ChessKids take the Candidates: The Highlights

Madrid, Spain — in the stunning setting of the Palacio de Santoña, a group of talented young chess players gathered for the start of the ChessKid Intercontinental Candidates Tournament.

ChessKids play on the same boards used by top chess players, such as GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Hikaru Nakamura.

ChessKid welcomed the top players from our recent qualifiers to play on the same boards used in the main FIDE Candidates event, in which one chess player will earn the right to play against reigning Champion Magnus Carlsen in the Chess World Championship.

Promising Spanish chess player Alex Villa Tornero was born in 2010, and has already achieved an impressive rating above 2000 Elo.

The aspiring chess players have a range of promising ratings, the highest achieved by Alex Villa Tornero from Spain, with a Standard FIDE rating of 2076.

Eight players were invited to Madrid following the online qualifiers and semi-finals, and were joined by ChessKid staff.

Other ChessKids from Mexico, Spain, Kazakhstan and the USA all made the journey to enjoy the unique opportunity to attend this event in the heart of Madrid.

A number of exciting chess personalities, including the elusive Rey Enigma, joined the chess scene at the Palacio de Santoña, meeting many of the children. Other famous players who met the mighty ChessKids include GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Alireza Firouzja.

Rey Enigma, also known as the 'Banksy of chess', took part in a series of chess events around the city. 

Earlier in the week, ChessKids in Spain were welcomed by our ChessKid 'Simul with the Stars' event, with WFM Maria Rodrigo, GM Eduardo Iturrizaga, and our very own FunMasterMike! 

FunMasterMike plays a simultaneous exhibition with chess fans. 

You can watch the final day of the ChessKid Intercontinental Tournament and our previous broadcasts at twitch.tv/chesskid.

Photo credits: Stev Bonhage