Koneru Humpy becomes 5th Indian chess player to qualify for Candidates 2024

Koneru Humpy has become the fifth Indian chess player to qualify for the Candidates 2024. The upcoming season of this eight-player chess tournament will take place from April 2 to 25 in Toronto, Canada.

Koneru, known for winning FIDE Women's Rapid Chess Championship, has qualified as the second-highest-rated player according to FIDE ratings as of January 1, 2024.

The professional chess player is all set to join forces with R Vaishali at the Women's Candidates 2024. Her qualification for the event came after first-placed Chinese Hou Yifan pulled out of the tournament.

Koneru's qualification marks the first time India has had two participants in the Candidates tournament since 1991. Fans will eagerly wait to see how Koneru Humpy fares, having become the youngest-ever woman to bag the Grandmaster title in 2002.

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Candidates 2024 marks the first time 5 Indians will compete at the event

In the 2024 season, a total of five Indian players will be taking part across men's and women's categories. It is pertinent to mention that the men's Candidates will run alongside the women's Candidates 2024 and will feature D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, and R Praggnanandhaa. This will be the first time both men's and women's tournaments will take place at the same venue as Toronto gears up to host.

While the sibling duo of Gukesh and Praggananandhaa qualified for the event earlier in 2023, Gukesh is the latest entry to the pool. On Saturday, he secured second place on the FIDE Circuit 2023 for men's chess after the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships ended in Samarkand. Fabiano Caruana, an American-Italian player, has already earned the top place.

This tournament in Toronto is the pre-requisite for the 2024 World Chess Championships - only the winner of the tournament will have access to compete with the defending champion Ding Liren.