Grandmaster P Harikrishna’s attempt to clinch a berth in the 2018 Candidates through a good run of performance at the recently concluded Geneva FIDE Grand Prix has suffered a setback, according to a report published in the Times of India.
As per the rules of qualifying for the Candidates through the Grand Prix events, players are required to take part in a total of three tournaments of the four scheduled in a year. The Geneva FIDE Grand Prix was the 31-year-old’s second Grand Prix tournament after the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix in May.
The Indian No 2 finished as the joint-third in Geneva after losing his eighth-round game to Chinese Grandmaster Li Chao. Because of this one defeat, the world No 22 could only secure 60 Grand Prix points for his efforts in the tournament. Coupled with the 20 Grand Prix points he had gained in Moscow after having finished the tournament in the 10th-12th place, Harikrishna currently has a total of 80 points in the overall standing.
While he’s still scheduled to play the last Grand Prix tournament in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in November, a potential win would only help him secure 170 points, which would bring his total points to 250 from the three Grand Prix tournaments. It would still be around 90 points fewer than the points tally of the two current leaders in the standings, both of whom have played the necessary quota of three Grand Prix tournaments.
Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Russia’s Alexander Grischuk are the two Grandmasters leading the points table with 340 and 336 points respectively.
Despite not being able to make it to the Candidates by way of the Grand Prix tournaments, Harikrishna can still qualify for the prestigious tournament by finishing as one of the top-two players at the Chess World Cup. The 128-player tournament is scheduled to be held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 2 to 28.
