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Candidates Tournament: All Editions
Every edition of the tournament that determines the World Championship challenger, from 1950 to present.
Record Winners
Korchnoi: 3 winsKarpov: 3 winsSmyslov: 2 winsNepomniachtchi: 2 wins
1950🇷🇺BronsteinWon playoff vs BoleslavskyFirst ever Candidates Tournament. Budapest. Double round-robin of 10. Bronstein won playoff 3-2.1953🇷🇺Smyslov18.5/28Zurich 1953. Legendary tournament. Smyslov won the 15-player double round-robin.1956🇷🇺Smyslov11.5/18Amsterdam. 10-player double round-robin. Smyslov won his second straight Candidates.1959🇱🇻Tal20/28Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade. 8-player quadruple round-robin. Tal dominated at age 22. Fischer competed at age 16.1962🇷🇺Petrosian17.5/27Curacao. 8-player quadruple round-robin. Draw shortening controversy. Led to FIDE changing format to knockout matches.1965🇷🇺SpasskyBeat Tal (finals)Knockout match format. Spassky beat Keres, Karpov qualifier, then Tal in final.1968🇷🇺SpasskyBeat Korchnoi (finals)Spassky defended his Candidates title in knockout matches.1971🇺🇸FischerBeat Taimanov 6-0, Larsen 6-0, Petrosian 6.5-2.5Fischer's legendary run. 6-0 vs Taimanov, 6-0 vs Larsen! Then beat ex-champion Petrosian.1974🇷🇺KarpovBeat Korchnoi 12.5-11.5 (final)Epic Candidates final vs Korchnoi. Karpov won by the narrowest margin.1977🇨🇭KorchnoiBeat Spassky, then Polugaevsky, then Petrosian (final rounds)Korchnoi, now a Soviet defector, fights through as a free man.1980🇨🇭KorchnoiBeat Polugaevsky (final)Korchnoi wins second straight Candidates.1983🇷🇺KasparovBeat Korchnoi (final)Kasparov wins his first Candidates at age 19.1986🇷🇺KarpovBeat Sokolov (final)Runners-up: Sokolov1989🇷🇺KarpovBeat Yusupov, then Salov, then TimmanRunners-up: Timman1994🇷🇺KarpovBeat Short (final)FIDE Candidates. Karpov won.1995🇮🇳AnandBeat Adams, then Gelfand, then KamskyFIDE Candidates knockout.1998🇪🇸ShirovBeat Kramnik (match)Classical Candidates. Shirov beat Kramnik but the title match vs Kasparov never happened.2002🇭🇺LekoBeat Topalov (final)Dortmund Candidates. Leko won and earned a match vs Kramnik.2007🇷🇺Kramnik(Champions tournament)World Championship Tournament in Mexico City. Kramnik, Anand, Svidler, Morozevich, Aronian, Leko, Gelfand, Grischuk.2011🇮🇱GelfandWon knockout matchesGelfand earned a match vs Anand.2013🇳🇴Carlsen8.5/14London. 8-player double round-robin. Carlsen won on tiebreak over Kramnik. Led to Carlsen becoming World Champion.2014🇮🇳Anand8.5/14Khanty-Mansiysk. Anand won convincingly for a rematch vs Carlsen.2016🇷🇺Karjakin8.5/14Moscow. Karjakin won on tiebreak.2018🇺🇸Caruana9/14Berlin. Caruana dominated. Earned match vs Carlsen.2020🇷🇺Nepomniachtchi8.5/14Yekaterinburg. Split by COVID-19 pandemic. Nepo won his first Candidates.2022🇷🇺Nepomniachtchi9.5/14Madrid. Nepo dominated again. Karjakin disqualified mid-tournament for pro-war comments.2024🇮🇳Gukesh9/14Toronto. Gukesh, age 17, became the youngest ever Candidates winner! Led to him becoming World Champion.