Is Nakamura ready to give up his Candidates spot to Liren if he wins FIDE Grand Prix 2022?
The FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 is ongoing and Hikaru Nakamura is definitely one to watch. After more than 2 years of absence from classical chess, Nakamura got kind of bored in Round 1 of the tournament.
On February the 3rd, just after the announcement of Ding Liren not being able to participate in the tournament, Nakamura uploaded a video on Youtube with the title: “Ding Liren Is the Unluckiest Top Chess Player”!
At the end of the video, a fan asked him if he would give up his spot for Liren if he wins the Grand Prix and qualifies for the Candidates. “That’s a funny idea” Nakamura immediately reacted, and then he continued: “If I win I might actually consider that, thanks for the idea”!
Of course, as the American GM and streamer acknowledged, even if he was up to do something like this, there would have been some other criteria that wouldn’t allow this to happen, but he might still go for it.
“If I do that I might gain a million social credits, so you never know!” Nakamura said at the end of his video.
Watch Nakamura play live at the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 here.
