French Grandmaster (GM) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has ranked India’s R Praggnanandhaa in the third tier (B tier) for the upcoming Candidates tournament, calling it a bit of a “hot take”.While he made it clear that all eight players have a chance to win, he based his ranking mainly on current form rather than pure skill.Explaining his decision, Vachier-Lagrave, as quoted by The Indian Express, said, “It’s harsh because you know that skill-wise, if we were in the first six or eight months of 2025 right now, Pragg would have been at S tier.”
He acknowledged that Praggnanandhaa had a strong 2025 but pointed out a dip in performance in recent tournaments. According to him, results at events like the Grand Swiss, World Cup, and Wijk aan Zee showed a struggle in maintaining top form.He added, “I’m really not convinced from his Wijk performance. And Wijk can do some damage also.” Because the Candidates tournament is close, he believes there may not be enough time for a full comeback in form. “If I have the guarantee that he will manage to find the key to break that spiral, I would put him at S tier. But now I’m going to put him in the B tier. That’s how important I think current form is.”Vachier-Lagrave also highlighted that form dips can be hard to recover from, especially for a young player. “It’s a hot take but it’s been 6 months and his form has really not been great.” He further explained, “From my own experience and experience of other players—it’s not about just one bad Wijk now. It’s about six months of tournaments that were far from his best and to detach yourself from six months of so-so results is not easy.”
