Candidates chess: Praggnanandhaa opens with first round win over Anish Giri

India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made an early statement at the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, defeating Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri in the opening round in Cyprus on Sunday. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to challenge world champion D. Gukesh for the title later this year.

On the opening day, Indian players also impressed in the women’s section. Divya Deshmukh held Anna Muzychuk to a draw, while R. Vaishali drew against Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Praggnanandhaa displayed strong preparation in the opening and maintained control over both the position and the clock. Evaluation engines consistently favoured him through the opening and much of the middlegame.

The real turning point of the game, though, came on move 30 - a bishop move to e1 which Viswanathan Anand, in the role of an expert, called a stroke of genius. That was the beginning of the end for Giri, and he hastened the end six moves later, with a blunder with his bishop.

From then on, Praggnanandhaa went about dismantling Giri’s position methodically - avoiding every single banana peel in the position that may have tripped him up. Giri resigned on move 51.

In Round 2 today, Praggnanandhaa will face China's Wei Yi, with the Indian having the black pieces. Elsewhere, Fabiano Caruana got the better of Hikaru Nakamura in an all-American derby which lasted over six hours.