Magnus Carlsen reveals predictions for the 2024 Candidates Tournament

The highly-anticipated 2024 Candidates Tournament begins in one more week! With the hype train moving, Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen sat together to rank the candidates. Among the eight participants, who is on Carlsen's radar as the strongest players and who are not so favored? Take a look below!

For the second year in a row, Magnus Carlsen sits on the side as a spectator as he once again decided to withdraw from anything related to the world championship. In 2023, Ding Liren became his successor after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in close contest. Now who does Carlsen believe will win the Candidates Tournament to challenge Ding Liren?

The Candidates Tournament participants are Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nijat Abasov, R Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana, Vidit Gujrathi, Hikaru Nakamura, Gukesh D, and Alireza Firouzja. Check out what Carlsen ranks these players below.

Throughout the video, Magnus Carlsen explained his choices on why he placed each player in their categories. Alireza Firouzja sits in the "will do well" category and to this Carlsen stated: "Honestly, he was the closest to beat me in freestyle chess. I am an Alireza true believer, but for now we'll put him in the "will do well" category which I think is reasonable considering the difficulties he had last time."

Carlsen surprisingly place Ian Nepomniachtchi in the "top contenders" category despite him winning Candidates for the past two years. To this he explained: "Ian hasn't showed much the last few years except for the Candidates. He shows flashes here and there, at the moment I'm not convinced but I think he has enough pedigree to be in the 'top contender'."

Gukesh D, young 17-year-old player, will attend his first ever Candidates. Carlsen puts the prodigy in the "will do poorly" category. "It's very hard to say, I cannot imagine [Gukesh] winning but I could see him being anywhere from plus two to minus five. I think he will certainly win a couple of good games but have some fairly bad losses as well. I think he's not quite ready yet to make the leap, and I think he's more likely to have a bad event than a good event."

Nijat Abasov is the biggest underdog in the Candidates Tournament, having earned the slot by default after Carlsen's withdrawal. He is ranked bottom in Carlsen's tierlist, as he believes Abasov is "in for a bad time". Carlsen explained: "He had a very amazing tournament at the World Cup, but whether he can replicate it is very hard to believe. I think if he has a good start, it can limit the damage severely. But overall I think he's most likely going to suffer."

Another youngster, R Praggnanandhaa, who is only 18-years-old is ranked slightly higher. He sits in the "will do well" category alongside Alireza Firouzja. "I don't think Pragg is ready to win the tournament. But I also cannot see it going really poorly for him. He has weak moments but he's fairly stable psychologically and he has an improving repertoire, he's very serious," Carlsen said.

Next is Fabiano Caruana, experienced veteran who has played in the world championship before. Carlsen confidently placed him in the "likely to win" category. "I think Fabi has a great chance to win. His pedigree is very strong, he seems to have regained some strength in classical chess as well as well after he had a little bit of a down. He's maybe not as good as he was at his best, which was in 2018."

Another Indian in the Candidates, Vidit Gujrathi, is ranked in the "will do poorly". Carlsen stated: "Vidit has improved a lot from a more of a psychological point. I'm sure he will be very serious, very well prepared. He will not win the tournament. Although I do think he has the capacity to make really good scores if things go his way."

And finally, a lot of fan favorites, Hikaru Nakamura, is also ranked in the "likely to win" category. The legendary speed chess player has been close before but right now the chances are massive. Carlsen believes this Candidates Tournament is Nakamura's highest chance to become the world champion. "Hikaru has never had a better chance to become world champion than this. Hikaru has been quite consistent recently in classical chess and I think he has an excellent chance."

You can watch the full video on Chess.com's YouTube or check out the embed below!

The 2024 Candidates Tournament is set to take place in Toronto, Canada this April 2nd. The championship will run simultaneously with the Women's Candidates Tournament 2024. Read more about the tournament below!