Candidates goes ahead

Coronavirus is causing chess events to fall like dominoes, with cancellations all over the world. But the Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, which selects a challenger for the World Championship, is still standing. The first round took place on Tuesday 17 March.

It goes ahead without Teimour Radjabov, from Azerbaijan, whose request to postpone the event was denied by Fide, the governing body. Emil Sutovsky, Fide’s director-general, pointed to the size of the event (just eight players) and a number of sanitary measures that will be instated. (Larger events have been cancelled or postponed). But a photo of a packed auditorium at the opening ceremony looks distinctly at odds with a safety-first approach. And if anybody does become ill, it is hard to imagine how the tournament could be fairly concluded.

I count myself among an anxious online audience for this feast of chess, hoping that there is no disruption. At 14 rounds long, it is an epic event, and watching every minute will take about as long as all eight seasons of Game of Thrones. It will demand special mental fortitude of the players, who must block out their anxieties amid alarming headlines. Fide has declared that handshakes will be optional. So ingrained is that ritual that when I began a game the other day with a friendly but nervous wave to my opponent, I immediately felt both foolish and unsettled.

In a twist of fate, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will replace Radjabov in the tournament, despite not being granted the official wildcard invitation. The Frenchman had narrowly missed out on qualification by several criteria, so many of his fans felt he was deserving of that wildcard spot, which the Russian organisers instead awarded to Kirill Alekseenko, a promising young player who became eligible after his strong finish at the Grand Swiss event in October.