Four Indians set for FIDE Candidates as road to World Championship begins

The battle for chess’ ultimate prize—the FIDE World Championship—is underway, with the FIDE Candidates draw ceremony held at the Cap St. George’s Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus, earlier this week.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament will take place from March 28 to April 16, 2026, and will determine the challengers for D. Gukesh’s men’s championship and Ju Wenjun’s women’s title.

India will have four representatives at the Candidates, with FIDE Circuit 2025 winner Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa, the sole male Indian in the field.

In the women’s section, 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh will want to make the occasion count. Earlier in 2025, she qualified for the Women’s Candidates by defeating former world champion Tan Zhongyi, a result that also helped her secure her first GM norm. Thereafter, she went on to become India’s 88th Grandmaster in July 2025.

READ: Prague Chess Festival: Gukesh held by Navara; Aravindh loses to Keymer

Another Indian woman in the fray will be Grandmaster R. Vaishali, who qualified for the Candidates by winning the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2025 tournament. The final entrant representing the country will be veteran Koneru Humpy, who has previously taken part in the Women’s Candidates tournament and finished runner-up in the 2024 edition.

Praggnanandhaa will take on Anish Giri in round one, China’s Wei Yi in round two, World No. 13 Javokhir Sindarov in round three, and Matthias Bluebaum in round four.

Humpy will take on Divya in round one before facing Tan Zhongyi in round two and Vaishali in round three. Vaishali will meet compatriots Divya and Humpy in rounds two and three and opens her campaign against Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Published on Mar 01, 2026