January 1, 1970
REGISTER NOW FOR THE Cohen Woodworking Rapid Open | May 23
First time in the Candidates.
Matthias Blübaum’s story is one of perseverance. Unlike most other players in the Candidates, he followed an academic path for many years only deciding to become a chess professional around 2023. Blübaum reached 2670 FIDE in late 2020 and for the next five years his rating fluctuated from 2640 to 2670, suggesting he had reached his peak. Recent performances suggest this is not the case and there is still room to go higher. Although Blübaum is a two-time European Champion (2022 and 2025) and had an excellent performance in last year’s Grand Swiss where he finished second, it seems unlikely he will win the Candidates. That said he will have his moments and could well be a spoiler.
The performance of the lowest rated players in the field, Esipenko and Blübaum, may well determine what sort of Candidates this tournament is. If they suffer like Firouza and Abasov did in 2024 (minus 4 and minus 7 respectively), expect several players to have high scores as Gukesh (+4) , Caruana, Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi (all +3) did in 2024. If Esipenko and Blübaum are closer to fifty percent, which seems likely, the event could be incredibly close with several players having chances.
