Carlsen slams FIDE Candidates qualification rules, reveals his pick for the tournament: 'It's incrediblly cruel'

World No. 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen has picked one name whom he would want to see in the FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament next year, as he also criticised the qualification process and the rules laid out by the International Chess Federation. The race to the FIDE Candidates 2026 is heating up after Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum booked their spots in the eight-player tournament by finishing first and second, respectively, at the Grand Swiss 2025 in Samarkand.

Five spots are still up for grabs for the FIDE Candidates 2026, the winner of which will take on world champion D Gukesh of India in the World Chess Championship late next year. Besides Giri and Bluebaum, America’s Fabiano Caruana has also qualified as the leader of the FIDE Circuit 2024 standings.

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R Praggnanandhaa of India currently leads the FIDE Circuit 2025 standings with a huge margin, almost guaranteed to qualify for the Candidates, while world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura is busy taking part in lower-ranked tournaments to grab that one spot which will be given to the player with the highest average rating between August 2025 and January 2026.

Carlsen criticises qualification rules for FIDE Candidates

Some of the top players in the world, including Alireza Firouzja, Hans Niemann, Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer, were very close to securing the Candidates spots at Grand Swiss but lost out on tie-breaks in the final round, while lesser-known Bluebaum went through.

They will have another opportunity at the FIDE Chess World Cup in India next month, which offers three spots, but Carlsen is not happy with tie-breaks being used to decide participants for the FIDE Candidates, as he feels that the best players may miss out through such a process.

“I am out of that game. I am not making those rules,” Carlsen, who has refused to take part in the World Chess Championship cycle, told T_ake Take Take_. “I am a mere spectator at this…it has to be said that it’s incredibly cruel to decide the Candidates spots by tie-breaks as they do. I don’t think it’s a good way to decide Candidates spots, but whatever.”

The five-time world champion Carlsen relinquished his world title in 2022 and has since refused to return to the World Championship, despite being the best player in the world.

During the interview, Carlsen was also asked if he wished to see any of the top players to qualify for the Candidates. He picked the name of Iranian and French chess Grandmaster Firouzja and said he would prefer to see the young brigade in the tournament.

“I don’t really hope for anybody, but I generally hope to see the best there. Probably a couple of more young guys, but there’s not much to choose (from). I hope Alireza makes it, but I am not even sure if he’s going to even play in the World Cup,” Carlsen said.