R Praggnanandhaa, the new Indian chess sensation, has officially qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament after winning the FIDE Circuit 2025. The Grandmaster surpassed Ding Liren in May to take the lead and held on to the top spot for the remainder of the season. By the end of May, his closest competitors like Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum, and Javokhir Sindarov had already qualified through alternate routes, while Vincent Keymer did not have any remaining classical events to challenge the standings.
For Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov was the final major threat. Praggnanandhaa joined the event late but delivered a strong 7/9 performance, tying for first place and earning 8.17 circuit points. Praggnanandhaa won the circuit title despite Abdusattorov's incredible run, which included one of the greatest TPRs ever recorded and 19.62 points. Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, and R. Vaishali will compete in the women's category, while he will be the only Indian in the men's category.
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Previous achievements
Despite a disappointing World Cup campaign in Goa, 2025 was one of the landmark years for Praggnanandhaa. His biggest triumph came at the Tata Chess Masters, where he defeated Gukesh in a tie-break to become the only Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the prestigious title. He also finished fourth at the Prague Chess Festival 2025, third in the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Poland Rapid and Blitz, claimed victory at the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic Romania, secured second place in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial, and won the 2nd UzChess Cup 2025 through blitz tiebreaks.
The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament is scheduled to start on 28 March 2026.
