Palma Grand Prix, Round 9: Jakovenko, Aronian Tie for First; Neither Radjabov nor MVL Qualify for the Candidates

Which means that Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk do qualify. With a win Teimour Radjabov would have qualified, and likewise had Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won. Instead, Radjabov, like almost everyone else today, drew his game, unable to convert a small edge with White into more against Richard Rapport. As for Vachier-Lagrave, he was on the wrong side of the day's only decisive game. He lost with White to Dmitry Jakovenko, though he was better much of the way. He didn't manage to make the most of his advantage, and by the time of his 37th move all he could do was try to swindle some play or else grovel a little for a draw. Going for the first option, he played 37.Nd8??, hoping that he'd be able to scare something up in case of 37...Rxd5 38.Ne6. Instead, Jakovenko played the better 37...Rb8!, after which Vachier-Lagrave was lost. The game went a few more moves, but 37...Rb8 was the move that slammed the door on MVL's hopes of qualifying for the Candidates. As for Jakovenko, the win put him into a tie for first with Aronian for tournament victory, and he even had the better tiebreaks, not that it mattered.

So this means that the lead enjoyed by Mamedyarov and Grischuk in the Grand Prix standings coming into this tournament held up, and they have qualified for the 2018 Candidates, scheduled for this coming March in Berlin. Thus the field is set, and here's who's in, plus how they got there:

• Sergey Karjakin (qualified by losing the last world championship match)
• Levon Aronian (won the World Cup)
• Ding Liren (World Cup runner-up)
• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Grand Prix winner)
• Alexander Grischuk (Grand Prix runner-up)
• Fabiano Caruana (top rating qualifier)
• Wesley So (runner-up rating qualifier)
• Vladimir Kramnik (recipient of the organizers' wildcard)

Congratulations to the seven players who earned their spots with hard work and successful performances.