Business suits, hands crossed across the chest or tucked in pockets Indias Vidit Gujrathi, R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh have been striking the perfunctory pre-tournament poses against green screens in Toronto. All three are first-timers at the Candidates. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand is the only Indian who has played in the Candidates. They go up against a fairly strong field one that carries two of the worlds top three players. All three Indians have had varied journeys leading up to this tournament starting on Thursday.

Vidit, the oldest among the Indians at 29, has been around for a while but his arrival on the elite level is fresh. He seems to have had something of an awakening in the past year a great run at the World Cup (quarterfinal finish) and a stellar win in a strong field at the Grand Swiss. He finished at the bottom in the Prague Masters last month. Since it took place too close to the Candidates it could perhaps be seen differently. A mature positional player, Vidit has waited for his turn to get here. A hustling pack of teen Indian GMs was perhaps the push he needed.

I have been very impressed by how Vidit has performed recently, said Anand. One area of concern is that he occasionally chokes. On multiple occasions, near a winning position, suddenly a blunder happens. I still think hes mostly on the right path. Surya (Ganguly) is a very good second and it explains Vidits recent agility. Prague should have poured some water on his face. Now he just needs to show up and start playing.

For Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, it can seem like the Candidates may have arrived a bit too soon. Theyre 17 and 18 respectively, which isnt to say they arent monstrously strong players. But the Candidates can be a whole different kettle of fish.

Alireza Firouzjas debut outing in the last edition can work as a cautionary tale. Then 18, the much-hyped French-Iranian GM was overambitious, erratic and put up uncharacteristically bad play. He traded a good nights sleep to play online bullet chess for seven hours the night before one of the later rounds. He eventually finished last.

Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa arent quite known for similar frenzied episodes during tournaments. Praggnanandhaa has an excellent second in former world No.4 Peter Svidler. The Russian GM brings tonnes of experience and the Indian teen has since last year shown that he can hold his own against some of the best names. His openings seem to have improved; his calculation skills are robust and itll be interesting to see how he fares in such a high-stakes tournament.

Gukesh is the second youngest player ever -- after Bobby Fischer -- to feature in a Candidates. He is known to play daring, high-risk chess and the nature of such a style doesnt lend itself to a whole lot of stability. But the payoffs can be great too. Its hard to overlook the kind of momentum and play he had at the Olympiad two years ago, the World Cup last year, or his joint-second finish at Wijk Aan Zee in January.

I think all Gukesh, Pragg and Vaishali should think of is settling in and playing a good tournament. All this will they win, wont they win talk around them is kind of funny from their point of view, said Anand. Good things can happen, but not if you overthink it.

Soon after she won the Womens Grand Swiss last November and qualified for the Women's Candidates, Indias Vaishali Rameshbabu did some search on the net. I looked up the rest of the field and realised that six (out of eight) players played the last Candidates and theres a former world champion too, she laughed. Its quite a tough field.

At 22, Vaishali is a first-timer in the Women's Candidates but shes also perhaps its most interesting name. Winners of the last two editions Lei Tingjie from China and Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia are the favourites this time but if theres a player who is both dangerous and promising its probably Vaishali. Attacking, adventurous, creative theres rarely a dull moment in Vaishalis play and shes shown in past tournaments that she can beat former womens world champions and 2600 GMs. The training ecosystem of WACA and having a sibling, whos rated 300 Elo above her, for handy counsel have contributed to her rise and strength as a player.

The second Indian Koneru Humpy is the oldest in the women's field at 37. She hasnt played a whole lot of tournaments lately and it's hard to see her among the favourites.

Humpy is in a different stage of her career, said Anand. She plays less for obvious reasons. But she retains this memory of tough competitions and dramatic moments.

Recently she showed that she can lift her game when necessary. Its a healthy sign to do consistently well in the World Rapid. A lot will depend on her motivation. The Candidates is particularly long and classical so whatever she was doing before shell have to do it for a much longer stretch.

Original post:

Candidates chess: All eyes on Indias young stalwarts - Hindustan Times