Why is World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura playing in lower-rated tournaments such as Iowa Open, Louisiana State Championship?
World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura continued his push for a spot at the Candidates 2026 with a comfortable title win at the Iowa Open.
Nakamura won all five of his games in the Swiss tournament against opponents rated significantly lower than him. Earlier this month, he had similarly swept through the field to win the Louisiana State Championship.
The win streak has lifted the American GM’s live rating to 2815.8, inches away from his peak rating (2816).
Why is Nakamura playing in lower-rated tournaments?
Nakamura’s decision to target such lower-rated tournaments stems from his desire to qualify for the Candidates 2026 through the FIDE Rating pathway.
As per FIDE, one spot at the Candidates 2026 is reserved for the highest-rated player according to the six-month average rating based on FIDE Standard Rating Lists from August 1st 2025 till January 1st 2026.
According to the guidelines, this spot, though, is reserved only for players who play at least 40 classical games during the above-mentioned time period.
With world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen continuing his exile from the world championship cycle, the FIDE Rating spot is likely to work its way to Nakamura.
But, the 37-year-old had played just 18 classical games in 2025 before August: eight in The American Cup and ten in Norway Chess.
This prompted Nakamura to sign up for the lower-rated tournaments to meet the 40-game requirement. Following the tournaments in Louisiana and Iowa, he now needs to play just 11 more games to make the cut.
Nakamura’s decision has expectedly prompted criticism from a few corners. “Year after year, FIDE literally doesn’t care about the rating spot in the Candidates,” posted Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi on X.
Interestingly, this is not the first time players have targeted a loophole to gain entry into the Candidates.
In 2020, Dutch GM Anish Giri opted out of the 2020 FIDE Grand Swiss in order to preserve his ratings. He eventually qualified for the Candidates through the ratings route.
In 2022, Chinese GM Ding Liren played 28 games — all organised in China — in the span of a month to make the cut for the Candidates.
Ding would then finish second in the Candidates and would later become the world champion after beating Nepomniachtchi in the final, following Carlsen’s withdrawal.
French GM Alireza Firouzja qualified for the 2024 Candidates through the rating pathway by earning the requisite points by winning 7/7 at the lesser-known Rouen Open.
Published on Sep 09, 2025