The International Chess body (FIDE) CEO Emil Sutovsky has rebutted Hikaru Nakamura’s criticism of the Candidates’ rating qualification spot, calling the American GM’s claims “factually incorrect.”
Nakamura has said that the only reason FIDE is still 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. After winning the world championship all the five times he contended, Carlsen walked away from the throne. Since then, China’s Ding Liren and then Indian teenager Gukesh have taken their place on it.
In this response, Sutovsky said, “Hikaru often makes statements in good faith, but without knowing all the facts and that’s a problem. Of course, he has a larger platform, which makes it difficult to refute him from a smaller one. But that’s… well, acceptable,” he said to Chessbase India YouTube channel.
While Nakamura insists the rule exists solely to lure back Magnus Carlsen, Sutovsky notes the spot has existed for years and now covers the top two players “ironically benefitting Hikaru himself.”
“He (Hikaru) claims we designed the rating spot for Magnus, but that’s completely illogical. This rating qualification has existed for years – there was always a rating spot (in fact, there used to be two). If it were specifically for Magnus, we would have limited it to only the world No. 1. Instead, the regulation states either No. 1 or No. 2 can qualify by rating. Ironically, one could argue we actually designed it for Hikaru in this case – why else would we leave it open to the top two?” added Sutovsky.
Sutovsky detailed how past cycles shaped the current format, stressing it ensures the Candidates feature the world’s elite. “Let me explain the logic: In the previous cycle, the highest-rated player who didn’t qualify through other paths could enter (that’s how Alireza Firouzja qualified, though his method wasn’t entirely kosher – he was around World No. 6 in the world at the time). We later decided this was unfair. We maintain the rating spot to ensure the Candidates include players clearly among the world’s best – the top eight. However, we realised we shouldn’t go all the way down to No. 6 or No. 7, where rating differences become negligible. It’s more logical to reward players who nearly qualified through other means. That’s why we limited it to the top two – the Candidates simply shouldn’t exclude the world No. 2,” said Sutovsky.
“The reasoning is straightforward: It had nothing to do with Magnus. We never expected his return – why would he come back now? Would he suddenly return after losing 50 rating points? The suggestion makes no sense,” he added.
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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).
He went on to say, “This isn’t the first time Hikaru has made factual claims without proper knowledge. When we introduced the FIDE Circuit, he immediately called it “a stupid system,” claiming he could just win some random open with a 2900 performance. Only later did he realise you can’t earn many points in weekly tournaments – he simply hadn’t read the rules properly. I suspect the same happened here.”
