Viswanathan Anand's Surprise Pick To Win Candidates, Divya Deshmukh And R Vaishali Named 'Dark Horse'

Last Updated:March 27, 2026, 08:37 IST

Viswanathan Anand backs Zhu Jiner for Womens Candidates 2026, sees Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu as dark horses.

Viswanathan Anand has picked his favourites for the 2026 Candidates Tournament and has tipped Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner as his pick to win the upcoming Women’s Candidates Tournament, while naming Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu as possible dark horses.

The five-time world champion shared his views during a “tier list" exercise with Chess.com India, but stressed that the field is extremely competitive. He admitted from the outset that identifying a clear favourite was difficult, and that it was equally hard to rule any player out of contention.

The tier list divided the eight participants into four categories — “Winner", “Top 3", “Dark Horse", and “Difficult". Notably, the assessment was made before Koneru Humpy withdrew from the tournament due to security concerns. Anand had placed her in the “Difficult" category.

Zhu Jiner heads into the Candidates after a disappointing performance at the Prague Masters challengers event, where she finished last. In contrast, Divya Deshmukh impressed with a third-place finish, scoring twice as many points, although Jiner did defeat her in their individual game.

Anand also discussed Vaishali’s prospects as she prepares for her second consecutive Candidates appearance.

“She’s got some very strong qualities. She showed that already last time (where she had) big swings, very bad result. Ended up with a very good final performance. She hasn’t played much. She didn’t play Tata Steel at Wijk aan Zee. She didn’t play Prague Masters either. I’m assuming she’s been working very hard. I don’t know. I have to put somebody in dark horse," Anand said, before adding: “I already feel I’m walking in a minefield here… I wanted to put all of them in Top 3 or dark Horse."

For The Open?

Anand had had his say on the Open category.

“We have four people who are new and four who have played the Candidates before, with a few unexpected names. Bluebaum is a bit of a surprise; while with Wei Yi and Esipenko you sort of think that they could be in there. Also, Fabiano and Hikaru are getting on in age: it doesn’t show but in a long event you never know. Obviously, they remain very strong and very competitive, but I think youngsters almost always have more energy," he was quoted as saying by the organisers.

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