Every time I type out Candidates Tournament, I want to adorn it with an apostrophe, as with Parents’ Evening or Residents’ Association. Hear me out: Women’s Tournament sounds natural whereas Women Tournament sounds clumsy; the word is possessive rather than attributive. Be that as it may, the prevailing wind has swept the apostrophe away.

Anyway, the greatest chess event of the year has begun in Toronto, and in an important sense it does belong to the players. Its legitimacy depends on the fact that qualifying spots are awarded not by invitation, but fiercely contested in elite events throughout the previous year.

In the Candidates Tournament, the favourites are Ian Nepomniachtchi (who has won the previous two events), Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, the world no. 2 and 3 respectively. Alireza Firouzja’s recent form has been patchy, but at his best he is undoubtedly capable of winning it. The remaining four players are making their debut at this elite event, and three of them are from India: Santosh Gujrathi Vidit and the brilliant teenagers Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The rank outsider is Nijat Abasov from Azerbaijan.

For the first time this year, the Women’s Candidates Tournament is being held directly alongside and there it is even harder to rank the favourites. Both finalists from the 2022/2023 event – a knockout – are present: Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi, the latter being the early leader. On paper, the top seed is Aleksandra Goryachkina, but Kateryna Lagno, Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk are all plausible winners as well. The outsiders are Nurgyul Salimova and Rameshbabu Vaishali; the latter is Praggnanandhaa’s older sister.

We go to press around the halfway mark, but the event runs for 14 rounds. As ever, there are commentary streams to suit all tastes. Viswanathan Anand and Irina Krush provide the official Fide commentary, while the major chess platforms (including chess.com and lichess.org) offer their own coverage.

The winner of each tournament earns the right to challenge the world champion in a match. China’s reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun has defended her title on several occasions. By contrast, since beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in their match last year, the world champion Ding Liren was largely absent from elite events, apparently suffering from health problems. Alas, he has seemed a shadow of himself in recent events, finishing in the bottom half at the Tata Steel Masters in January, and then again at the Grenke Chess Classic, held in late March. That included a lucky escape in an endgame which contained some surprising nuances.

Black’s splendid knight on c5 means Keymer is the player pressing for the win. His next move cripples the White kingside pawns.

Ding Liren-Vincent Keymer

Grenke Chess Classic, March 2024

35… h5! 36 gxh5 Ke7 Marking time, so the bishop must make a move. 37 Bc6 e4! Making way for the king. 38 fxe4 Kd6 39 Bd5 Ke5 40 Bc6 Nxe4 41 Bxe4 Kxe4 42 Kb3 Kxf5 43 c5 bxc5 44 Kc4 Ke4 This natural move throws away the win. 44…Kg4! 45 Kxc5 f5 46 Kb6 f4 47 c4 f3 48 c5 f2 49 c6 f1=Q 50 c7 Qc4 51 Kb7 Kxh5 etc. The g7-pawn will win the game. 45 Kxc5 f5 46 c4 f4 47 Kb6 f3 48 c5 f2 49 c6 f1=Q 50 c7 Qf5 51 Kb7 Remarkably, despite the extra queen Black has no way to win. Qd7 52 Kb8 Qd6 53 Kb7 Qd7 54 Kb8 Qxa4 55 c8=Q Qd4 56 Qg4+ Kd5 57 Qd7+ Ke4 58 Qg4+ Kd5 59 Qd7+ Ke4 Draw agreed