The plot got thick quick as the FIDE Candidates Tournament kicked off last week in Madrid, with two Americans among the eight elite grandmasters competing for the right to take on world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway later this year for the game’s ultimate prize.
The very first round saw the Chinese GM Ding Liren, the event’s highest-rated player and the man Carlsen has said could be his toughest rival, lose in 32 moves with White to Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. “Nepo,” you may recall, was last seen imploding in his own title match with Carlsen last year.