Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, and Hikaru Nakamura (Photos by Lennart Ootes, Crystal Fuller, and FIDE)

NEW DELHI: In a chess world where new “World Championships” seem to spring up every other week, the time-tested oomph of the Candidates Tournament still stands apart. It remains the only gateway to the classical World Chess Championship match, the crown jewel of the sport, something that India’s D Gukesh currently holds.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!And with the Candidates approaching fast, here is a familiar question: is this the final roll of the dice for some of modern chess’ biggest names?Recently, FIDE announced a Freestyle Chess World Championship scheduled for February 13–15. The line-up, featuring Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi, and Javokhir Sindarov, seems anything but dull.

However, what caught the eyes of many is the missing name of American No. 1 and World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, the reigning Fischer Random World Champion (2022).When TimesofIndia.com reached out to Freestyle Chess CEO Jan Henric Buettner, he clarified that Nakamura had indeed been invited but chose to decline.Nakamura soon explained his decision himself. “I have decided to decline my slot in this event. I have an important tournament at the end of March/April to focus on, and that is where my attention will be,” he said in a statement.

That “important tournament” needs no decoding. It is the Candidates, the same event where five-time world champion Carlsen has tipped two Americans, 38-year-old Nakamura and 33-year-old Fabiano Caruana, as favourites to emerge as challengers.Put 31-year-old Anish Giri in the mix, and suddenly the Candidates’ narrative looks like: three seasoned titans in their 30s and all staring at what could be their final realistic shot at the world title.Veteran Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, who recently shepherded Caruana alongside Candidates contenders Praggnanandhaa and Giri during SG Pipers’ title-winning run in the 2025 Global Chess League (GCL), believes the stakes have never been higher for this trio.“In my opinion, one of them (between Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, and Giri) will qualify, and it could be anybody,” Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction.“If you look at Carlsen’s list, he has Praggnanandhaa at third, and Anish has been in very good spirit in one-on-one situations. Because of the numbers alone, I feel one of them will qualify.”Yet Thipsay is cautious about those who have made it to the Candidates through the World Cup: Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi, and Andrey Esipenko.“Those who qualified through the World Cup, I’m a little scared for them,” he admitted. “The World Cup format is different: one game with white, one with black, and you have time between them. The Candidates is relentless.”Nakamura, in particular, is an intriguing case.“Frankly speaking, Nakamura will be the top seed,” Thipsay continued. “But he has not played top opposition recently. If you keep playing 1800s and 1900s, your attacking skills can get rusty because the defence is poor. You don’t need all your weapons (to beat them).”For Giri, the challenge is stylistic. Known for his draw-driven games, Giri could face a certain kind of challenge.“In classical chess, Anish has a very specific nature,” Thipsay explains. “He draws a lot of games. We saw that in the Grand Swiss — he kept drawing, and when it mattered most, he won the final game.”That approach has often worked, as it did in the 2025 Grand Swiss, where Giri went unbeaten to lift the title and qualify for the Candidates with six draws in 11 rounds.“If you make 10 draws and get two or three wins, you’re already at eight points,” Thipsay notes. “That suits Anish’s style.”But times may be changing.“Gukesh scored nine out of 14 (during his Candidates win in 2024),” Thipsay pointed out. “So Anish may have to focus on winning more games. One win and 13 draws won’t take you there. Maybe four wins and one loss is better. That means changing strategy, from a solid player to an aggressive player. And he has to take more risks.“He beat Carlsen in 2010 when he was just 16. But now Anish is 30-plus. This is his last chance to become the challenger.”The same logic applies to Caruana and Nakamura.“For Anish, Caruana and Hikaru, this is the last chance in my opinion,” Thipsay admitted bluntly.“If they don’t qualify now, they won’t qualify ever. Caruana played the World Championship match in 2018. After seven or eight years, this could be his final attempt.”And yet, the Candidates is no longer a tournament where experience alone guarantees dominance. “These younger players don’t show clear weaknesses,” Thipsay added.“They are complete players. Even the lowest-rated players cannot be treated as weak. Anyone can beat anyone. Many times, the tournament winner has lost to the player who finished last.”This unpredictability tilts the balance towards youth, towards what Thipsay repeatedly calls “Gukesh’s vigour”.“My prediction a year back was that future world champions will mostly be under 25 or 26,” he added. “There is a risk that these three could finish second, third or fourth because they don’t have the same vigour. The vigour Gukesh showed in 2023 and 2024 was different.”The veteran Grandmaster feels hunger matters at the end of the day.“When you’ve been at the top for many years, earned a lot of money, enthusiasm for improvement naturally drops,” Thipsay revealed. “Against someone like Gukesh, that matters.”