Chandidates 2026 is a strong tournament despite absence of some players: Praggnanandhaa

Mumbai, Dec 12 As we get ready to wind down 2025, India's World No. 7 chess Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has had a great season and is looking forward to the biggest event of the next season -- the Candidates 2026 event, which will select the challenger for World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh.

Pragg was confirmed last week by the sport's World governing body as having qualified for the Candidates through the FIDE Circuit 2025. FIDE announced that the young Grandmaster from Chennai emerged as the most successful male player from India this year, bagging titles at the Tata Steel Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open.

"Yeah, it was good actually. Good year for me overall. I was constantly finishing first or second in most of the events, which is great. I felt my game quality was also good, so I'm happy with it. That's the important thing," Praggnanandhaa told IANS on the sidelines of the Dharavi Chess Championship 2025, organised by the Navbharat Mega Developers and the Adani Group at the District Sports Club here on Friday.

Next year, Praggnanandhaa will be participating in the Candidates 2026, the second time he will be joining the elite field, the event to pick the second player for the World Chess Championship Final match. Though many chess fans consider that the World Championship cycle is not strong enough because some players decide to participate or do not qualify, Pragg said the event is strong in itself.

"The Candidates is a tournament that is difficult on its own. I'll try to give my best and see how it goes. I think everyone making it to the Candidates is already strong. I think everyone who is here deserves to be here. They have made it through some parts, it's still a strong tournament, and it's still a World Championship," said the 20-year-old from Chennai who is rated 2761 by FIDE.

Meanwhile, Praggnandhaa is gearing up for the Global Chess League (GCL), which is starting on Saturday. Pragg will be representing Alpine SG Pipers in the league along with Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, former women's World Champion Hou Yifan, Nino Batsiashvili, and Leon Luke Mendonca.

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