NEW DELHI: When Grandmaster R Vaishali defended her FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss crown last September, it was a wish that her younger brother R Praggnanandhaa would join her on the Candidates 2026 journey.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The marquee tournament, scheduled from March 28 to April 16, 2026, at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, will determine the next challenger for the World Championship in both the women's and open sections.
Despite missing out on the coveted berth by a margin at both the FIDE Grand Swiss and the World Cup, Praggnanandhaa eventually got the confirmation on Monday, thanks to a dominant year that ended in his Candidates qualification through the FIDE circuit.
Victories at the Wijk aan Zee Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open now mean that the 20-year-old could board the same flight to Cyprus as his sister, Vaishali.
During an exclusive interview with
TimesofIndia.com, Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri, however, feels the number of Indians could've been much greater.
“Yeah, I think it's a really cool lineup," he said. "There are two players from the States, but a lot of players are from different countries.
“You could have multiple Indian players, of course, easily. You could have many German players also easily, or many Russian players. But there is one German, one Russian, and only one Indian, which is quite surprising.”
With D Gukesh currently holding the World Chess Championship crown, the 31-year-old Dutchman quipped, “You also have one Indian in the World Championship title holder, right? So in a way, you have two in the running. So that's also good for India."
Widening his horizon, Giri now takes a deeper look, with Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum looking impressive to him. And why not? The 28-year-old also had a brilliant 2025. After winning the European Individual Chess Championship, he raised many eyebrows to emerge as runner-up in the FIDE Grand Swiss.
“The lowest rated seed, Matthias Bluebaum, is very formidable. He is a seasoned professional,” Giri acknowledged.
“Maybe people outside chess never heard of him, but all my colleagues knew him for years. He's a very stable, very good player. He became European champion this year, so it didn’t come out of nowhere.”
The Dutch GM pointed out that rating lists can be misleading ahead of a Candidates event, especially when players regain motivation during the World Championship cycle.
“As for ratings, you should take them with a grain of salt,” he said. “Sindarov is quite low-rated, but very, very young. You will not be shocked if Sindarov, in a year or two, will be ranked number five in the world. Nobody will blink an eye.”
“Andrey Esipenko is now particularly low-rated for his own standards. He used to be 2730 when he was 19.
“Some people lose motivation when they don't compete in the cycle. Then, the Grand Swiss and World Cup come, and they regain motivation, start working very hard, and come much stronger than their rating suggests.
“There is not a player in there who will be a pushover. And the fact that some players are lower-rated might serve as provocation for higher-rated players to go more aggressively, which could lead to a more exciting tournament.”
'Two of the players I wanted as seconds qualified themselves'
While discussing his preparation for the Candidates 2026, the top-ranked Dutch Grandmaster also revealed an unusual hurdle.
As he began exploring whom to hire as part of his team, the World Cup complicated matters.
“Right after Grand Swiss, I started thinking who I wanted as seconds. I had a list of certain players, and I realised I can’t invite them yet because they might qualify through the World Cup,” he said.
“Imagine I invite some player and it's an insult, like saying, ‘You will not have a chance in the World Cup anyway, just join my team.’ So I had to wait.”
And that caution proved prescient. “Two of the players I considered, they now qualified themselves,” Giri revealed with a laugh.
“Which means I understand really well what makes a good second because that second was so good that he became my opponent.”
Despite the setback, he remains confident about assembling a strong team. “There are many great players,” he added with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I will find people.”
With established stars, breakout talents and motivated returnees, Giri believes the 2026 Candidates may produce some of the most combative chess seen in recent cycles.
ALSO READ: 'It was never through effort': World Chess Champion D Gukesh reacts to Anish Giri's 'different person' remark“I think the lineup is extremely strong,” he concluded. “Of course, it could be even stronger if you had Arjun (Erigaisi), Firouzja (Alireza), Abdusattorov (Nodirbek ), but there are so many great players that I can’t say anyone will be easy. It’s going to be exciting.”
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