Grischuk in the final 3½-2½ | Anand (2010 champion) |
Moscow May 2012 12-game match drawn 6-6, Anand won rapid playoff 2½-1½ |
| Chess World Cup 2009 Khanty-Mansiysk November-December 2009 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament (1st qualifies) |
Gelfand (beat Ponomariov in the final) | ||||||
| 2011-2013 | Chess World Cup 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk August-September 2011 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament (top three qualify) |
Svidler, Grischuk, Ivanchuk | Gelfand Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik Radjabov |
London March 2013 8 player double round-robin tournament |
Carlsen (won Candidates Tournament on tie breaks) |
Anand (2012 champion) |
Chennai, November 2013 12-game match Carlsen won 6½-3½ |
| 2012-2014 | FIDE Grand Prix 2012-2013 2 qualified |
Topalov, Mamedyarov | Anand Aronian, Karjakin Svidler |
Khanty-Mansiysk, March 2014 8 player double round-robin tournament |
Anand | Carlsen (2013 champion) |
Sochi, November 2014 12-game match Carlsen won 6½-4½ to retain the title |
| Chess World Cup 2013 Tromsø August-September 2013 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament (top two qualify) |
Kramnik, Andreikin | ||||||
| 2014-2016 | FIDE Grand Prix 2014-15 2 qualified |
Caruana, Nakamura | Anand Topalov, Giri (ratings) Aronian (wildcard) |
Moscow, Russia March 2016 8 player double round-robin tournament |
TBD | Carlsen (2014 champion) |
TBA, ultimo 2016 12-game match |
| Chess World Cup 2015 Baku October 2015 128 players, 7 round, mini-match, knockout tournament (top two qualify) |
Svidler, Karjakin | ||||||
