Indian chess reached another historic high on December 8, 2025, as R Praggnanandhaa was confirmed as the winner of the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing direct qualification to the prestigious 2026 Candidates Tournament.
At just 20 years of age, Praggnanandhaa has not only booked a place among the elite eight players who will compete to challenge the World Champion, but has also established himself as the most consistent top-level performer in world chess this calendar year.
The FIDE Circuit is a year-long pathway designed to reward sustained excellence across elite international events rather than a single peak performance. Players accumulate points based on results in top-tier tournaments, with strength of field and final standings determining the weighting.
At the end of the season, the player with the highest cumulative score earns an automatic Candidates berth. Praggnanandhaa finished the year with an imposing 115.17 circuit points, comfortably ahead of Anish Giri (81.18) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (71.61).
What separates Praggnanandhaa’s 2025 campaign from others is the breadth and consistency of his performances across continents and formats. He began the year in emphatic fashion by winning the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk aan Zee, one of the most demanding classical tournaments on the calendar. A triumph there has long been regarded as a marker of future world champions, and Praggnanandhaa’s victory immediately set the tone for what would follow.
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He backed this up with another elite title at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, holding his own in a field stacked with experienced super-grandmasters. His ability to handle pressure situations, particularly against players rated above him, stood out throughout the event. Mid-year, Praggnanandhaa added the UzChess Cup Masters to his collection, further solidifying his position at the top of the circuit standings.
While the headline victories grabbed attention, his runner-up finish at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial was equally critical to his circuit success. In a tightly contested tournament, Praggnanandhaa demonstrated remarkable resilience, collecting valuable points that would later prove decisive.
Even results that appeared modest on paper had strategic importance. His 12th-place finish at the Sinquefield Cup, one of the toughest closed tournaments in the world, still yielded important circuit points due to the tournament’s elite category status.
The crowning moment of his season came at the London Chess Classic Open, where he clinched yet another title under intense competition. By then, it had become clear that Praggnanandhaa was not riding isolated peaks but sustaining excellence over the entire year precisely what the FIDE Circuit aims to reward.
This achievement also marks a significant milestone for Indian chess. Praggnanandhaa joins a growing list of Indians who are no longer outsiders on the global stage but central figures in world championship cycles. His qualification for the 2026 Candidates further reinforces India’s emergence as a chess superpower, driven by a generation that grew up playing fearlessly against the very best.
For Praggnanandhaa himself, this qualification represents both validation and opportunity. Having already reached the finals of the 2023 World Cup, he has shown that he can handle knockout pressure and match-play formats. The Candidates Tournament, however, is a different challenge altogether a grueling round-robin where preparation, stamina, and psychological composure are tested to the limit.
Still, based on his 2025 campaign, Praggnanandhaa arrives with momentum, belief, and a proven ability to perform across diverse conditions. Winning the FIDE Circuit is not merely about collecting titles; it is about proving reliability at the highest level over time. In 2025, no one did that better than R Praggnanandhaa.
As the road to the next World Championship intensifies, Indian chess fans can look ahead to the 2026 Candidates with genuine optimism knowing that one of their own has earned his place among the world’s best, not by promise alone, but by performance.
