New Delhi: India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has won the FIDE Circuit 2025, officially earning a place in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
The young Indian grandmaster took the lead in May after surpassing Ding Liren and held a steady advantage through the season. By late November, his closest competitors – Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Bluebaum, and Javokhir Sindarov – had already qualified for the Candidates through other routes, while Vincent Keymer was no longer scheduled to play classical events. This left only Nodirbek Abdusattorov with a mathematical chance to overtake him.
To secure his qualification, Praggnanandhaa made a last-minute decision to play the London Chess Classic Open. He performed strongly, scoring 7/9, tying for first place, and earning 8.17 FIDE Circuit points – enough to confirm his position regardless of the upcoming Rapid and Blitz events.
