Mumbai: India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was declared winner in the FIDE Circuit 2025, thus securing his qualification as the only Indian man in next year’s Candidates tournament to be played next year.
FIDE, the sport's world governing body, announced this via a social media post, informing that the young Grandmaster from Chennai is the most successful male player from India this year, bagging titles at the Tata Steel Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open.
"Praggnanandhaa R. has won the FIDE Circuit 2025, securing a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament! Congratulations to @rpraggnachess, who deservedly earned one of the eight slots in the 2026 Candidates," FIDE said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"The young Indian has been the best FIDE Circuit player throughout the year, winning the Tata Steel Masters, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open, and finishing second in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial and 12th Sinquefield Cup," FIDE further wrote in its post.
In the FIDE Circuit 2025, Pragg finished with a score of 115.17, with Anish Giri of the Netherlands ending second with 81.18, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov ending third with 71.61 score. Fabiano Caruna (USA) with 65.55 and Matthias Bluebaum ending fifth with 83.94.
