Indian chess prodigy Arjun Erigaisi has made some bold predictions days ahead of the FIDE Candidates 2026 chess tournament, which will decide the challenger for D Gukesh’s world title. The winner of the eight-player FIDE Candidates 2026, which will be played from 28 March in Cyprus, will take on world champion Gukesh in the World Chess Championship late this year.

While Erigaisi narrowly missed qualifying for the Candidates, he is backing his good friend and fellow Indian R Praggnanandhaa to do well in the prestigious tournament. The 20-year-old Praggnanandhaa has never won the Candidates, but Erigaisi picked him and FIDE World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov as two players he would be rooting for, in an interview with ChessBase India.

FIDE Candidates: Erigaisi supports Pragg, but Caruana is his favourite

However, neither Praggnanandhaa nor Uzbek Grandmaster Sindarov features in Erigaisi’s top pick to win the tournament. The 22-year-old from Warangal feels that American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana is the clear favourite to win the FIDE Candidates 2026.

Interestingly, Erigaisi did not pick world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura, who, for many, is the favourite to win the tournament.

When asked who would win the World Chess Championship 2026 between Gukesh and Caruana if the American qualifies, Erigaisi was a bit uncertain but picked the USA chess maestro as his final choice. Despite Erigaisi giving Caruana the advantage due to his experience, he also added that Gukesh would give a tough fight.

“Probably Fabiano. In general, I believe Gukesh does well against Fabi (Caruana), but in a World Chess Championship match, it’s quite different. I still think it will be close,” Erigaisi told ChessBase India.

It will be a dream come true for Caruana if Erigaisi’s prediction holds in the end. He has already made one failed attempt, losing to Magnus Carlsen in the 2018 World Chess Championship.

Meanwhile, the
pairings for FIDE Candidates 2026 were revealed on Friday. Caruana will start the tournament against rival Nakamura, while Praggnanandhaa faces Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri in his first match.

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