 "Praggnanandhaa expects stiff challenge at Candidates 2026 after becoming only Indian to qualify: 'Going to be extremely strong'")
R Praggnanandhaa qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the second consecutive time on Monday, keeping the dream of an all-Indian Chess World Championship showdown with D Gukesh alive in the process.
‘Pragg’ clinched his place in the prestigious event, in which eight players compete for the right to challenge the reigning world champion, with a stellar performance at the London Chess Classic. The 20-year-old Indian GM finished joint-first along with Serbia’s Velimir Ivic and England’s Ameet K Ghasi on seven points in nine rounds, and eventually finished third after the tie-breaks.
Praggnanandhaa’s performance in London took his points tally in the 2025 FIDE Circuit to 115.17 – 34 points ahead of Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri. As for players who haven’t already qualified for the Candidates, Germany’s Vincent Keymer is closest to the Indian GM and sits at the seventh spot with 55.83 points, nearly 60 short of the Indian’s tally.
‘Any candidates will be a tough tournament’
Speaking to ChessBase India on the sidelines of the London Chess Classic, Praggnanandhaa – who wasn’t sure of his qualification for Candidates at the time – expected an “extremely strong” showdown in the upcoming event.
“First of all, I want to be there 100 per cent. But overall, any candidates will be a tough tournament. If someone is there at the Candidates, that means they have showed what it takes to be there. It will be a difficult tournament for everyone,” Praggnanandhaa said. “In terms of ratings, I think it’s similar to last year. Maybe there was one below 2700 player last year. So it’s going to be extremely strong, and there’s no one that’s like a target.”
Praggnanandhaa, however, added that while the experience of having competed in the same tournament will come in handy for him, he will not have much time to prepare. He had competed in the 2024 Candidates alongside compatriots Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi and finished fifth out of eight players with a score of 7 out of 14 in the tournament that was won by Gukesh.
🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R has won the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament!
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 8, 2025
👏 Congratulations to @rpraggnachess, who deservedly earned one of the eight slots in the 2026 Candidates. The young Indian has been the best FIDE Circuit player throughout the… pic.twitter.com/AsT52Ky4mO
“It’s good to have such experience. Assuming I make it, there will be short time to prepare. Not long time to prepare like have camps or something. I’ll just try to rest and see how to prepare,” he added.
Praggnanandhaa had begun the year on a strong note by winning the Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, where he defeated Gukesh in the tie-breaks after the two finished joint-first. He would then go on to win Superbet Chess Classic Romania – part of the Grand Chess Tour – as well as UzChess Cup Masters.
Praggnanandhaa had also qualified for the Grand Chess Tour Finals, where he lost to French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semi-finals and eventually finished at the fourth spot.
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