1950-present · 🏁 Various locations
Candidates Tournament
The crucible that forges World Championship challengers. Winning the Candidates is the hardest non-championship achievement in chess. Only a handful of players have won it more than once.
1950
First Candidates
3x
Record wins (multiple)
Various
Format changed many times
17
Gukesh, youngest winner
Evolution of Format
The Candidates has taken many forms. From 1950 to 1962, it was a tournament. From 1963 to 1993, it was a series of knockout matches. From 1994 to 2011, it alternated between formats. Since 2013, it has been a double-round robin tournament with eight players. Each format has produced different kinds of drama: the tournament rewards consistency, the matches reward match-play skill and psychological resilience.
Notable Candidates Events
Zurich 1953
Smyslov won. Bronstein's book made it the most analyzed tournament in history.
Curacao 1962
Petrosian won. Fischer alleged Soviet collusion. Led to switch from tournament to matches.
Belgrade/Moscow 1977-78
Korchnoi won, setting up his first match against Karpov.
Linares 1992
Short won, beating Karpov in the semifinal to earn his shot at Kasparov.
London 2013
Carlsen won, launching his reign as World Champion.
Berlin 2018
Caruana won, earning his shot at Carlsen. Drew all 12 classical games in the championship.
Toronto 2024
Gukesh won at 17, becoming the youngest Candidates winner ever. Later became World Champion.