Viswanathan Anand predicts R Praggnanandhaa's chances at Fide Candidates: 'He'll not be in...'

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand has revealed his predictions for the open section of the Fide Candidate 2026 which sees eight of the best chess stars in the world collide with a chance to challenge the reigning world champion D Gukesh on the line.

The five-time world champion Anand prepared a "tier list" for the event putting the eight candidates into four groups - ‘Winner, Top 3, Dark Horse and Difficult.' The two highlights of his prediction were his comments on R Praggnanandhaa and a surprise pick in the 'winner' tier.

Anand's prediction on Praggnanandhaa

Praggnanandhaa has been struggling with his form of late and will have to turn things around to have a shot at winning the Fide Candidates, where he will be appearing for the second time. Anand put him between the top and the third tier.

READ | Fide Candidates 2026 Guide: Dates, players, venue, format, tiebreak rules, prize money, live streaming details

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Explaining his reasoning behind Praggnanandhaa's prediction, the former champion said that it will all depend on his form.

"If Pragg plays like last year, I could put him in 'winner' (category) but (way he played in) second half of last year, I think, I'll put it in 'dark horse'. So I'm putting him in the middle (of two categories)," Anand told Chess.com. "There are many thing I like about Pragg. His preparation is excellent. He is very good in converting small advantages. He does all that well."

Speaking about his form, he said that he does not have much idea what is going wrong with the youngster. He also said that Praggnanandhaa will either have a very good tournament or will have a tough time.

"I don't know. Maybe it is even a good thing. It shows that maybe he is thinking about the Candidates and all that. What I'm saying is that he will not be in the top three. He is above or below," he said.

Anand's surprise pick to win Fide Candidates

Most predictions have put the American duo of Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana at the top of the tree for the Candidates. However, Anand had a different take. Anand agreed that Caruana is in the top tier but put Nakamura in the second tier alongside Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri and Praggnanandhaa.

READ | From India-Nepal roots to Fide Candidates 2026: Anish Giri’s global chess journey eyes ultimate breakthrough

In fact, Anand placed Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov alongside Caruana as the favourite for the event.

"Sindarov stood out for me. He is extremely aggressive and extremely resourceful. At the same time I don't see the usual defects. It is not like someone he is aggressive and is weak in positional play. He plays some end games nicely," Anand analysed.

"I think we can put him in 'winner' as well," Anand said. "Because he is someone who has the ability to score when he is down. He doesn't seem to be too hammered by defeats."

For Nakamura, Anand said that "I could put him in the 'winner' list but there is still something unknown about because he is not full-time like the other guys."

He also discarded the suggestion that this could be Nakamura's last chance to win the Candidates. "I don't see why it should be (his last chance). It is very hard to predict what he will do," the former world champion said.

Anand put Wei Yi in the dark horse category, while Matthias Bluebaum and Andrey Esipenko were placed in the last group.