Praggnanandhaa qualifies for Candidates by winning FIDE circuit

CHENNAI: R Praggnanandhaa has won the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.

The Indian prodigy seized the lead in the race in May by overtaking Ding Liren and confidently maintained it throughout the season. By the end of November, his main rivals – Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum, and Javokhir Sindarov – had already qualified for the Candidates 2026 via other paths, while Vincent Keymer had no classical events scheduled for the rest of the year.

Only Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who was playing in the points-heavy London Chess Classic Elite, had a theoretical chance to catch up.

With this in mind, Praggnanandhaa made a last-minute entry into the London Chess Classic Open to clinch his Candidates qualification, regardless of the upcoming FIDE Rapid and Blitz results. He did deliver, scoring 7/9 in a strong field, tying for first place, and collecting 8.17 circuit points.

Despite Abdusattorov’s brilliant performance in the London Chess Classic Elite, which produced one of the highest TPRs in the history of chess and netted him 19.62 circuit points, Praggnanandhaa’s result placed him out of reach and punched his ticket to the 2026 Candidates.