Candidates 2024: Indian contingent, format, schedule and streaming info

Five Indian chess players, three in the open category and two in the women's category will take part in one of the biggest chess tournaments, the Candidates 2024 in Toronto, Canada, from April 4 to 22.

The winner of each category will progress to the pinnacle chess event, the World Championship to challenge the reigning world champions Ding Liren (Open) and Ju Wenjun (Women's Candidates) of China.

This is the first time an Indian male player has qualified for the Candidates since Viswanathan Anand, while Koneru Humpy will take part in the Candidates Tournament for two consecutive editions.

The two youngsters Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh - both entering the event with great form - will be among the favourites to challenge the top players like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.

Meanwhile, Vidit Gujrathi, who could not find a win in his last ten matches (6 draws and 4 losses), will try to find his rhythm back in this tournament.

The tournament will start with the two Indians, Gukesh and Vidit taking on each other in the first round, while Praggnanandhaa will face a tricky French player Alireza Firouzja in his opening round clash.

In the women's section, all eyes will be on the experienced Indian grandmaster, Koneru Humpy.

She will also be up against fellow Indian player, debutant R Vaishali in the first-round clash. This will be the first time Humpy will play in a round-robin format of Candidates as the last time she played, she was knocked out in the first round in a knockout format.

Humpy was a challenger at the World Championships title clash in 2011 against Hou Yifan of China, but she lost that tournament (2.5-5-5). Now, she will try to qualify for another World Championships clash.

Format

The two categories - Open and Women - have eight competitors who will face each other twice in a double round-robin format over 15 days. The one who will have the most number of points after the 14 rounds will be the champion.

In case of a tie for the top position after 14 rounds, there will be tiebreakers but with rapid timing (15+10 or 10+5). If the winner is still not decided, the match will go to blitz timing (3+2) and then infinite knockout rounds between the tied players till the lone winner is decided.

Indian contingent:

Open Candidates - R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi

Women's Candidates - Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali

Schedule

3 April - Opening ceremony

4 April - Round 1

5 April - Round 2

6 April - Round 3

7 April - Round 4

9 April - Round 5

10 April - Round 6

11 April - Round 7

13 April - Round 8

14 April - Round 9

15 April - Round 10

17 April - Round 11

18 April - Round 12

20 April - Round 13

21 April - Round 14

22 April - Tie breaks (if required) + Closing Ceremony

Venue and timing

Time - 12:00 AM IST (Daily)

Venue - The Great Hall

Place - Toronto, Canada

Live streaming info

The live streaming of all 14 rounds and tiebreakers of the Candidates Tournament will be available on the FIDE YouTube channel for fans from across the world, including India, to watch. There is no television broadcast of the event In India.