MUMBAI, Maharashtra — India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has officially secured his place in the 2026 Candidates Tournament after being declared the winner of the FIDE Circuit 2025 on Monday. The achievement makes him the only Indian man to qualify for next year’s prestigious eight-player event, which will determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship.
FIDE announced the news in a social media post, highlighting the Chennai Grandmaster’s dominant year on the circuit. Praggnanandhaa captured titles at the Tata Steel Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and the London Chess Classic Open. He also finished second at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial and earned a strong result at the 12th Sinquefield Cup.
“Praggnanandhaa R. has won the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament,” FIDE wrote on X. “Congratulations to @rpraggnachess, who deservedly earned one of the eight slots in the 2026 Candidates.”
Praggnanandhaa topped the circuit with a score of 115.17, well ahead of Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, who finished second with 81.18. Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov placed third with 71.61, followed by Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. with 65.55 and Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum with 63.94.
With this result, Praggnanandhaa becomes the seventh confirmed participant in the 2026 Candidates. The lineup currently includes Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum, Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, Wei Yi of China, and Andrey Esipenko of Russia. The final spot will be determined by FIDE rating, awarded to the player with the highest six-month average rating between August 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026, provided the player meets the required number of rated games.
The 2026 Candidates Tournament is scheduled for March–April 2026. Its winner will go on to challenge reigning World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh later that year. FIDE will announce the dates and venues for both events at a later time.
While Praggnanandhaa will be India’s lone male representative, three Indian women — Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, and R. Vaishali — have earned qualification for next year’s Women’s Candidates Tournament. (Source: IANS)
