Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 2, streamer

“In general, if I were to win the Candidates, it would be a very big boom for chess. I don’t really see any other possible way of that happening. That being said, of course, I don’t really look at it as pressure, like I’m supposed to win or something. I just want to play good chess.

I think when people say someone is a favorite, it’s kind of silly. I don’t really mind it when random pundits or random chess fans have their predictions and whatnot. But to me, it’s a little bit — I don’t want to say irresponsible — but very questionable when I hear strong players like Svidler giving opinions.

Because they’ve actually played in the Candidates and they know how random it is. So, saying someone is a favorite and someone shouldn’t do well — I think it’s a little bit questionable.

But nevertheless, obviously by rating me and Fabiano are the top two seeds. And in that sense, we’re the favorites. But again, I think players like Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh very easily could win as well.

So, if it were all about rankings, then why even play the tournament?”