Who Will Challenge
Magnus Carlsen
in
November 2020?
Only one of eight top rated chess players in the world will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship tentatively scheduled for November in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 2020 Candidates Tournament
The 2020 Candidates Tournament is an 8-player double round-robin that will decide Magnus Carlsen’s challenger for the World Championship match later this year.
The 14-round Candidates Tournament is being played in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Yekaterinburg, Russia from March 15 to April 3, 2020. The prize fund is €500,000.
Who’s Playing?
Candidates by March 2020 World Chess Ratings
1. #2 Ranked – Fabiano Caruana, USA, rated 2842.
2. #3 Ranked – Ding Liren, China, rated 2805.
3. #4 Ranked – Alexander Grischuk, Russia, rated 2777.
4. #5 Ranked – Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia, rated 2774.
5. #9 Ranked – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani, rated 2765. ***
5. #8 Ranked, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, France, rated 2767.
6. #11 Ranked – Anish Giri, Netherlands, rated 2763.
7. #12 Ranked – Wang Ho, China, rated 2762.
8. #39 Ranked – Kirill Alekseenko, Russia, rated 2698.
*** Less than two weeks before the Candidates Tournament starts in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijani decided to withdraw from the Candidates Tournament, citing personal reasons. Reports speculated his decision had to do with the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
Radjabov denied the characterization and instead expressed a desire for the tournament to be postponed.
The # 8 ranked chess player in the world, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France, will be his replacement in Yekaterinburg.
See March 2020 Chess Ratings below >

USA’s Fabiano Caruana
#2 Rated Chess Player in the World
USA’s Fabiano Caruana the #2 rated chess player in world is just 20 points behind Magnus Carlsen in the February 2020 World Chess Ratings!
Fabiano must win the Candidates Tournament to challenge Magnus in the World Chess Championship match in November 2020.
Fabiano challenged Magnus in the 2018 World Chess Championship in a 12-game match in London, and played to 12 draws in Classical Chess, only to lose the match in a Rapid Chess tiebreak playoff.
Norway’s Magnus Carlsen
Rated 2862!
Born: November 30, 1990 (age 29 years) in Tønsberg, Norway

After winning the World Blitz Chess Championship in December 2019, Magnus now holds all three titles–the Classical Chess, Rapid Chess and Blitz Chess Champion!
Will Magnus reach 2900 in 2020?
38-points to go!
Top 10 Players in World – March 2020

Top 10 Women in World – March 2020
#1 – China’s Yifan Hou
Yifan Hou
Rated 2658
Born: February 27, 1994 (age 26 years) in Xinghua, China
Top 10 Women in World – March 2020














