CANDIDATES CHESS TOURNAMENT

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Context

• The 2024 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024.
• Gukesh D emerged victorious, making history as the youngest ever winner of the Candidates Tournament and the youngest challenger for the World Chess Championship.

Details

• Held at The Great Hall in Toronto, Canada, from April 3–22, 2024.
• Ran concurrently with the Women's Candidates Tournament, highlighting the diversity and inclusivity of the chess community.
• As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, the tournament followed the traditional double round-robin format, where each player faced every other player twice, once as White and once as Black.
• The winner earned the right to challenge the reigning World Chess Champion, Ding Liren, in the World Chess Championship 2024.

About Chess

History:

• Chess, an abstract strategy game, traces its roots back to seventh-century India with a similar game called chaturanga.
• The modern rules of chess evolved in Europe in the 15th century, gaining universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century.

Gameplay:

• Played on an 8x8 chessboard, each player controls sixteen pieces, including the king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns.
• The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king, threatening it with capture without the possibility of escape.

International Governance:

• Chess competition is governed by FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the International Chess Federation.
• The World Chess Championship, the pinnacle of chess competition, has been held since 1886, with Ding Liren as the current World Champion.

Technological Advancements:

• Early computer scientists aimed to create chess-playing machines, leading to significant advancements in artificial intelligence.
• In 1997, Deep Blue made history by defeating reigning World Champion Garry Kasparov, marking a milestone in the intersection of technology and chess.
• Chess engines continue to advance, surpassing human players in strength and influencing the evolution of chess theory.

Must read articles:

FIDEWorldCup, GrandMaster

Sources:

Firstpost

PRACTICE QUESTION Q.  Which computer became the first to beat the reigning World Chess Champion in a match in 1997? A) Deep Blue B) Watson C) AlphaZero D) Stockfish Answer: A