 The events were held at a similar time as the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, with many of the same players playing in both.The Qualifying tournament in Groningen in December 1993 had 54 players participating in an 11-round Swiss system tournament, with the top seven qualifying for the Candidates Tournament.The top seven from the Qualifying tournament were joined by Nigel Short, the loser of the 1993 PCA championship match against Kasparov.