India’s Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa (FIDE/Eteri Kublashvili)

Indian Grandmaster (GM) R Praggnanandhaa has secured his spot in the Candidates 2026 tournament by winning the FIDE Circuit 2025, becoming the only male player to represent India.The Chennai-based Grandmaster has demonstrated exceptional performance throughout the year, securing victories at multiple prestigious tournaments, including the Wijk Aan Zee Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open.

His impressive run also includes a second-place finish at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial and 12th Sinquefield Cup. He reached the fourth round in the recent FIDE World Cup before being eliminated.The Candidates tournament has confirmed seven of its eight participants. These include Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi, and Andrey Esipenko, alongside Praggnanandhaa.The final spot in the tournament remains open. The selection criteria for this position is detailed in FIDE’s qualification handbook: “The eighth spot will be clinched by the player with the highest six-month average rating based on FIDE Standard Rating Lists from August 1, 2025 till January 1, 2026, provided the respective player has played at least 40 games calculated for FIDE Standard Rating Lists from February 1, 2025 till January 1, 2026 (including at least 15 games in any of the six consecutive rating lists).”If the current trend is something worth believing, American GM Hikaru Nakamura could join the list soon.The Candidates 2026 is scheduled to take place at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, between 28 March and 16 April 2026.Three Indian female players in Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, and R Vaishali have qualified for the Women’s Candidates tournament next year.ALSO READ: ‘Mango, Paneer, and …’: Not just chess on Russian GM Volodar Murzin’s mind as India hosts GCL for first time | Exclusive