India’s chess star R Praggnanandhaa on Monday officially qualified for the 2026 Candidates after winning the FIDE Circuit in 2025. Last week, Pragg had emerged as the joint winner of the London Chess Classic 2025 Open and it was a matter of time till he would be eligible for the Candidates. The official announcement was made on Monday with the player himself confirming it by his social media post.
Story continues below this ad
The 19-year-old has been the best FIDE Circuit player throughout the year, winning the Tata Steel Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open and finishing second in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial and 12th Sinquefield Cup.
“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,” Pragg posted on X. Praggnananadhaa entered the London Chess Classic after a disappointing run at the FIDE World Cup 2025 with the last edition’s finalist crashing out in the fourth round. He was knocked out after losing to Russia’s Daniil Dubov in the tiebreaks.
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. 🙏 https://t.co/IdUtdRjXXG
— Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) December 8, 2025
The Candidates is scheduled for Cyprus between March 28 and April 16, 2026 with the winner of the 8-man field challenging D Gukesh for the world championship title. Along with Pragg, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Matthias Blübaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko have qualified thus far with just one spot left.
Story continues below this ad
How does the Candidates work?
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.
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.