Qualification for Candidates tournament 2016

[Ray Sayers]

Looking forward to it - a really interesting mix of players. I'm not saying all of them play in an 'interesting' way, but you can't exactly play for a draw every round this time
I'm almost sure Anand won't be the winner this time. But only almost, because he is amazing. I was completely sure he wouldn't win it last time he played in the Candidates!!

[Mick Norris]

chess.com report

Agon said the setting is "indicative of the organizers’ ambitions for the World Chess Championship cycle events and plans for taking chess digital." Agon owner Ilya Merenzon has discussed with Chess.com his desire to sell the rights to the World Championship to outlets all over the globe.
"The sport turned out to fit perfectly to the age of smartphones, and we are delighted to host the tournament at the venue that represents digital culture," Merenzon said in the press release.

[Roger de Coverly]

FIDE have made and published the pairings.

http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... rings.html

Topalov starts with two Blacks and Karjakin will start with two Whites.

[Brian Towers]

With Svidler the lowest rated on 2751 and Giri the highest on 2798 that's a closely matched field! Just 47 elo points (about 6 grading points in English money) between top and bottom. Nevertheless we expect lots of wins and will probably whinge when most of the games end in draws.

[Mick Norris]

Topalov starts with two Blacks and Karjakin will start with two Whites.

I hope neither of them win it, but would be reasonably happy with any of the other 6

[Mick Norris]

With Svidler the lowest rated on 2751 and Giri the highest on 2798 that's a closely matched field! Just 47 elo points (about 6 grading points in English money) between top and bottom. Nevertheless we expect lots of wins and will probably whinge when most of the games end in draws.

I think following this weekend's Bundesliga, we now have the final ratings confirmed, so based on the current live ratings, we have:

3 - Caruana 2794
4 - Giri 2793
5 - Nakamura 2790
7 - Aronian 2786
8 - Topalov 2780
12 - Anand 2762
13 - Karjakin 2760
15 - Svidler 2757