Nakamura Clinches Candidates Spot As FIDE Announces Cyprus As 2026 Host

written by Atharva Jori

GM Hikaru Nakamura has all but secured his place in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, after winning the 1st Annual Washington Dulles Open over the weekend—a five-round Swiss event that provided the final classical games he needed to meet FIDE's 40-game eligibility requirement. While most of the world's top players have been battling in India for three Candidates' spots at the FIDE World Cup, Nakamura took a different route, choosing instead to complete the required games in a series of smaller tournaments across the continent. His participation in Washington effectively sealed his qualification through the rating spot, which goes to the player with the highest average rating from August 2025 to January 2026. Meanwhile, on Monday, FIDE confirmed that the 2026 Candidates Tournament will be held from March 28 to April 16 at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort near Paphos, Cyprus, alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament. Nakamura's Road To Candidates The 37-year-old had played just 18 classical games until September, but raised eyebrows when he decided to participate in a series of what he called "Mickey Mouse" tournaments throughout North America to fulfill the requirement. Nakamura has previously scored 7/7 in Louisiana (six rated games), 5/5 in Iowa, and 5.5/6 in the Maritime Chess Festival in Canada before his final stop, with 4.5/5 in Washington this weekend. Nakamura's score was enough to win the tournament on tiebreaks, but he dropped rating points again, a drop that was made worse after FIDE scrapped the 400-point rule for players rated above 2650. The five-round Swiss event in Washington had 67 players in the three-day Premier Section and was the strongest yet, including several titled players. That was clear during the event, as Nakamura ended up in trouble and was forced to fight for his points. Nakamura admitted he was not happy with his play, saying after day one, "Both games were abysmal! In the end, I get the win, but both games were not my finest moments for sure. Nonetheless, I avoided disaster." The first of these games was his round two encounter against 15-year-old WFM Khanim Ismayilova from Azerbaijan. The world number-two had to fight for 77 moves to squeeze out a win, after the youngster sacrificed the exchange to reach a drawn endgame.

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