Anish Giri

2026 Candidates Experience:

This will be Anish’s third Candidates tournament (2016, 2020-21, 2026) with his best result tying for third with Fabiano Caruana in 2020-21.

Age: 31

March FIDE Rating: 2754

Age Became A Grandmaster: 14

Country: Netherlands

Overview

Chess is known to be an international game, but Grandmaster Anish Giri must possess one of the most diverse backgrounds of the top players.  Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Nepalese father and Russian mother he moved with his family to Japan in 2002, then to the Netherlands in 2008. 

Giri was awarded the Grandmaster title at the age of 14. The past decade he has been routinely ranked in the top ten players in the world, briefly occupying the number two spot in 2015 when he crossed over 2800. Known for his deep opening preparation and solid strategic play, Giri is perhaps best known for winning the 2023 Tata Steel Masters. 2025 was an excellent year for him as won clear first place in both the Sharjah Masters tournament and the Grand Swiss Tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The latter triumph, over 115 other players, was especially important as it qualified him for the 2026 Candidates tournament 

Giri, in addition to being a world class player, is known for his activity on social media and for being one of the best chess commentators in the world. He is the author of several well received books including works on the Dragon Sicilian and the Winawer variation of the French.