India’s R Praggnanandhaa will begin his FIDE Candidates 2026 campaign against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, it was confirmed on Friday. The draw for the FIDE Candidates 2026, which will decide the challenger for world champion D Gukesh, took place at the Cap St George’s Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus.

The FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2026 and FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 will take place from 28 March to 16 April at the Cap St George’s Hotel & Resort, Cyprus.

FIDE Candidates 2026 format

Both the Open and Women’s categories would include eight players each, who will compete in a double round-robin format. The game will be played in the 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.

In case there’s a tie at the top of the standings after the 14 rounds, a playoff will be conducted to decide the eventual winner who will compete against Gukesh in the World Chess Championship.

Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian to qualify for the Open FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament. The seven other players are Javokhir Sindarov, Andrey Esipenko, Matthias Bluebaum, Wei Yi, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. World No 2 Nakamura and world No 3 Caruana are seen as the favourite to win the Candidates.

The pairings for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 and FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 are set! 🔥

Round 1
FIDE Candidates:
🇺🇿 Javokhir Sindarov vs Andrey Esipenko
🇩🇪 Matthias Bluebaum vs 🇨🇳 Wei Yi
🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R vs 🇳🇱 Anish Giri
🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana vs 🇺🇸 Hikaru… pic.twitter.com/JLhScAaTRA

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 20, 2026

Meanwhile, this is the first time three Indians have qualified for the Women’s FIDE Candidates. Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali will represent India at the tournament. FIDE World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh will start her campaign against the veteran Koneru Humpy.

FIDE Candidates 2026 pairings

Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30

Javokhir Sindarov – Andrey Esipenko

Matthias Bluebaum – Wei Yi

Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri

Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura

Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Hikaru Nakamura

Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana

Wei Yi – Praggnanandhaa R

Javokhir Sindarov – Matthias Bluebaum

Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30

Matthias Bluebaum – Andrey Esipenko

Praggnanandhaa R – Javokhir Sindarov

Fabiano Caruana – Wei Yi

Hikaru Nakamura – Anish Giri

Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Anish Giri

Wei Yi – Hikaru Nakamura

Javokhir Sindarov – Fabiano Caruana

Matthias Bluebaum – Praggnanandhaa R

Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30

Praggnanandhaa R – Andrey Esipenko

Fabiano Caruana – Matthias Bluebaum

Hikaru Nakamura – Javokhir Sindarov

Anish Giri – Wei Yi

Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30

Fabiano Caruana – Andrey Esipenko

Hikaru Nakamura – Praggnanandhaa R

Anish Giri – Matthias Bluebaum

Wei Yi – Javokhir Sindarov

Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Wei Yi

Javokhir Sindarov – Anish Giri

Matthias Bluebaum – Hikaru Nakamura

Praggnanandhaa R – Fabiano Caruana

Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Javokhir Sindarov

Wei Yi – Matthias Bluebaum

Anish Giri – Praggnanandhaa R

Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana

Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30

Hikaru Nakamura – Andrey Esipenko

Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri

Praggnanandhaa R – Wei Yi

Matthias Bluebaum – Javokhir Sindarov

Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Matthias Bluebaum

Javokhir Sindarov – Praggnanandhaa R

Wei Yi – Fabiano Caruana

Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura

Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30

Anish Giri – Andrey Esipenko

Hikaru Nakamura – Wei Yi

Fabiano Caruana – Javokhir Sindarov

Praggnanandhaa R – Matthias Bluebaum

Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Praggnanandhaa R

Matthias Bluebaum – Fabiano Caruana

Javokhir Sindarov – Hikaru Nakamura

Wei Yi – Anish Giri

Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30

Wei Yi – Andrey Esipenko

Anish Giri – Javokhir Sindarov

Hikaru Nakamura – Matthias Bluebaum

Fabiano Caruana – Praggnanandhaa R

Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30

Andrey Esipenko – Fabiano Caruana

Praggnanandhaa R – Hikaru Nakamura

Matthias Bluebaum – Anish Giri

Javokhir Sindarov – Wei Yi

FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 pairings

Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30

Divya Deshmukh – Humpy Koneru

Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno

Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi

Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Tan Zhongyi

Kateryna Lagno – Zhu Jiner

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Divya Deshmukh – Vaishali R

Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30

Vaishali R – Humpy Koneru

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh

Zhu Jiner – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Tan Zhongyi – Kateryna Lagno

Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Kateryna Lagno

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Tan Zhongyi

Divya Deshmukh – Zhu Jiner

Vaishali R – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru

Zhu Jiner – Vaishali R

Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh

Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30

Zhu Jiner – Humpy Koneru

Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali R

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Divya Deshmukh

Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Divya Deshmukh – Kateryna Lagno

Vaishali R – Tan Zhongyi

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Zhu Jiner

Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Divya Deshmukh

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Vaishali R

Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Tan Zhongyi – Zhu Jiner

Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30

Tan Zhongyi – Humpy Koneru

Zhu Jiner – Kateryna Lagno

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Vaishali R – Divya Deshmukh

Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Vaishali R

Divya Deshmukh – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Zhu Jiner

Kateryna Lagno – Tan Zhongyi

Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30

Kateryna Lagno – Humpy Koneru

Tan Zhongyi – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Vaishali R

Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Vaishali R – Zhu Jiner

Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno

Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru

Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh

Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali R

Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Zhu Jiner

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi

Vaishali R – Kateryna Lagno

Divya Deshmukh – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Reigning world champion D Gukesh has been honoured with the ‘Titan of the Year’ award by Tata Group’s watch-making giant, Titan which has launched a limited edition watch as a tribute to his efforts on the chess board.

Gukesh became the youngest chess world champion at the age of just 18 when he defeated Ding Liren in late 2024. He is also only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to become a chess world champion.

Price of Gukesh’s Titan watch

Titan had last year given the award to Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma who was the first Indian to travel to space, a feat he achieved in 1984. In his honour also a watch was unvieled called the ‘Unity watch’.

Gukesh became the second recipient of the award and the first from the sports industry. The watch was unveiled on February 6 at an event in Mumbai where Gukesh was honoured as well.

“Gukesh never rushed the moment. While others chased speed, he chose stillness. While the clock counted down, his clarity only grew sharper. In chess, time reveals temperament. In Gukesh, it revealed composure far beyond his years. To honour that calm command over seconds and decisions, we introduce the Titan Grandmaster, a 500-piece limited edition tribute watch,” Titan wrote in a social media post.

Presenting Titan of the Year 2026: Gukesh Dommaraju – The Youngest World Chess Champion

Gukesh never rushed the moment.

While others chased speed, he chose stillness.
While the clock counted down, his clarity only grew sharper.

In chess, time reveals temperament.
In Gukesh,… pic.twitter.com/NvLpYU6F6h

— Titan Watches India (@titanwatches) February 10, 2026

The watch is priced at a whooping Rs 69,995 and capped at 500 pieces. It has chess pieces at hour marks like Queen at 12 O’clock, Rook at 9 O’clock, Bishop at 3 O’clock and King at 6 O’clock, while the remaining indices take the form of pawns. A chess board is also engraved in the face of the watch.

Gukesh prepares to defend his title

The reigning world champion did not have the best of 2025 and this year too did not start on the best of notes as he had an
underwhelming outing at the recent Tata Steel Chess Masters. This year is going to be crucial for Gukesh as he prepares to defend his crown which will be on the line towards the end of 2026.

His challenger will be determined next month at the Candidates where his compatriot R Praggnanandhaa is one of the eight competitors.

R Praggnanandhaa kept the hopes of an all-Indian World Championship showdown with D Gukesh alive when he became the only Indian to qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will be taking place in Cyprus in the months of March and April.

‘Pragg’ had qualified for the prestigious event for the second consecutive time in December
as the winner of the 2025 FIDE Circuit, thus becoming the only Indian to compete in the ‘Open’ section with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, the current Indian No 1 in all three formats, having failed to secure his place through the other pathways.

And among the players he’s likely to come face to face with in the upcoming tournament with Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, who had secured his qualification as one of the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament that took place in Uzbekistan in September.

Giri backs Nakamura and Caruana as the favourites

In a conversation with Greg Mustreader on the Chess with Mustreader podcast, Giri felt that it was only natural to include Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in the favourites conversation. Nakamura and Caruana are second and third respectively on the FIDE Classical ratings, and qualified for the tournament via the ratings spot and as the winner of the 2024 FIDE Circuit respectively.

“It’s very sensible to place Hikaru and Fabi in the top two, simply because Hikaru is the highest rated and somewhat surprising to me he has the best score against the field. Largely because he’s doing well against Fabiano recently, and he’s been doing fine against me,” Giri said on the podcast.

“Fabi, of course, such a stable player for so many years, been winning so many events. He got to the match with Magnus, and he almost took him all the way down and just to the wire and almost won,” he added.

As for Praggnanandhaa, the Dutch GM made a passing mention of the world No 8 in the FIDE Classical ratings.

“Pragg played, but he didn’t come as close as the others in his outing the last time. He gave it a good shot,” Giri added while discussing the other players in the fray.

Besides Nakamura, Caruana, Giri and Praggnanandhaa, the upcoming Candidates – which takes place from 28 March to 16 April – will feature Matthias Bluebaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko.