The candidates tournament on the starting blocks

The  most expected individual tournament of the year -the FIDE Candidates Tournament is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). The first round will start on Thursday, March 13 at 3 p.m. local time, the final round is on Sunday, March 30, 2014.

The event is a double round robin (14 rounds). The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 and 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

The tournament will determine the challenger who will face the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a title match later this year. The prize fund is 600,000 Euros (= US $832,000), the first place 135,000 and last (8th) place 25,000 Euros.

The players have arrived and settled down in Khanty-Mansiysk, the technical meeting and the opening ceremony have been conducted today, the first round begins on Thursday, at 3 p.m. local time of khanty mansiysk (10 a.m. Europe). The eight players are vying for the challenger slot to challenge reigning champion Magnus Carlsen later this year.

The eight candidates, sorted by their March 2014 rankings, are:

The Candidates Tournament 2014 are be held in the modern building of the Ugra Chess Academy, which is located in the city center of Khanty-Mansiysk.

The Ugra Chess Academy (6a Loparev St., Khanty-Mansiysk) is a unique three-level building with no sharp edges, designed by the famous Dutch architect Erick Van Egeraat and constructed using modern energy conserving technologies. The games will be held in the tournament hall on the first floor.

the opening ceremony was held on this wednesday with the presence of the FIDE president Mr kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the Governor of Khanty-Mansiysk Natalya Komarova

the playing schedule will be as follows

Stay tuned and stick around because this candidates tournament promises to be very very exciting !!!!!!!