Alone in the Classroom

American-Italian Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, a great favourite in this 2022 Candidates Tournament, was the only one among the Magnificent Eight who today attended the inaugural press conference at the Palace of Santoña in Madrid, Spain. The Managing Director of FIDE, Woman Grandmaster Dana Reizniece-Ozola, showed minor disappointment upon the absence of the others: “For this time, we’ll close an eye on them”, she said, but “now that chess is gaining popularity around the world, they should cooperate more and show their human side”. On the other hand, Caruana showed no shyness about being alone on stage. First, he spent a few words on Alireza Firouzja, blessed by Magnus Carlsen: “He has immense potential — but this is a much tougher field than any other he has ever faced”, he said. And then there are the existential dilemmas of Carlsen, who declared he could not defend his title in case the challenger isn’t to his liking. “I don’t know if he still thinks so. If I were in his place, I would defend my title against the official challenger, whoever he is”, Caruana said. “Usually only winning counts. However, in this case, quite paradoxically, the competition for second place could be as important as that for first place”. Photo: Stev Bonhage/FIDE.