Candidate - Chess glossary term
Candidate
Definition
In chess, “candidate” most commonly refers to a candidate move: a short list of promising moves you intend to analyze deeply during calculation. The word is also used in other established contexts:
- Candidate move: a potentially best move selected for focused calculation.
- The Candidates (Tournament/Matches): the official competition that determines the World Championship challenger.
- Candidate Master (CM): a FIDE title awarded upon reaching a 2200 rating (WCM at 2000 for women).
- Candidate passed pawn (or “candidate pawn”): a pawn that is not yet passed but can become a passed pawn after a favorable exchange or pawn break.
Usage in Chess
- Candidate move selection:
- Players first generate a small set of plausible moves (checks, captures, threats, improving moves) and then calculate each line in turn.
- This method, popularized by Alexander Kotov, helps avoid random or circular calculation.
- The Candidates (event):
- Often used as shorthand: “He qualified for the Candidates.”
- The winner challenges the reigning World Champion (or, in special circumstances, qualifies for the Championship match).
- Candidate Master:
- Abbreviated “CM,” added to a player’s name once the rating requirement is met and the title is awarded.
- Candidate passed pawn:
- In planning, you may hear: “White’s b-pawn is a candidate passer,” meaning White can engineer exchanges to create a passed pawn.
Strategic and Historical Significance
- Candidate moves are central to efficient calculation: they reduce complexity and keep analysis organized.
- The Candidates event has decided nearly every World Championship challenger since 1950 (with format changes over the decades: round-robin, matches, and double round-robin).
- FIDE introduced the Candidate Master title in 2002 to recognize strong experts below master level.
- Identifying candidate passed pawns guides long-term plans in pawn structures (e.g., the Carlsbad structure’s minority attack aims to create a candidate passer on the c-file).
Examples
1) Candidate moves in a middlegame position
Position (White to move): White: Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Rf1, Bc4, Bc1, Nc3, Nf3, pawns a2, b2, c2, d4, e4, f2, g2, h2. Black: Ke8, Qd8, Ra8, Rh8, Bc8, Bf8, Nc6, Nf6, pawns a7, b7, c7, d7, e5, f7, g7, h7.
Candidate moves generated by principle: checks/captures/threats: 1. Bxf7+?, 1. dxe5, 1. Nxe5; improving/positional: 1. Be3, 1. h3, 1. Na4, 1. d5. After brief comparison, 1. dxe5! is often attractive, opening lines and exploiting e5.
2) The Candidates Tournament: deciding the challenger
- 1950 Budapest: David Bronstein won (after a playoff with Boleslavsky) and drew the 1951 World Championship match with Botvinnik.
- 1962 Curaçao: Fischer’s accusations of collusion led FIDE to switch from a round-robin to Candidates matches (from 1965) to reduce prearranged draws.
- 2013 London: Carlsen and Kramnik tied on points; Carlsen advanced on the “most wins” tiebreak to face Anand.
- 2016 Moscow: Karjakin beat Caruana in the last round to win the Candidates and challenge Carlsen.
- 2020–21 Yekaterinburg: interrupted by the pandemic; Nepomniachtchi ultimately won to face Carlsen in 2021.
Famous Candidates game: Karjakin vs. Caruana, Moscow 2016 (Round 14) — under immense pressure, Karjakin unleashed 39. d5! followed by 40. Qg4 and converted, clinching the tournament.
3) Candidate Master (CM) title
- A lifetime FIDE title awarded for reaching a 2200 classical rating (WCM at 2000).
- No norms required; once awarded, the CM/WCM suffix is appended to the player’s name.
- Often a milestone on the path to FM (2300), IM (norms + 2400), and GM (norms + 2500).
4) Candidate passed pawn
Example structure: White pawns b4 and c4; Black pawns b5 and c6. White’s c-pawn is a candidate passer because after cxb5 axb5, cxb5, White can end up with a protected passed pawn on b5. Recognizing this potential shapes White’s plan: prepare the exchanges and support the advance.
Interesting Facts and Anecdotes
- Kotov’s Think Like a Grandmaster (1971) popularized the “candidate moves” method and warned against “analyzing the same variation twice,” known informally as the “Kotov syndrome.”
- Mikhail Tal (1959 Candidates, Yugoslavia) won brilliantly by dynamic, tactical play — a masterclass in generating forcing candidates.
- Kasparov vs. Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999: an iconic attacking game where a cascade of candidate moves (including 24. Rxd4!!) led to a stunning king hunt.
Training Tips
- Systematically list candidate moves: start with checks, then captures, then threats; add strategic candidates (pawn breaks, improving moves, prophylaxis).
- Limit your list to 2–5 serious candidates to preserve time and depth. Compare them using simple evaluation before diving deep.
- Always search for one “quiet” candidate in tactical positions; many missed wins are non-forcing, resourceful moves.
- In endgames, look for candidate passed pawns and the pawn breaks that create them.
Common Pitfalls
- Overloading your list with too many candidates, leading to shallow or circular calculation.
- Tunnel vision on forcing moves and missing a quiet, positional candidate that improves your worst-placed piece.
- Failing to re-evaluate after each branch; a candidate that looked inferior at first may gain value after move-order nuances.