Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand pick their Fide Candidates favourites: 'This has to be their time'

Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand have made their predictions for the upcoming Fide Candidates 2026, which will begin on 28 March in Cyprus. The winner of the eight-player chess tournament -- Fide Candidates 2026 -- will challenge world champion D Gukesh in the next World Chess Championship match.

And who can be better than making predictions that Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand! Both players won five world championships each.

Who will win Fide Candidates 2026?

For world No 1 and all-time highest rated chess player ever, Magnus Carlsen, has picked his good friends and American Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura as the clear favourites for the Fide Candidates 2026 ahead of the entire pool.

"The old Americans are the favourites," Carlsen was quoted as saying by Chess.com.

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Besides world no 2 Nakamura and world No 3 Caruana, the Fide Candidates 2026 roster also includes Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, Indian chess star R Praggnanandhaa, Chinese chess player Wei Yi, Fide World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov, Germany's Matthias Bluebaum and Andrey Esipenko of Russia.

Also Read | Fabiano Caruana leads strong Candidates field in Cyprus with odds favouring world No 3 over Hikaru Nakamura

Indian chess great Viswanathan Anand was asked to pick his favourite by the Fide YouTube channel. And while he stayed away from picking one favourite, Viswanathan Anand said that Caruana, Nakamura and Giri would have a certain edge over others.

“I think Fabi (Fabiano), Hikaru (Nakamura), Anish (Giri)… you know this has got to be their time, so they will have that feeling going into it that this is a chance to grab… but for the life of me I can't get around predicting someone,” Viswanathan Anand said.

Viswanathan Anand also backed fellow Chennai chess player Praggnanandhaa to do well in the tournament.

“He’s experienced, but at the same time, he looks very motivated. He has slowed down a little bit in the last few months, but maybe mentally he is already peaking and getting ready for the Candidates,” Anand added.

Three Indians are also part of the Women's Candidates, including Koneru Humpy, Diya Deshmukh and R Vaishali.