After four Indians—D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Vidit Gujarathi—advanced to the FIDE Chess World Cup quarterfinals in Baku, Azerbaijan, India is extremely certain to have a representative at the Candidates event other than Viswanathan Anand.
Vidit Gujarathi advanced to the quarterfinals on Monday thanks to the tie-breaker. Gukesh, the top-ranked Indian Grandmaster at present with a world rank of 7, will play Magnus Carlsen in his quarterfinal, and Praggnanandhaa will compete with Arjun Erigaisi for a place in the semifinals. Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan will compete against Vidit.
While India is guaranteed one semifinal position in the World Cup, the men’s section might have up to three semifinalist if Gukesh and Vidit can win their respective quarterfinals. Since Viswanathan Anand won the first two competitions in 2000 and 2002, no Indian has placed high enough to earn a medal at the FIDE World Cup.