4 min readUpdated: Mar 19, 2026 10:23 PM IST In about 10 days’ time, the Candidates tournament, the second-most chess tournament in the world, will take centrestage in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The current edition will see 16 of the top players in the world compete in the twin Candidates events, side by side, with the eight men hoping to secure a world championship fight against D Gukesh while the eight women are jockeying to secure a women’s world championship clash with Ju Wenjun. There is a bit of a cloud over the Candidates this year, thanks to the war raging in the Middle East with Israel and the USA fighting Iran, and the latter responding by attacking its Middle Eastern neighbours like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. An attack on a British air force base on the island of Cyprus has also led to Koneru Humpy talking about boycotting the event. This would not be the first time the Candidates sees a high-profile player withdraw from the event. The world might remember Magnus Carlsen’s …