"I never expected to be here like a year ago " - Matthias Blübaum

"I never expected to to be here like a year ago " - Matthias Blübaum

In an interview with Theophilus Wait, the director of operations - Lichess, German Grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum discusses his unexpected journey to the 2026 Candidates Tournament and his perspective as a self-described underdog. The interview concludes with his thoughts on the competitive field, including the "mystery" of Hikaru Nakamura's form and a lighthearted look at his own favorablets on the psychological shift of working with a dedicated assistant and the mixed pressure of being the first German representative in the event for decades. While acknowledging his lower rating compared to favorites like Fabiano Caruana, he remains hopeful that his patient playing style can exploit opponents who may overextend themselves. The interview concludes with his thoughts on the competitive field, including the "mystery" of Hikaru Nakamura's form and a lighthearted look at his own favorable head-to-head statistics. You can watch the whole interview here - Matthias Bluebaum: Underdog status both a blessing and a curse | Candidates 2026

Theophilus Wait: So very fortunate to be joined by German Grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum, the only person in history as I understand it so far to have won the European individuals twice, you're here at the candidates you've made it. If somebody had told you this time a year ago that you would be here what would your reaction have been?

Matthias Bluebaum : I mean mainly I would have laughed about it and said like think of try to think of a better joke like it's not not even all that funny so yeah I mean I never expected to to be here like a year ago, I mean around a year ago I won like the European Championship for the second time I guess it was in March or something so it's pretty much like around a year ago but I mean that still feels incredibly far away from like qualifying for candidates so I didn't even really think about that.

Theophilus Wait: And now you're here you know now it's kind of settling in just how does it feel generally?

Matthias Bluebaum: Yeah like now after after finally coming here you you really feel like okay tournament is really about to start and like it's only a few days I'm to be honest I'm just very much looking forward to the start of the first game like there's usually the most tension just before the first game because you you don't fully know what to expect you don't know how you'll be in shape and once the game starts you can finally just start playing chess and hopefully hopefully start playing decent chess.

Theophilus Wait: And I mean it was very interesting for a long time we've had this kind of long running exchange where I've asked you about the status of your second and at Wijk aan Zee you know you revealed that you do now have a second. How has it been the experience of working with the second compared to other events where perhaps you haven't to the same level.

Matthias Bluebaum: No, I mean of course it's kind of nice if you don't have to do everything yourself and you you just see some annoying line and you can you just have somebody to tell like you have to look at this stuff I I'll go sleep of course that's kind of nice but I mean at the end of the day you also still have to play chess yourself like it it does help a bit but it's also not like completely changing but of course like Wijk aan Zee went well so I'm hopeful that like it will go well another time.

Theophilus Wait: And you had a very interesting I I believe it's public actually about your your funding for this candidates campaign are you okay, I think I have seen the figure i think it is public but are you okay to to reveal it?

Matthias Bluebaum: Sure, I mean it's not not a secret and like it was published by the German chess federation who like took care of basically like getting everything together like they they did the fundraiser they like give something on their own and the government is giving something so yeah in the end it turned out to be much bigger number than I would have expected i'm still kind of certain it's smaller than for like Fabiano no probably from for like every other participant is higher I mean okay we're here i'm not sure how it how it works in China but I mean India, Uzbekistan I'm pretty sure like they give they easily give like higher numbers from the government so I feel like it's still one of the lower numbers but for me it's I'm just very happy because I could basically do in preparation what I wanted to do without like thinking too much about the money like I mean it's like basically the money is all at the German Chess Federation and like I I get it in like if I if I have some kind of receipts or something for some stuff so so it's it's kind of nice i didn't have to worry too much about anything.

Theophilus Wait: And I believe a portion of it was also crowdfunded as well right which is maybe kind of unusual at this level but I personally you know coming from Lichess, I I quite liked seeing that how did you find it how does it feel for you what was the idea there as well?

Matthias Bluebaum: I mean it was basically done also by the German chess federation in the end i mean I just told them of course you can do it i'm not going to be against it it's like on the one hand it's really nice and like people gave much more money than I expected on the other hand I still sometimes feel like there's so many better courses to donate money for than to than for some random chess player preparing for a tournament like but I mean it's it's basically free to people's choice if they want to donate money or not and yeah in the end it turned out to be much more than I would have expected so I'm very very thankful and happy for that.

Theophilus Wait: Does that kind of help motivate you to some extent as well like to know that you have this like popular support behind you as well or you know people who are on your side?

Matthias Bluebaum: Of course it motivates on the other hand it can also increase pressure because you feel like yeah people like supported you and and now if you play like the poorest event of of your lifetime then people won't be won't exactly be happy but on the other hand I mean people who donate money for that they know that I mean they cannot expect anything it's I mean they just want to do it so I mean yeah it's it's just it's just nice and motivating of course that as as I mentioned yeah I just didn't need to worry about like if if I needed anything in my preparation basically I could do like most things without thinking too much, yeah sure I mean I'm very grateful to the people and uh I just Yeah I just hope to to play my best chess here.

Theophilus Wait: I don't want to you know now you've just mentioned also about some aspect of pressure I don't want to heap any more on you but I've got to say I believe you're the first German in the candidates for about 40 years since since Robert Hübner you know does that kind of play on the mind at all is there this element of you know being a representative of the German nation within chess to a degree.

Matthias Bluebaum: Sure like of course of course yeah I know there hasn't been a German in a long while in the candidates so of course that it feels special i just think in general it's great for German chess that yeah now we have me in the candidates we have Vincent who is like a top player so so there's good chances we'll also have like some play in the candidates in the next years to come so I think it's just it's just very good for German chess because normally like every time we saw this candidates tournament happening and there wasn't like a German player to root for so you people were rooting for somebody else so of course it's nice to have to have like a German player here and this time it's me um so obviously I guess there are some some people in Germany who would prefer if it would be Vincent but I mean it's it is what it is.

Theophilus Wait: And I mean uh just on that point as well to some extent you know some people have said that you're a bit of an underdog in this tournament you know do you perceive yourself as an underdog or?

Matthias Bluebaum: No certainly I perceive myself as an underdog i mean I'm quite objective in that regard I have I mean I've have like like officially shared lowest rating with Esipenko and obviously I have to call myself an underdog i cannot cannot put it any other way I still think it's it's not completely impossible to win this tournament I just need to get really lucky and get some get some get some wins early on so it gets going I mean I know my chances are like one of the lowest in the tournament objectively so I don't make myself too much pressure i just want to play as good as I can.

Theophilus Wait: But mean some of the players have previously said that you know having that kind of underdog status can in a way be a blessing because it allows you that freedom to kind of just enjoy the tournament a little bit you don't have that expectation of necessarily having to be first and often they end up doing incredibly well because of that because you know the pressure is maybe a little less manageable do you feel that way as well or shall I ask you after the event.

Matthias Bluebaum: Yeah I guess it's better to ask me afterwards i guess it's both a blessing and a curse like you can you can do really well because people will take risks against you and and you don't have as much pressure as as somebody who's like expected to be a favorite of course but it can also be a curse because everybody wants to wants to like get a game against you everybody wants to try to beat you and if you're not good in shape this can also be be a very tough tournament so it it can be both a blessing and a curse i hope it will be a blessing but yeah like let's let's answer that after the tournament.

Theophilus Wait: I think in some ways uh your answer there kind of reminds me of when I spoke to Vaishali earlier as well cuz she of course had this experience in Toronto where she had a very abysmal like four losses or so in a row uh but then at a certain point uh players began like overpressing her saw she was at the bottom of the table it became very double-edged and she was able to pick up five wins in a row so is that kind of some element as well what you're saying that these players you know they'll they'll try to pick points from you but uh they might not be able to bully you they'll overextend themselves they'll get into trouble you'll be able to get points back off them.

Matthias Bluebaum: Yeah I mean as as I mentioned it can can be both i mean normally I expect not to go like on a losing streak of four but also not on a winning streak of five that's that's of course like a crazy result in general but um no I I Yeah that's basically exactly what I what I meant like especially in the second half of the tournament some people will go crazy against you because they need those wins desperately in order to fight for the first place so so yeah especially in the second half I expect some people to just go completely crazy and and try to win at every cost.

Theophilus Wait: And I think generally you know at least my assessment interpretation of you you know as a player playing style you know you're quite patient got quite clean technique overall so do you think that that could you know really play into your strengths if people are trying to make things crazy and you're just patient you know waiting for them to to kind of overextend and go a bit barbarian and then you can come back

Matthias Bluebaum: It could, but as as as also mentioned it really depends on how how good you are in shape because even to be patient I mean you need to be really good and you you need to don't to not make mistakes because even to be just be patient you need to understand like what could be the opponent's idea and basically prevent anything and like if you're not good in shape you will blunder something and then like it it will turn out like a nightmare because yeah you're just so.

Theophilus Wait: Yeah you are saying that of course but I think you are in great shape I mean you know of course you you did amazingly in the Grand Swiss uh Wijk aan Zee you broke 2700 in live ratings unfortunately didn't sustain it but you're still 2698 I believe at the moment in the published so you know do you feel maybe you're a little bit underrated at the moment perhaps.

Matthias Bluebaum: No of course the previous tournaments have been going extremely well and also Wijk aan Zee went like really well i was quite happy with with how I played i mean I didn't convert some positions but still I was quite happy with the result in general so yeah I mean I have like a good feeling but on the other hand as a chess player you also know sometimes you will just start a tournament badly and you get into bad shape and like you like it it sometimes really depends on the start if you get a bit lucky or a bit unlucky at the first rounds like you can like tournament can either go like really nice or it can go really badly and you just don't know before you start playing the tournament.

Theophilus Wait: A lot of these players here uh you know you have played many of them OTB or if you haven't played the OTB uh a lot of them you've also played online in addition to OTB one player you've never encountered before I believe classical is Wei YI will you have a certain approach to him or how do you assess him overall.

Matthias Bluebaum: Yeah I never never played him in classical i I guess I played him online a few games but also only very few so I don't really have much experience against playing against him i think he's an incredibly strong player and he he should be like one of the favourites in this tournament actually i think think people underrate him quite clearly.

Theophilus Wait: Nepo called him a dark horse in an article would you agree with that assessment he's a bit of a dark horse?

Matthias Bluebaum: Maybe I just don't see even see him as a dark horse i just feel like he's one of No I mean not as a favorite but he's one of the one of the possible contenders i feel like there are many people who are one of the possible contenders and if he if he gets like a very like if he's in a good shape and he gets a few wins he can like easily easily be like a very serious contender for the first place so we we'll see i mean I'm playing in the first round already so I mean I kind of let's see how the game goes i mean you you never fully know before it starts.

Theophilus Wait: So you mentioned there you know about Wei Yi being maybe one of the top contenders who would you assess in this field as being the other kind of top contenders or are there any there that might be uh surprising maybe again underestimated?

Matthias Bluebaum: No, I guess I guess otherwise nobody is really underestimated. I think basically everybody apart from me and Esipenko is like more or less more or less a serious contender. I mean not that the two of us have no chances at all but we are like clearly lower rated so so I would feel the rest has like better chances and there it's very very hard to say and it also really depends on how the tournament goes for everybody I think I mean also like I also I don't want to drag Esipenko down too much like so maybe I'll just drag drag down only myself and like say he also has is watching this thinking like what did I do like yeah yeah no no no I'm sorry about that I don't want to drag him down too much so maybe I'll just put myself as an outsider it's fine though. I feel like everybody else is I mean everybody else is like 2740 or higher so everybody else has a serious shot like I mean everybody is calling Caruana the favorite which could be correct but on the other hand you you just never know when before the tournament starts he's a player who will like always do kind of well but it's no not at all guaranteed he'll win the tournament .

Theophilus Wait: I think i mean yeah his previous record speak for himself this will be what his his sixth candidates I think and he's come second twice, won one, he's been favorite in the past as well of course so yeah.

Matthias Bluebaum: I think he's very consistently performing extremely well in these tournaments like he you expect him to be in the top three at the end of the tournament but to be first it's it's tough yeah being favorite is not maybe enough to become first yeah yeah i mean to become first you also need need to have some luck you need you need to get the necessary wins at some point and and you also need to like be able to deal with the pressure in the last few rounds because it can can get very tense so yeah it's very hard for me to pick like a single favorite.

Theophilus Wait: Just quickly as well I wanted to ask about Hikaru, I mean you know his last serious classical encounter was ten months ago. He had these games against Awonder Liang as well but they were unrated so I'm not really counting them, but his last serious classical field against elite level opposition was about ten months ago do you think you know he's maybe overrated to some extent at the moment or a bit rusty perhaps.

Matthias Bluebaum: It's incredibly hard to say yeah I think people were saying that a few years ago when like there was covid and he was just streaming and then then he came back to classical chess and he just crushed everything like, so I think it's impossible to say how how he will do here and if he's overrated or not i mean he clearly earned his 2,800 like in all the tournaments he played and until like I guess Norway chess was his last classical tournament he really played 2,800 performances against the top players in the world so I don't think it's fair to call him like overrated you just don't know how he will play in this tournament it's very hard to say because he as you as you said he hasn't played like classical against top level top level players in quite a while so I guess he's like a bit of a mystery to everybody how how he will perform obviously he's in insanely strong player but we just don't know in which shape he will be so so let's see that but I still think he can easily win the tournament if he if he gets going and has a good start as as pretty much anyone.

Theophilus Wait: Yeah maybe he likes being that kind of slightly unknown factor maybe it's yeah intentional, I also mentioned you know you mentioned about how Hikaur could sweep away the field potentially are you familiar with the great blue bound sweep meme?

Matthias Bluebaum: Yes yes yes i I saw it i'm not sure who started this actually i mean I just take it with humor it's kind of kind of funny I mean I guess it's not the most likely result for me to score 14 out of 14 but I'll try my best to keep the fans happy. No, I think if I if I win the first game and I'm one out of one like already people will go crazy like already people will be like chances are still there.

Theophilus Wait: I think uh yeah the great Bluebaum sweep is on course um I think it came about because someone assessed the head-to-head records of uhall of the the players here and um I think you have the most favourable head-to-head record so this then began the kind of great bound sweep uh but maybe part of that is also down to sample size you're a mathematician so you know I won't need to explain that to you.

Matthias Bluebaum: Yeah I know sample size is not very big of of course it's nice to actually have a decent score i guess guess among the participants I only lost against Sindarov out of like I think I think I think you had one or two yeah it was pretty low, yeah may okay maybe another game but I don't even recall maybe maybe I I can't remember the exact win draw or loss but I think you you were like 71% head-to-head record against the entire team i mean it's just I have this win against Praggnanandhaa from the Grand Swiss and and I guess Esipenko I beat when he was a small kid so I just took my chances when he was young uh so so yeah and yeah I guess I guess that's about it with like the wins and then then quite some draws so it really doesn't say anything to be honest like it's it's just kind of a funny statistic like it's just funnily looking statistic so um I mean let's see if like hopefully I can improve the score overall but let's see it will be very tough of course

Interviewer: No, perfect well that's that's absolutely everything and um you know thank you so much for your time and uh for your great responses really appreciate it all the best best of luck for the tournament.

Matthias Bluebaum: Thank you thank you