The United States' Hikaru Nakamura will be aiming to deliver another victory at the FIDE Grand Prix series in Berlin ©FIDE

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) Grand Prix Series is set to reach its conclusion as Berlin stages the third and final leg.

Players will arrive in the German capital aiming to secure the final two spots at the FIDE Candidates Tournament.

The 24 players on the Grand Prix circuit each compete in two of the three events, with Hikaru Nakamura of the United States winning the opener in Berlin before Hungary's Richard Rapport triumphed in last month’s second leg in Belgrade in Serbia.

Rapport’s victory moved him to the top of the standings on 20 points but having played in the past two competitions he is unable to participate in Berlin.

Nakamura, who sits second on 13 points, returns and has been named in Pool A alongside compatriot Levon Aronian and Russians Grigoriy Oparin and Andrey Esipenko who are competing as neutrals at the World Chess Club Berlin in the Unter den Linden, the historic city's famous boulevard running from the City Palace to the Brandenburg Gate.

Dmitry Andreikin, who lies third in the standings level on 10 points with Aronian, was set to compete in Berlin but has been forced to pull out due to "personal reasons", according to FIDE.

Russians Daniil Dubov, Alexandr Predke and Nikita Vitiugov are also participating under the FIDE flag following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dubov has been named in Pool B with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Leinier Dominguez of the US and Vincent Keymer of Germany.

Pool C consists of Predke, Americans Wesley So and Sam Shankland and France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Anish Giri of The Netherlands, Yangyi Yu of China, Amin Tabatabaei of Iran and Vitiugov have been drawn in Pool D.

The group stage in Berlin will consist of four double round-robin tournaments, with the winner of each pool advancing to the knockout semi-finals.

The semi-finals and final will feature two regular time-limit games and tiebreaks if needed.

Competition is due to take place from tomorrow until April 4.

The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix Series will progress to the Candidates Tournament in June in Spanish capital Madrid, with the winner going on to face Norway's Magnus Carlsen in the 2023 World Chess Championship.