3 min learnUp to date: Mar 17, 2026 11:50 PM IST
When requested for his favorite for the upcoming Candidates at Cyprus beginning March 26, Viswanathan Anand had mentioned, “I believe Fabi (Fabiano), Hikaru (Nakamura), Anish (Giri)… that is bought to be their time, so they’ll have that feeling going into it that it is a likelihood to seize… and loads of wildcards.”
Whereas World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura and No 3 Fabiano Caruana begin favourites by rating, the Dutchman Anish Giri was delirious and took to Twitter late Monday evening to submit, “Name me a weirdo, however I really feel so proud, having a chess hero of mine even simply point out my identify when giving an interview.”
The candidate, along with his wry takes on all issues chess, has been fortunately posting alongside his preparations. To Chess.com’s prediction attributed to Magnus Carlsen that proclaimed, “The previous Individuals are the favourites”, Giri would say, “Oof extra spicy stuff.”
Name me a weirdo, however I really feel so proud, having a chess hero of mine even simply point out my identify when giving an interview. https://t.co/P8n53YzPvP
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) March 16, 2026
When Chessbase India requested GM Nodirbek Abdusattatov to choose a favorite, he would go along with Fabiano Caruana. “He has a great likelihood,” he would say. When quizzed on a possible faceoff with Gukesh, he would put it at 60-40 for Caruana. “If Fabi wins Candidates, he’ll get confidence,” he would opine.
Hans Nieman advised Chessbase India Caruana was straight favorite to win, however of the remainder he rated Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov greater than the remainder. “70-30 to Fabi towards Gukesh,” he would say.
Talking to FIDE, GM Peter Svidler too would lean on Fabi, however not as “clear favorite. If i completely should decide one, then Fabi.” Pragg was an in depth second for him in an fascinating discipline the place “just about everybody has a shot.”
Talking on the LevitovChess podcast, Ian Nepomniachtchi stirred up a little bit of hornets nest. “Nakamura’s probabilities on the Candidates? I believe zero probabilities. Zero. How lengthy can one refute the whole lot the Soviet chess faculty taught – that you want to continuously examine chess, not play it sometimes. Not overdo blitz, and so forth,” his phrases have been translated from Russian.
Nepo would decide Caruana, Pragg and Wei Yi as his three favourites in that order. “The darkish horse is Wei Yi. I actually like how he performs. He competes not often however in each match Wei Yi has performed in, he has performed properly,” he mentioned.