With Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, China’s Wei Yi, and Russia’s Andrey Esipenko having qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2026, only two spots remain for the eight-player World Championship challenger event. The tournament is scheduled for Cyprus between March 28 and April 16, 2026.
Sindarov, Wei Yi and Esipenko qualified via the FIDE World Cup 2025 route, having finished in the top three positions.
They join previously qualified players Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, and Matthias Blübaum. Caruana secured his place by finishing atop the 2024 FIDE Circuit leaderboard, while Giri and Blübaum earned their berths by placing first and second, respectively, in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Open Section.
This cycle presents a contrast for Indian chess. After three Indians — D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Gujrathi — qualified for the 2024 Toronto Candidates, no male Indian player has yet secured a spot for the 2026 edition. However, Praggnanandhaa is in a strong position on the 2025 FIDE Circuit leaderboard, currently holding a healthy lead of over 50 points against his closest rival, Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Although Anish Giri is ranked between them in second place, he has already qualified through other means. This effectively makes the final Circuit spot a direct contest between Praggnanandhaa and the Uzbek prodigy, Abdusattorov.
Confirmed Player’s List for Candidates 2026
Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
| (As of September 2025) | ||||
| 2024 FIDE Circuit winner | Fabiano Caruana | 33 | 2789 | 3 |
Top two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss | Anish Giri (winner) | 31 | 2746 | 7 |
| Matthias Blübaum (runner-up) | 28 | 2671 | 37 | |
Top three finishers of the 2025 FIDE World Cup | Javokhir Sindarov (Winner) | 19 | 2721 | 25 |
| Wei Yi (runner-up) | 26 | 2752 | 11 | |
| Andrey Esipenko (third place) | 23 | 2681 | 41 | |
| 2025 FIDE Circuit winner | TBD | |||
Highest average rating (Aug 2025 – Jan 2026) | TBD | |||
2026 Candidates Tournament Format
Complete Rules & Structure Explainer
Tournament Structure
Format
Double Round-Robin
€1 Million
Record Prize Fund
Time Control Rules
First 40 Moves
120 Minutes
30-second increment per move from move 41 onwards. Players cannot agree to a draw before Black’s 40th move.
Tie-Break & Championship
If there’s a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff will determine the winner. The champion qualifies to face World Champion D Gukesh in the World Championship Match scheduled for November 2026.
Indian Express InfoGenIE
Candidates Format
In both the Open and the Women’s, the eight qualified players will compete in a double round-robin tournament, consisting of 14 rounds.
Candidates Tie-break rules: In the event of a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff will be played to determine the winner who qualifies for the World Championship Match, due to take place in November 2026.
Candidates Time Control
The games will be played with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41. Players are not permitted to agree to a draw before the completion of Black’s 40th move.
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Candidates Prize Fund
The minimum prize fund for the event stands at a record one million euros. The winner will pocket 70,000 euros while the player ending second will take home 45,000 euros. The third place finisher will earn 25,000 euros. In addition, each player gets 5,000 euros for every half point scored.