The 2022 Candidates tournament

The Candidates Tournament is an upcoming eight-player chess tournament, with the winner qualifying for the challenger's spot against the defending champion Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2023 but how do you qualify for a big tournament like this. Well here are 5 ways a top Grandmaster qualifies into the candidates.

1. Win last year's candidates - Last year's candidates were memorable, covering the big competition between Maxime Vachier Lagrave  and Ian Nepominiatchi. Eventually Ian came on top playing world champion Magnus Carlsen in Dubai. Although he lost he guaranteed himself a spot in the 2022 candidates.

2. Getting nominated by FIDE - Every candidates tournament there is a member specially chosen by Fide themselves. This year it was Teimour Radjabov. Last tournament Radjabov left midway due to the Covid-19 scare. He was disqualified and replaced by MVL (Maxime Vachier Lagrave). Eventually FIDE had to cancel the tournament which proved that Radjabov was right. Which is why he was nominated by Fide. 

3. Finish top 2 of the world cup - the 2021 chess world cup was the most anticipated tournament of the year. The tournament was divided into 16 sections. From every section there would be a winner who would qualify for the round of 16. In the semi-finals there was a huge upset with JK Duda beat Magnus Carlsen qualifying to the final and securing a spot in the candidates. On the other hand Sergey Karjakin beat Fedoseev securing him a spot as well but the drama didn’t end here on March 21, 2022, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission ruled that Sergey Karjakin breached Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE Code of Ethics, after publicly expressing support for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Karjakin was banned from playing in any official FIDE-related tournaments for a period of six months,making him unable to participate in the 2022 Candidates Tournament. He was eventually replaced by the highest rated player at that point of time Ding Liren.

4. Finish top 2 in the grand swiss - The tournament was full of ups and downs but towards the end young sensation Alireza Firouza came out on top winning the tournament with 8 points/11 rounds. Along with Firouza, 2018 World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana came second.

5. Finish top 2 in the grand prix - The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 was a series of three chess tournaments played between 4 February and 4 April 2022. Each player was scheduled to participate in two of three tournaments and the top 2 with the most number of points qualify.The first grand prix in Berlin was won by chess player/streamer Hikaru Nakamura. Everyone thought that streaming has destroyed Naka’s career but winning this tournament just proves how big of a power house Hikaru actually is. The Serbian grand prix in Belgrade was won by Hungarian GM Richard Rapport followed by Wesley so’s win in Berlin. In the end Nakamura and Rapport with 23 and 20 points respectively qualified to the candidates. 

This just proves the tedious process to qualify the candidates. In the end the ones that qualified to the candidates are: 

F1 predictions of the year (2022)

 

The last F1 season was super exciting. We witnessed a new champion after 4 years! With F1 becoming an extremely competitive sport in this blog I will be predicting every driver's position in this season.

Drivers World championship: After last season's victory everyone would be expecting Verstappen to fight for the title again but I don't think that's the case. I feel new Mercedes recruit George Russell, 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton and youngster Lando Norris will give competition for the title. With the FIA recruiting new director Andrew Wheatly I feel Lewis will win the title followed by Verstappen, Russell, Norris and Sainz. Other notable drivers who stand a good chance at hitting the top 5 are: Charles Lecrec and Pierre Gasly.

 Surprise element: 

• I feel driver Yuki Tsunoda will score at least 1 podium 

•  Norris and Sainz getting their first ever victory. 

• Riccardo will have at least 1 shoey.

•  Every team will have at least 1 podium. 

•  Alex Albon will win 1 podium.

•  Bottas will make the top 10 and win at least 1 race.

• Sebastian Vettel will win a race along with Lance Stroll getting a podium.

In the constructors Mercedes should win with a margin of 30-40 points. Although Max will keep up with Lewis' level , Checo will lose out against Russell. Red Bull will finish 3rd in the Drivers World Championship behind Ferrari and Mercedes. Mclaren and Alpine will be 4rd and 5th respectively. Followed by Aston Martin and Alpha Tauri.

Predictions :

#1 Lewis Hamilton

#2 Max Verstappen

#3 George Russell

#4 Carlos Sainz

#5 Charles Lecrec

#6 Lando Norris

#7 Sergio Perez

#8 Pierre Gasly

#9 Sebastian Vettel

#10 Valterri Bottas

#11 Daniel Riccardo

#12 Yuki Tsunoda

#13 Lance Stroll

#14 Fernando Alonso

#15 Alex Albon

#16 Esteban Ocon

#17 Kevin Magnussen

#18 Mick Schumacer  

#19 Nicholas Latifi

#20 Zhou Guyanu 

2022 F1 Lineup (Part 1)

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell

After Lewis lost the 2021 championship many speculated that he would leave the team. Which I completely disagree with considering Lewis Hamilton has a solid chance of winning an 8th title.

He signed a 2 year contract with the team in July sealing his spot till 2023. 

Valtteri Bottas leaving the team was a shocker considering he was out qualifying Verstappen and Hamilton on many occasions. After Bottas left there was no doubt that F2 World Champion George Russell would replace him for the 2022 season. His 2020 race in Sakhir with Mercedes ended him in just missing out on a win due to a puncture and his podium in Belgium made him an obvious choice.

 

Red Bull: Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen

The role of being Verstappen’s team-mate hasn't been easy. Ricciardo left as he felt that the team was favoring Max. Gasly and Alex couldn't keep up with Verstappen. Sergio Perez signing was unusual considering Redbull usually sign people from their youth. Although Red Bull didn't win the Constructors his performance was good enough for him to get a 1 year contract extension.

Ferrari: Carlos Sainz, Charles Lecrec

Lecrec’s contract extends till 2024 which keeps him here for 3 more seasons. Sebastian Vettel left Ferrari for Aston Martin as he wasn't enjoying his time at the club Carlos Sainz filled his spot. While Ricciardo and Vettel didn’t pick up form Sainz adapted well to the team scoring only 2.5 points less that his team mate Carlos Sainz.

McLaren: Daniel Riccardo, Lando Norris

McLaren signed Ricciardo from Renault for a 3 year deal till 2023. Daniel heavily underperformed compared to team-mate Lando Norris. Towards the end of the season Daniel won the Italian Grand Prix and McLaren got the only 1-2 of the season and momentarily passed Ferrari in the Driver’s World Championship. With Norris' contract ending in 2024 the duo will be together for the next 2 seasons. 

Alpine: Fernando Alonso, Estaban Ocon

The Renault team was rebranded and named Alpine. Alpine's gamble to sign 2 time world champion Fernando Alonso paid off as their team came top 5. While Ocon picked up his first ever victory in Hungary, the team has been steadily keeping up with the usual suspects (McLaren, Ferrari ,Red Bull and Mercedes) which makes me believe that they can chase for a top 4 spot in the Constructors championship.

 

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Top 5 F1 races of the season (2021)

5. Italy

8.2/10

For the past 3 years there has been a curse on the Monza circuit. Charles Lecrec won in 2019 and crashed in 2020. It continued when unexpectedly Pierre Gasly won in 2020 but crashed in 2021.

The sprint race put the McLaren's in the top 5. Although Verstappen and Bottas were ahead of Norris and Ricciardo , Bottas was relegated to the back of the grid for a power unit replacement penalty and Riccardo passed Verstappen for the lead at the start. 

Verstappen and Hamilton crashing gave the McLaren's bring home the only one-two finish of 2021 and their first F1 victory since 2012. 

4. Saudi Arabia 

8.4/10

The new circuit Jeddah was by far the most controversial race of the season. 

There was an early red flag after the crash of driver Mick Schumacher.

Verstappen and Hamilton battled after the restart but due to a car pile up the race stopped again. During the race Verstappen was advised to give back the position to Hamilton. Although this message wasn’t passed to Hamilton resulting in them colliding.

Hamilton won the race due to Verstappen getting many time penalties, with Bottas snatching a podium from Ocon in the final few meters.

3. Azerbaijan

8.5/10

Lecrec grabbed his second pole of the season however Ferrari struggled on Baku’s straights. Verstappen had been irritated not to set his final lap in Q3 once again, this time due to a combined crash between Ricciardo and Sainz but, nonetheless, led the race for much of the distance before both he and Lance Stroll suffered alarming tyre failures out of the final corner.

After Verstappen's crash the restart meant that Hamilton could steal a win but due to a lock up in the first corner he was out of the points. Perez took his first and only win of the season and surprise podiums for Vettel and Gasly made the race special.

2. Hungary 

8.7/10

Turn 1 in Hungary was eventful as  a pile - up caused Norris, Bottas, Perez, Stroll all taken out of the race and Verstappen and Riccardo badly damaged.

The red flag restart saw the track dry enough which caused most cars to pit for slick tires, leaving Lewis Hamilton alone on the track which was one of the most funny things in F1 history.

Hamilton fought back hard but Alonso defended brilliantly and kept him waiting until his teammate Ocon could get his first Grand Prix win  in his career and Alpine first Grand Prix after returning to F1.

1. Russia

9/10

The weather was a key factor playing a big role in the dramatic events that took place at Sochi. Norris took pole and led most of the race, re-passing Sainz after being behind him for some time.

Towards the end rain increased and a bad call by Norris to hold on to his slick tires. Eventually Norris slid to the run-off area resulting in a win for Hamilton.