India, Dec. 8 -- Hikaru Nakamura's qualification for the Candidates saw some controversy. The controversy was about the manner in which he qualified for the tournament, which is scheduled for next year. FIDE had reserved a Candidates berth for the highest-rated player. Magnus Carlsen is the current highest-rated player, but the World No. 1 is not participating. The berth automatically went to World No. 2 Nakamura, but with a condition: he needed to meet FIDE's 40-game eligibility requirement.

Nakamura chose to meet the eligibility requirements by participating in a series of smaller tournaments across North America. His participation in Washington sealed his qualification through the rating spot.

Speaking during the Freestyle Chess even...