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
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