Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

[Alex McFarlane]

So that's PINs 1, 2 and 8 for the three Russians, then

or 4,5,6

[JustinHorton]

Latest odds:

Levon Aronian 13/4
Vladimir Kramnik 4/1
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 9/2
Sergey Karjakin 11/2
Fabiano Caruana 13/2
Wesley So 13/2
Alexander Grischuk 23/2
Ding Liren 14/1

[Nick Burrows]

Great odds on Ding

[Steven DuCharme]

Go Grischuk!

[Mick Norris]

Pairings

Kramnik starts with whites against his 2 fellow Russians, black v Aronian, then white v Caruana; we will probably know by then if he's going to be in a position to challenge

[Paolo Casaschi]

In good form, Karjakin is very well suited for this kind of event. He’s definitely my favourite, remaining undefeated and scoring points against out of form opponents. Unless an early loss in the first rounds forces him out of his comfort zone.

[Adam Raoof]

Are there any side events one can play in?

[Chris Rice]

You've got to hand it to Agon for the sheer front they have in announcing that media organisations will be granted the right to broadcast the moves from the Candidates with a five minute delay and a commitment to provide link to the official premium broadcast when they have no legal right to prevent them anyway as established by their numerous court failures trying to do so.

[MJMcCready]

They can get away with it because they are in cahoots with the governing body and know what they announce won't be overruled.

Apologies I haven't been following this thread despite looking forward to the Candidates very much. From what I understand, the consensus in the last candidates was that Magnus was clearly the strongest in the world and whoever qualified would go onto being the losing finalist baring a miracle. Given that his performances have been below par since, is there a prevailing belief that whoever wins the candidates has a very real chance of becoming world champion this time round?

[Matt Mackenzie]

Carlsen may be coming back into form at the right time, if recent results are any guide......

[LawrenceCooper]

They can get away with it because they are in cahoots with the governing body and know what they announce won't be overruled.

Apologies I haven't been following this thread despite looking forward to the Candidates very much. From what I understand, the consensus in the last candidates was that Magnus was clearly the strongest in the world and whoever qualified would go onto being the losing finalist baring a miracle. Given that his performances have been below par since, is there a prevailing belief that whoever wins the candidates has a very real chance of becoming world champion this time round?

Isn't Magnus on a good run, at least in the last six months or so?

[MJMcCready]

Yes, I'd say so. I meant comparing results between world championship matches there is a dip.

So the answer is that whoever wins can look forward to being the next losing finalist and pocketing the cash from that then?

[Graham Borrowdale]

Personally I would like to see a new world champion, but at present there does not seem to be an obvious candidate. Whoever wins the Candidates will be a kind of first amongst equals. Having said that, Karjakin ran Carlsen extremely close last time, and the same could happen again, whoever the challenger is.

[MJMcCready]

Yes me too and I think it will be a close match whoever he plays but you feel that Carlsen has this extra gear that the others, perhaps apart from Aronian, just don't have.

[JustinHorton]

Ian Rogers' very useful Couch Potato's Guide