Praggnanandhaa seals spot in 2026 Candidates

The 20-year-old from Chennai had seized the lead in the race in May by overtaking China’s previous world classical champion Ding Liren. He has maintained it throughout the season. By the end of November, his main rivals – Dutch player Anish Giri, American Fabiano Caruana, Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, and Javokhir Sindarov – had already qualified for the Candidates via other paths. Germany’s Vincent Keymer had no classical events scheduled for the rest of the year, a FIDE release said.

Reacting to the news on X, Praggnanandhaa said, “A long year on the FIDE Circuit, and I’m grateful to earn a place in the 2026 Candidates. Thank you for all the constant support.”

Only Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, who was playing in the points-heavy London Chess Classic Elite, had a theoretical chance to catch up and make it to the eight-man Candidates whose winner will qualify to challenge India’s world champion D Gukesh.