R Praggnanandhaa has secured a berth for the 2026 Candidates Chess. After finishing as the joint-winner at the London Chess Classic Open, he is set to finish at the summit of the FIDE Circuit leaderboard.
He collected 8.17 points from the event, thereby pushing his tally to an imposing 115.17 from his best seven tournaments.
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How did Praggnanandhaa perform at the London Chess Classic Open?
After the first six rounds, Praggnanandhaa found himself sharing the lead with Serbia’s Velimir Ivic, both sitting on five points. The Indian star retained that position after the seventh-round encounter with Ivic.
He opened his campaign with a clean 3.0/3, dispatching Stanley Badacsonyi, Eldar Gasanov, and Nico Chasin. The smooth progress briefly stalled when he was held to two consecutive draws, first by fellow Indian Pranav Anand and then by Hungary’s Tamas Jr Fodor.
Praggnanandhaa overcame Romania’s David Gavrilescu in the penultimate round, propelling him to the top of the charts and giving him a narrow half-point cushion heading into the final day.
His final opponent was Ilya Smirin. However, the Israeli put up tough resistance to force a draw with Praggnanandhaa. That slip allowed England’s Ameet K Ghashi and Ivic to match Praggnanandhaa's tally of seven points by winning their respective final-round games, as all three contestants ultimately finished first.
“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 wrote on his X account.
What are the FIDE Circuit Standings?
Praggnanandhaa finished with 115.7 points in the FIDE Circuit Leaderboard. Behind him sit Anish Giri on 81.18 points, followed by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov on 71.61. Although Abdusattorov has yet to play in the FIDE World Rapid Championship and the FIDE Blitz Championship, he still cannot surpass Pragg's points tally.
Has D Gukesh qualified for the Candidates 2026?
D Gukesh has not qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. In fact, he does not need to. As the reigning World Chess Champion, Gukesh bypasses the Candidates Tournament entirely. He is already seeded directly into the 2026 World Chess Championship Match, where he will defend his title against the winner of the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
Who can potentially challenge Gukesh?
Gukesh is waiting for the Challenger, who will be the winner of the 2026 Candidates Tournament. The qualified players for that tournament include:
- Fabiano Caruana (2024 FIDE Circuit Winner)
- Anish Giri (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Winner)
- Matthias Blübaum (2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Runner-up)
- Javokhir Sindarov (2025 World Cup Winner)
- Wei Yi (2025 World Cup Runner-up)
- Andrey Esipenko (2025 World Cup 3rd Place)
- Hikaru Nakamura (Rating spot)
- R Praggnanandhaa (FIDE Circuit Leaderboard)
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