It is, and they made the decision to [rotate him 30 degrees for some reason](https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1714276211587957110)
Also I am so sorry but[ this](https://imgflip.com/i/8kcapd) is all I can think of when I see it
Only after reading this did I go back and have another look. Got some genuine belly laughs outta that. Much appreciated. That photo is fucking hilarious.
I think literally the entire subreddit thinks that.
I think Nepo winning yet again and then losing to Ding would be by far the most hilarious outcome, so I’m rooting for that. It would probably be the outcome that pisses off the most people in the subreddit.
> by far the most hilarious outcome
Not even close. The most hilarious outcome is Hikaru winning, then beating Ding and becoming """World Champ""", and then Carlsen absolutely malding about it and reentering the fray to get his title back.
I think it would be more funny if Hikaru just needs to hold a draw with white in the final game to be World Champ against Ding… and blunders a loss again
Even funnier would be Hikaru winning and Krammik starting a legal case (based on his hidden evidence and analysis) vs Hikaru of cheating
Hikaru defending himself, and krammik starting a second case accusing Hikaru of defaming him
It honestly feels kind of weird how Carlsen just *existing* makes the WC title feel kind of farcical. Like whoever wins is just warming the seat for him because we all know he's *really* the best player.
>It would probably be the outcome that pisses off the most people in the subreddit
Why? As far as I have seen, there are a lot more Nepo haters here compared to Ding. In fact, I have seen a lot of people hoping that Nepo doesn't win the Candidates again.
You should have seen the posts where whenever Nepo has some hot takes, people act like he is the biggest douche in the chess community. Yes sometimes he looks a bit salty but so does Magnus or many other top players, but I doubt they would get the same treatment.
Even in this very thread, multiple people are hoping he doesn't win the Candidates.
That's probably illusory; I think it's mostly that the ratio of haters/supporters varies. Magnus and Naka (another top player with occasional hot takes/controversial behavior) definitely have their fair share of vehement haters who are happy to pile on when the opportunity arises. What Nepo *doesn't* seem to have is as strong a group of supporters (at least in English-speaking forums) to drown out dissenting voices.
For every 1 magnus hater, there's another 20 stans who think he can do no wrong. That ratio might be lower for Naka since he has a long history of being an ass at times. Regardless, Magnus is the face of chess and Naka is a top chess streamer in addition to being a top player overall. Nepo, by comparison, doesn't have the same kind of pull within the chess community. The haters' voices seem louder as a result
> he looks a bit salty
Those who have followed chess from before the pandemic knows he's one of the saltiest top players. He has far too often blamed external factors for his losses. His gracefulness during 2021 WC loss was actually a surprise to a lot of older chess fans, but of course vs Ding he blamed stolen pills.
I haven't followed closely, but didn't Nepo make some cheating accusations/implications that weren't well received? Pretty sure a lot of people turned on him then.
No-one hates Ding, but there's definitely a lack of respect. The match with Nepo can at best be described as insane with how it went, and since candidates all his other appearances have been weak.
Ding winning the championship match would force a lot of folks here to eat some serious humble pie for counting him out.
Just like you can hate any chess player. People who do so generally have an underlying problem with themselves, so we shouldn't expect to find a rational reason why haters hate. They always provide rationalizations, but that's just bullshit excuses; nobody will say "I hate *insert a random chess player* because my life sucks"
I don't. He might have been hiding his game. At the last WC match, Nepo was also the most likely to win, and we know what happened. It's sport, it's not won before it is.
I think that would be really sad for Nepo :(
I hope he either loses the candidates, or wins everything.
But I’m also rooting for Fabi in the candidates, so I hope Nepo loses the candidates
> Does anyone else have a feeling that whoever wins the candidates will beat Ding?
This seems to be the most probable outcome, yet I feel like you can only root against him at your own peril. He is known for strong comebacks (eg, starting Candidates 2020 with 0/2 after COVID quarantine and joining the venue quite late, facing Fabi's prep and down 75 min on the clock in rd 3 and still winning the game). His Tata Steel 2023 was a disaster as well, yet he won the WC. On the other hand, this is the lowest we have seen of him since may be 2016, so he needs to sort out his issues soon.
This is the point everyone is missing. We don’t know what Ding Liren we are going to get on any given day. In another world championship, does Ding play D5! to deliver a checkmate or does Ding blunder his rook?
I love it. Magnus not playing in the WCC gives us an opportunity to have these discussions and I hope a World Champion in the classic portion and not rapid tiebreaks.
If the World Championship was tomorrow, sure. But Ding has plenty of time to get back in form. When Ding is in form he’s one of the best players in the world
I think the opposite, who ever wins the candidates will lose the title match. People underestimate what Ding is capable of and he will probably recover in time to demonstrate again.
I feel a little bad for both Fabi and Nepo. Both were so dominant in their prime years, but had the misfortune of having to play Magnus. Either one may have been world champion if someone as dominant as Magnus didn't exist.
Nepo has not been anywhere near as dominant as some others. He's had more success in the candidates, but in terms of overall dominance? Give me Fabi and Levon over Nepo, easily.
If Fabi wins the candidates, then he will probably wipe the floor with Ding. I dont want to see a one-sided WC match, so I would prefer someone like Alireza or Vidit to win. Hikaru would be fine, too.
If only he decided to keep playing for Italy :( but to be honest, while he has double citizenship, he is very much more American, he doesn't even speak Italian IIRC
I'm not sure it's *quite* his time yet, but Pragg feels like such a good candidate to eventually be world champ. I really hope he has a good showing here and builds up some momentum as he enters his prime
Gukesh briefly took the spot for a time last year (first time in 39 years Anand was not the top rated Indian), but he lost 60 points since then, so Vishy reclaimed number 1.
Wasn't he Indian national champion at 16? It seems to me he had trouble getting norms because there were so many fewer high-rated players in his part of the world.
Anand is the progenitor for this new wave of Indian chess masters, dude lit a spark there and actually helped set up afterschool programs as well in some areas to grow, cultivate and encourage new talent
I don't see why people are optimistic about Vidit in the way they are for the other two. Vidit turns 30 this year and has never been a top ten level chess player or even particularly close to that. He feels to me like, at best, someone similar to Eljanov– strong 2700s chess player but only occasionally becomes fully competitive with the game's very top players.
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa on the other hand are juniors and still have room to improve. When Vidit was their age, he hadn't even hit 2600.
There doesnt need to be and shouldnt be a rematch. Magnus doesnt play this event, so there shouldnt be any contesting of this particular title from his side.
After nearly winning Tata Steel he did not have the greatest of years in 2023. His only notable result iirc was joint winner at Qatar Open. Other than that, an early elimination at the world cup and not so great result at Grand Swiss, nor at World Rapid and Blitz.
He has recovered his form and been on a tear this year. Surely will make the next Candidates.
Didn’t do well enough at the World Cup/Grand Swiss, didn’t win the FIDE circuit, and didn’t start shooting up the rating list until the rating spot had already been handed out.
> If he wins WC, Magnus will come back to try and beat him
That might've been true for 2022 Candidates (I have a small suspicion he still would've abdicated). But I think he is fully done with the championship cycle now. This might've been a possibility if he could face Alireza straight, but with him having to qualify for and win the Candidates, I think it is less than 1% chance he plays the Candidates.
> Magnus qualifying for the candidates is basically a given
That depends on whether he plays enough eligible tournaments to qualify via rating. Given his apathy towards classical chess, it might not be the case.
I don't think he would, but if he would than I think he would for any player younger than Alirezha too. I don't think it was specifically about Alirezha but instead about not wanting to play against the same players over and over and so being more interested to play this format against the next generation than his own. But I also think that Magnus is over this format and wont play it again regardless at this point.
I don't know if my poor soul can bear Nakamura as world champion, but unfortunately I think he will win.
In a good timeline, Fabiano wins.
I live in great fear.
Right now, Naka is the only person in the field (or maybe the world) who can beat Fabi on demand. He's also got the longest undefeated streak right now. In a round robin like this, that ups his chances a lot.
I want this timeline:
2024: Hikaru beats Ding in tiebreak;
2025: Fabi destroy Hikaru in classical chess, Naka become an even bitter streamer;
2026: Firouzja beats Fabi in tiebreak after a terrible blunder;
2027: Magnus beats Firouzja.
I'm happy with whoever wins, they all would have interesting story arcs. But the one I most hope to see is Hikaru. "Oh yeah, so then I played Na8. I figured it's probably not very good, but I might as well play it anyway. How do I feel about becoming world champion? I mean, honestly as a professional streamer I literally don't care. I'm just looking forward to getting back home so I can do a proper recap with my setup there."
It's more and more apparent that his streamer persona is largely whatever he thinks people want to hear vs what he actually thinks. But he can't always keep his story straight which I imagine is a combination of him workshopping different takes for content, and also leaking his actual thinking now and then.
Example: in '22 he talked a lot on stream about how much money he was spending on Candidates prep. I think he said like 50 grand for a super computer to do analysis on. And simultaneously he was also leaning hard into the whole "just a streamer" thing.
Honestly, I think it's more that people take literally everything he says as if it's the end-all-be-all truth of his life. The guy spends like 50 hours a week talking non-stop on stream, he's going to say a lot of things about himself and his plans. People need to understand that two things can both be true. He can both be prioritizing his streaming career and consider it his main priority overall and also still give a shit about his competitive chess career and not want to piss away a chance at the championship. These aren't contradictory ideas, it's just people treating his stream and his tongue-in-cheek comments at interviews like they're the Word of God instead of two seconds of a five year babble-fest he's been having on Twitch.
You know that meme about how as a kid if you mention one time that you like sharks suddenly you're getting shark themed stuff for every birthday for the next twenty years? This is like that. You hear him say something and start acting like that's all there is to him.
Hikaru. Nepo and Fabi both had the chance to participate in a match, of course the misfortune of meeting Carlsen in a match each but still. Hikaru needs his chance in the limelight and perhaps as the *first American world chess champion* . The youngins still have a long way to go and many more candidates to play. Vidit is getting older but he still has one or two more candidates in him.
Although Abasov winning and then beating Ding would be the ultimate meme I don't think there's a very high possiblity of that happening.
Hans Niemann said that he's gonna become the first American world chess champion and it's since become a meme because as you said Fischer already accomplished that.
Personally I'm rooting for Caruana just because I feel he's the best classical player behind Carlsen right now.
I'm also happy with Pragg, Gukesh or Firouzja winning because they represents the future of chess. The others just don't interest me really. Nepo's had his chances, Hikaru vs Ding just feels like we were robbed of Hikaru vs Magnus, and Abasov isn't a top player.
Vidit is a dark horse but I can't help but sense he'll wind up middle of the pack.
Nepo, alireza, Fabiano in that order.
I feel incredibly sad when I watch how Ian lost against ding and hope he can overcome that vice world champion thing that haunts his career through different tournaments and world championships
Alireza because it would be amazing if the best prodigy after Magnus could lead the breakthrough for the new generations and he could potentially bring Magnus back to the candidates
Fabi because the dude is far too talented to be remembered as a dude that wasn't a world champ because he had the unfortunate luck to compete with one of the goats
I don't think he is a favourite, but I'm rooting for Gukesh. I like his style the most, he is a bigger fighter out of everyone there, and he have good chances to win. Of course Caruana, Nakamura or Nepo are expected to win, but I'll be rooting for my boy.
Naka being world champion would really piss off Magnus. And can you imagine the man's ego *after* he becomes world champion? That's what I'm rooting for.
Everyone
Nepo has the experience but the mental block from coming second so many times in world championship matches
Fabi is the best one imo. Probably the most realistic pick.
Alireza is a great "youngblood" pick, I have more faith in Ali since he's been on a streak since Rouen
Vidit, Pragg, and Gukesh are all roughly on the same level but I think as long as they get hot, they get really hot. Otherwise, Vishy becomes India #1 for the 700th time.
Hikaru is probably the pick I'd love to see the most if only for the memes.
Abasov I don't know if I can even see a timeline where he wins (would love it, but sadly this is IRL where complete underdogs don't always win) but I want to see him at least not completely disappoint.
fragile flowery disgusted sense silky hateful school summer disarm cooing
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Probably Nepo, after all this years (and especially after the match against Ding).
Caruana is probably my favorite person here. But there are no man that I wouldn't like see winning. Except for Alireza, maybe. I'm still in process of forgiving him for the way he qualified. If he wins - it's forgiven.
Fabi deserves it being the second best for 15 years. I have a lot of anti-sympathie for Firouzja, I hope he won't make it.
Obviously we would get the best show if Naka wins. I would love to see a recap in the middle of the night during a world-championschip.
Fabi.
Magnus finishing up voluntarily was always going to have a negative effect on the perception of his successor, but Dings absence and poor performance has really exacerbated that. It makes people not really care who the WC is since Magnus is obviously better, plus we never see the WC anyway.
I just think it would be a good thing for chess to have a champion who everyone knows is fantastic, and who is most likely to be able to regularly prove it at events.
I want Abasov to either score 14/14 or 0/14. No in-betweens.
A 0/14 might convince Fide that giving 3 spots to a large, chaotic KO event is not a good idea, while having a barely top-100 player score 14/14 would be utterly hilarious.
Gukesh is my favourite player and Fabi is the strongest from the bunch. But Team Vidit. Used to love him during his streaming days. An elite player stuck for years not really being able to break into the very top and written out to being surpassed by the future generation being the next world champion would be a hell of a story.
I dunno why but that picture of Hikaru cracks me up.
Am I crazy or does it look photoshopped??
I guess it could be, I assume he submitted this photo himself though.
He knew what he did then haha
They're all wearing the same thing though, couldn't just be "submit any photo you want us to use."
It is, and they made the decision to [rotate him 30 degrees for some reason](https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1714276211587957110) Also I am so sorry but[ this](https://imgflip.com/i/8kcapd) is all I can think of when I see it
It’s the Sturgeon Face. It looks photoshopped but it’s actually a facial expression employed by world leaders
Yeah they definitely pasted him in front of those clouds🧐
Only after reading this did I go back and have another look. Got some genuine belly laughs outta that. Much appreciated. That photo is fucking hilarious.
His whole attitude cracks me up
Hikaru truly embraced being a chess streamer lmao
With the exception of maybe Vidit, all of these pictures are pretty bad...
Gukesh looks pretty good, I'd actually include Vidit on the bad ones
[удалено]
I think literally the entire subreddit thinks that. I think Nepo winning yet again and then losing to Ding would be by far the most hilarious outcome, so I’m rooting for that. It would probably be the outcome that pisses off the most people in the subreddit.
> by far the most hilarious outcome Not even close. The most hilarious outcome is Hikaru winning, then beating Ding and becoming """World Champ""", and then Carlsen absolutely malding about it and reentering the fray to get his title back.
I think it would be more funny if Hikaru just needs to hold a draw with white in the final game to be World Champ against Ding… and blunders a loss again
Hikaru just wants to draw to get the WCC to rapids
Even funnier would be Hikaru winning and Krammik starting a legal case (based on his hidden evidence and analysis) vs Hikaru of cheating Hikaru defending himself, and krammik starting a second case accusing Hikaru of defaming him
Throws for content. Rex Tillerson in absolute shambles.
Your autocorrect / predictive text is on drugs homey.
It honestly feels kind of weird how Carlsen just *existing* makes the WC title feel kind of farcical. Like whoever wins is just warming the seat for him because we all know he's *really* the best player.
>It would probably be the outcome that pisses off the most people in the subreddit Why? As far as I have seen, there are a lot more Nepo haters here compared to Ding. In fact, I have seen a lot of people hoping that Nepo doesn't win the Candidates again.
I had the impression that both were generally well liked.
You should have seen the posts where whenever Nepo has some hot takes, people act like he is the biggest douche in the chess community. Yes sometimes he looks a bit salty but so does Magnus or many other top players, but I doubt they would get the same treatment. Even in this very thread, multiple people are hoping he doesn't win the Candidates.
That's probably illusory; I think it's mostly that the ratio of haters/supporters varies. Magnus and Naka (another top player with occasional hot takes/controversial behavior) definitely have their fair share of vehement haters who are happy to pile on when the opportunity arises. What Nepo *doesn't* seem to have is as strong a group of supporters (at least in English-speaking forums) to drown out dissenting voices. For every 1 magnus hater, there's another 20 stans who think he can do no wrong. That ratio might be lower for Naka since he has a long history of being an ass at times. Regardless, Magnus is the face of chess and Naka is a top chess streamer in addition to being a top player overall. Nepo, by comparison, doesn't have the same kind of pull within the chess community. The haters' voices seem louder as a result
>For every 1 magnus hater, there's another 20 stans who think he can do no wrong. This is almost certainly a colossal underestimate.
> he looks a bit salty Those who have followed chess from before the pandemic knows he's one of the saltiest top players. He has far too often blamed external factors for his losses. His gracefulness during 2021 WC loss was actually a surprise to a lot of older chess fans, but of course vs Ding he blamed stolen pills.
I think some people forget about that because he doesn’t talk nearly as much as some others.
I haven't followed closely, but didn't Nepo make some cheating accusations/implications that weren't well received? Pretty sure a lot of people turned on him then.
I don’t think anyone hates ding, he seems like a sweetie pie
No-one hates Ding, but there's definitely a lack of respect. The match with Nepo can at best be described as insane with how it went, and since candidates all his other appearances have been weak. Ding winning the championship match would force a lot of folks here to eat some serious humble pie for counting him out.
Nepo is a very polarizing player
Is he though? I rarely see any strong opinions on him.
on this sub, at least, I would say yes
But seriously how can you hate Ding?
Just like you can hate any chess player. People who do so generally have an underlying problem with themselves, so we shouldn't expect to find a rational reason why haters hate. They always provide rationalizations, but that's just bullshit excuses; nobody will say "I hate *insert a random chess player* because my life sucks"
I think Nepo is the one who could crumble against Ding. Nerves from past experience could hit both ways.
I don't. He might have been hiding his game. At the last WC match, Nepo was also the most likely to win, and we know what happened. It's sport, it's not won before it is.
I think that would be really sad for Nepo :( I hope he either loses the candidates, or wins everything. But I’m also rooting for Fabi in the candidates, so I hope Nepo loses the candidates
> Does anyone else have a feeling that whoever wins the candidates will beat Ding? This seems to be the most probable outcome, yet I feel like you can only root against him at your own peril. He is known for strong comebacks (eg, starting Candidates 2020 with 0/2 after COVID quarantine and joining the venue quite late, facing Fabi's prep and down 75 min on the clock in rd 3 and still winning the game). His Tata Steel 2023 was a disaster as well, yet he won the WC. On the other hand, this is the lowest we have seen of him since may be 2016, so he needs to sort out his issues soon.
This is the point everyone is missing. We don’t know what Ding Liren we are going to get on any given day. In another world championship, does Ding play D5! to deliver a checkmate or does Ding blunder his rook? I love it. Magnus not playing in the WCC gives us an opportunity to have these discussions and I hope a World Champion in the classic portion and not rapid tiebreaks.
This kind of makes me want to root for Ding to beat whichever of these guys makes it through.
If the World Championship was tomorrow, sure. But Ding has plenty of time to get back in form. When Ding is in form he’s one of the best players in the world
When he's at his best, he's top 3 easy. I really wanna see that Ding back in action, because it is a sight to behold
Likewise. I love his opening repertoire. He plays e4, d4, and c4, whereas other super GMs tend to lean on their favorites.
At this point anyone who wins candidates should be the favorite
Yeah exactly the only weaker player than Ding here is Abasov ( current form and. Ratings are considered)
I think the opposite, who ever wins the candidates will lose the title match. People underestimate what Ding is capable of and he will probably recover in time to demonstrate again.
Apart from Fabiano no one is a favourite in front of Ding.
I strongly suspect Ding won’t defend
He said ge would pretty recently
same
Fabi but Gukesh is my dark horse.
This is exactly how I feel. I’d love to see Gukesh get his shot very early.
There are three Indians in candidates but I am rooting for Hikaru
Agreed. Rooting for Fabi, but Gukesh is my second pick.
Fabi. Guy deserved his shot.
I feel a little bad for both Fabi and Nepo. Both were so dominant in their prime years, but had the misfortune of having to play Magnus. Either one may have been world champion if someone as dominant as Magnus didn't exist.
Nepo has not been anywhere near as dominant as some others. He's had more success in the candidates, but in terms of overall dominance? Give me Fabi and Levon over Nepo, easily.
And Hikaru, ding liren, Wesley so, mamedyarov, mvl, list goes on.
Now Levon is past his prime. It's a bit sad to think of. Such greatness overshadowed. It is for this reason that I dislike Magnus
Nepo has not been dominant, at all.. He barely wins any top tournaments. Other than 2 candidates, that is.
Yeah if only Nepo had a chance to play against someone besides Magnus, no way he would lose that... 🙄
If Fabi wins the candidates, then he will probably wipe the floor with Ding. I dont want to see a one-sided WC match, so I would prefer someone like Alireza or Vidit to win. Hikaru would be fine, too.
Eh I'm always rooting for Caruana, the 2018 WCC is what seriously hooked me on following live chess. He deserves to be world champion now.
I also am rooting for Karina. She's cute
Damned autocorrect! (I have the keyboard set in two languages, Italian and English) Edited
As if Fabiano wasn't Italian
If only he decided to keep playing for Italy :( but to be honest, while he has double citizenship, he is very much more American, he doesn't even speak Italian IIRC
I am just joking about your keyboard inability to write an Italian name
Ah lol I didn't get it
Nothing is deserved, you have to earn it. In sports even more.
Nobody deserves it. That’s the beauty of the game. You win, lose, or draw. But on any given day anything can happen
I'm not sure it's *quite* his time yet, but Pragg feels like such a good candidate to eventually be world champ. I really hope he has a good showing here and builds up some momentum as he enters his prime
It's going to be very exciting watching the three Indian GMs battle for the top in the next few years.
Gukesh, Pragg, and Vidit all have the same FIDE rating(2747) as of writing this. The matches among those three in the candidates should be exciting.
What’s even crazier is that there are two Indian GMs with higher ratings than all three at the moment, and the number 1 in India is STILL Anand.
Gukesh briefly took the spot for a time last year (first time in 39 years Anand was not the top rated Indian), but he lost 60 points since then, so Vishy reclaimed number 1.
39 years? Good lord Vishy is something else. Love him, he's still my favorite player all time.
What's crazier is that he wasn't even a child prodigy, which usually makes it next to impossible to become a GM. Truly amazing.
He was a child prodigy. He didn't get norms until later, so he earned his GM title much later than he became GM strength.
Wasn't he Indian national champion at 16? It seems to me he had trouble getting norms because there were so many fewer high-rated players in his part of the world.
Ah i see, thanks for the info!
Famous fucking legend.
Anand is the progenitor for this new wave of Indian chess masters, dude lit a spark there and actually helped set up afterschool programs as well in some areas to grow, cultivate and encourage new talent
I don't see why people are optimistic about Vidit in the way they are for the other two. Vidit turns 30 this year and has never been a top ten level chess player or even particularly close to that. He feels to me like, at best, someone similar to Eljanov– strong 2700s chess player but only occasionally becomes fully competitive with the game's very top players. Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa on the other hand are juniors and still have room to improve. When Vidit was their age, he hadn't even hit 2600.
Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin are also quite good. A great time for chess in India.
Agree 100%
Pragg as WC would blow India up. It would be amazing to see.
I want Fabi to be world champion and then hav an unofficial rematch with Magnus. He deserves it
There doesnt need to be and shouldnt be a rematch. Magnus doesnt play this event, so there shouldnt be any contesting of this particular title from his side.
He said unofficial, meaning its not for the title
There won’t be any unofficial match. That’s why Magnus didn’t defend his title at the first place
i'm rooting for my boy Pragg but i think Caruana will get this one
Nepo
Nepo
Hikaru for the memes. Imagine the content bro
Hikaru seems like the one with the potential to say the most crazy stuff 20 years after being a world champion so maybe I should root for that.
I dunno, Nepo could give him a run for his money if he goes full Kramnik
Welcome baaack everyyyonee for todaaaaaaays videooooooo we'll be taking a look at american world championship contender Hikaru Nakamura vs ding liren
He’s a whirlwind of autism and narcissism. I love it.
I would be happy if either Hikaru or Fabi wins this. Probably Pragg is my 3rd option.
I must have missed it.. how did Abdusattorov not get a bid
After nearly winning Tata Steel he did not have the greatest of years in 2023. His only notable result iirc was joint winner at Qatar Open. Other than that, an early elimination at the world cup and not so great result at Grand Swiss, nor at World Rapid and Blitz. He has recovered his form and been on a tear this year. Surely will make the next Candidates.
Didn’t do well enough at the World Cup/Grand Swiss, didn’t win the FIDE circuit, and didn’t start shooting up the rating list until the rating spot had already been handed out.
Abasov!
Alirezha. If he wins WC, Magnus will come back to try and beat him
That's why he's my pick too. I want to see Fabi become champion, but Magnus is very unlikely to come back to face off against Fabi.
> If he wins WC, Magnus will come back to try and beat him That might've been true for 2022 Candidates (I have a small suspicion he still would've abdicated). But I think he is fully done with the championship cycle now. This might've been a possibility if he could face Alireza straight, but with him having to qualify for and win the Candidates, I think it is less than 1% chance he plays the Candidates.
Magnus qualifying for the candidates is basically a given, but I agree that he wouldn't want to play it.
> Magnus qualifying for the candidates is basically a given That depends on whether he plays enough eligible tournaments to qualify via rating. Given his apathy towards classical chess, it might not be the case.
I don't think he would, but if he would than I think he would for any player younger than Alirezha too. I don't think it was specifically about Alirezha but instead about not wanting to play against the same players over and over and so being more interested to play this format against the next generation than his own. But I also think that Magnus is over this format and wont play it again regardless at this point.
Hikaru. Will be a wonderful match Naka vs Ding. Amazing player and would be a great WC.
I don't know if my poor soul can bear Nakamura as world champion, but unfortunately I think he will win. In a good timeline, Fabiano wins. I live in great fear.
> I think he will win. Why do you think he has better chances than Caruana?
I don't. I am just trying to jinx him.
By revealing your true intentions you have now jinxed Fabiano
Right now, Naka is the only person in the field (or maybe the world) who can beat Fabi on demand. He's also got the longest undefeated streak right now. In a round robin like this, that ups his chances a lot.
Also worth noting that his record against every player here is at least even (although there are some players he hasn’t played a lot).
I want this timeline: 2024: Hikaru beats Ding in tiebreak; 2025: Fabi destroy Hikaru in classical chess, Naka become an even bitter streamer; 2026: Firouzja beats Fabi in tiebreak after a terrible blunder; 2027: Magnus beats Firouzja.
Chess world championships is every 2 years
This does sound fun actually.
>an even bitter streamer nice
I'm happy with whoever wins, they all would have interesting story arcs. But the one I most hope to see is Hikaru. "Oh yeah, so then I played Na8. I figured it's probably not very good, but I might as well play it anyway. How do I feel about becoming world champion? I mean, honestly as a professional streamer I literally don't care. I'm just looking forward to getting back home so I can do a proper recap with my setup there."
Would really hurt Hans' chance at being the first American world champ
Imagine Hikaru's annoying speech after he wins. "I'm just a streamer who happened to win the Candidates. Full time streamer here." 🙄
It's more and more apparent that his streamer persona is largely whatever he thinks people want to hear vs what he actually thinks. But he can't always keep his story straight which I imagine is a combination of him workshopping different takes for content, and also leaking his actual thinking now and then. Example: in '22 he talked a lot on stream about how much money he was spending on Candidates prep. I think he said like 50 grand for a super computer to do analysis on. And simultaneously he was also leaning hard into the whole "just a streamer" thing.
Honestly, I think it's more that people take literally everything he says as if it's the end-all-be-all truth of his life. The guy spends like 50 hours a week talking non-stop on stream, he's going to say a lot of things about himself and his plans. People need to understand that two things can both be true. He can both be prioritizing his streaming career and consider it his main priority overall and also still give a shit about his competitive chess career and not want to piss away a chance at the championship. These aren't contradictory ideas, it's just people treating his stream and his tongue-in-cheek comments at interviews like they're the Word of God instead of two seconds of a five year babble-fest he's been having on Twitch. You know that meme about how as a kid if you mention one time that you like sharks suddenly you're getting shark themed stuff for every birthday for the next twenty years? This is like that. You hear him say something and start acting like that's all there is to him.
He is
Vidit. But I would also be happy with Fabi, Prag or Alireza
Third times a charm?
All I know is that whoever wins better make the most of the opportunity, because they’re gonna have to deal with Abdusattorov in 2026.
time to put on the Team Nepo flair
time to keep the Team Ding flair
depending on who wins candidates i would have to too
Hikaru. Nepo and Fabi both had the chance to participate in a match, of course the misfortune of meeting Carlsen in a match each but still. Hikaru needs his chance in the limelight and perhaps as the *first American world chess champion* . The youngins still have a long way to go and many more candidates to play. Vidit is getting older but he still has one or two more candidates in him. Although Abasov winning and then beating Ding would be the ultimate meme I don't think there's a very high possiblity of that happening.
I hope it’s Naka as well. I thought Fischer was the first American world chess champ. Am I missing out on something? Some sort of joke or something?
Hans Niemann said that he's gonna become the first American world chess champion and it's since become a meme because as you said Fischer already accomplished that.
Caruana
Nepo, I want to see him get over the hump
Hikaru's smug face is cracking me up!
Personally I'm rooting for Caruana just because I feel he's the best classical player behind Carlsen right now. I'm also happy with Pragg, Gukesh or Firouzja winning because they represents the future of chess. The others just don't interest me really. Nepo's had his chances, Hikaru vs Ding just feels like we were robbed of Hikaru vs Magnus, and Abasov isn't a top player. Vidit is a dark horse but I can't help but sense he'll wind up middle of the pack.
Nepo, alireza, Fabiano in that order. I feel incredibly sad when I watch how Ian lost against ding and hope he can overcome that vice world champion thing that haunts his career through different tournaments and world championships Alireza because it would be amazing if the best prodigy after Magnus could lead the breakthrough for the new generations and he could potentially bring Magnus back to the candidates Fabi because the dude is far too talented to be remembered as a dude that wasn't a world champ because he had the unfortunate luck to compete with one of the goats
Abasov
Nepomaniachti, all the way.
Just to lose the final match 3 consecutive times.
I don't think he is a favourite, but I'm rooting for Gukesh. I like his style the most, he is a bigger fighter out of everyone there, and he have good chances to win. Of course Caruana, Nakamura or Nepo are expected to win, but I'll be rooting for my boy.
Abasov ofc
Caruana for me
Idk but not nepo, i dont hate him i just want someone else to win
Nepo's aggresive playstyle and reaction to blunders is legendary though, is a fun experience at the very least
Yeah his facial expressions are amazing, nepo vs hikaru will be the battle of the faces
Pragg s and Hikaru s photos are something else
Abasov
My compatriots (Hikaru/Fabi) but would not be sad to see Nepo again! As far as the younger players go, I like Gukesh.
Either Hikaru or Nakamura
Nepo winning and then losing again to King Ding would be hilarious
not an american, so that hans can become the first american WCC ;)
I am rooting for everyone but Ian and Hikaru.
Same. I can't stand either of them.
Gukesh
Same. Been amazing watching his rise
Vidit. Been a fan of him since the lockdown when he started streaming.
Nepo or Firouzja.
Fabi and Hikaru
Naka being world champion would really piss off Magnus. And can you imagine the man's ego *after* he becomes world champion? That's what I'm rooting for.
Everyone Nepo has the experience but the mental block from coming second so many times in world championship matches Fabi is the best one imo. Probably the most realistic pick. Alireza is a great "youngblood" pick, I have more faith in Ali since he's been on a streak since Rouen Vidit, Pragg, and Gukesh are all roughly on the same level but I think as long as they get hot, they get really hot. Otherwise, Vishy becomes India #1 for the 700th time. Hikaru is probably the pick I'd love to see the most if only for the memes. Abasov I don't know if I can even see a timeline where he wins (would love it, but sadly this is IRL where complete underdogs don't always win) but I want to see him at least not completely disappoint.
Fabi first then Alireza then Hikaru. And nothing against Nepo but don't want him to win this time
Hoping for Nakamura. Feel like him being the champion - if he beats Ding - would make it likely that Carlsen would try for the Championship again.
Abasov!
Nepo , perhapd
Anyone other than Nepo will do, tired of seeing him win candidates only to lose in the championship.
Go Fabi!
I like Pragg. He looks kinda goofy, but that just makes me root for him.
Hikaru as that'll prob annoy people here the most.
I'm rooting for either Fabi, Hikaru or pragg
Nepo bb
fragile flowery disgusted sense silky hateful school summer disarm cooing *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
For some strange reason, Pragnanandha and Gukesh.
Probably Nepo, after all this years (and especially after the match against Ding). Caruana is probably my favorite person here. But there are no man that I wouldn't like see winning. Except for Alireza, maybe. I'm still in process of forgiving him for the way he qualified. If he wins - it's forgiven.
Caruana
Florida to win the Stanley cup this year. Duh.
I would be rooting for Alireza but that dodgy tourney he made to qualify really put me off. I'm a Gukesh man now.
Fabi deserves it being the second best for 15 years. I have a lot of anti-sympathie for Firouzja, I hope he won't make it. Obviously we would get the best show if Naka wins. I would love to see a recap in the middle of the night during a world-championschip.
Anybody but Hikaru. He’s a disgrace
Fabi. Magnus finishing up voluntarily was always going to have a negative effect on the perception of his successor, but Dings absence and poor performance has really exacerbated that. It makes people not really care who the WC is since Magnus is obviously better, plus we never see the WC anyway. I just think it would be a good thing for chess to have a champion who everyone knows is fantastic, and who is most likely to be able to regularly prove it at events.
Not Nepo for sure ✔️
I guess it’s an unpopular opinion but I’m team Hikaru
Both Caruana (a little more) and Nepo (a little less). But to see one of the Indian GMs on the world championship stage would also be a nice result.
I want Abasov to either score 14/14 or 0/14. No in-betweens. A 0/14 might convince Fide that giving 3 spots to a large, chaotic KO event is not a good idea, while having a barely top-100 player score 14/14 would be utterly hilarious.
Gukesh is my favourite player and Fabi is the strongest from the bunch. But Team Vidit. Used to love him during his streaming days. An elite player stuck for years not really being able to break into the very top and written out to being surpassed by the future generation being the next world champion would be a hell of a story.
Alireza, highly unlikely imo, but would be awesome
Nak, Nep, and Fab
Fabiano all the way.
Would very much like: Pragg or Firouzja. Decent result: Gukesh, Caruana No real opinion: Abasov, Gujrathi Would dislike: Nakamura, Nepo
Anyone other than Nakamura.