Hikaru Nakamura is one of the prime contenders to qualify for next year’s Candidates tournament via the ratings spot route, but that doesn’t mean he likes the concept of a ratings spot. The ratings spot is one of the many pathways to qualify for the eight-player Candidates tournament, which is the final step to challenging for the World Chess Championship title.
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The FIDE rating spot will be given to the highest-rated player according to the 6-month average rating based on FIDE Standard Rating Lists from August 1st 2025 till January 1st 2026 provided the respective player has played at least 40 games calculated for FIDE Standard Rating Lists from February 1st 2025 till January 1st 2026 (including at least 15 games in any of the 6 consecutive rating lists).
Nakamura has said that the only reason FIDE, the global governing body of chess, still is giving away a ratings spot is to keep the door open to former world champion Magnus Carlsen, who has repeatedly said that he’s not interested in playing either the Candidates or the World Championship.
“I’ve said that there are many things over the last couple of years that FIDE has has gotten wrong and one of the big things is there should not be a rating spot. I think having a rating spot is a huge mistake.
“It maybe is not politically correct to say this, but my view about the rating spot, it’s simply, you know, ‘we’re sorry, Magnus. Here’s here’s your chance to play the Candidates and become world champion again if you’re really
interested’. And I don’t think there’s any other reason that FIDE have the rating spot. I think it’s literally on
the off chance that Magnus wakes up tomorrow and suddenly he decides that he wants to play classical seriously again,” Nakamura told Chessbase India in an interview during the ongoing Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. “FIDE, for whatever reason, can’t get over the fact that Magnus has moved on from classical chess and he has no interest in the world championship.”
Nakamura pointed out how players like Ding Liren and Alireza Firoujza had gamed their way to securing a rating spot in the past.
Players can also qualify for the Candidates via the 2024 FIDE Circuit (Fabiano Caruana has secured this spot), finishing in the top 3 at the 2025 FIDE World Cup, finishing in the top 2 at the Grand Swiss tournament or by rating.
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Nakamura said that for him, the only plan to qualify for the Candidates was via the ratings spot whose existence he was criticising.
“That is the only plan. I’ve already made it very clear that I’m not playing the Grand Swiss or the World Cup. So it’s either that or nothing. Yeah, my plan is is pretty simple,” Nakamura said.
