EP 476- GM Jan Gustafsson previews the 2026 FIDE Candidates

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Leisure, Sports, Hobbies

4.8 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament is almost here, and GM Jan Gustafsson joins the podcast to break down the entire field. As a leading opening theoretician who has worked on GM Magnus Carlsen’s World Championship team, Jan brings unique insight into this high-stakes event. Jan will be on site in Cyprus providing commentary alongside his longtime friend GM Peter Svidler. In this episode we go player by player discussing the contenders’ chances, from rising stars like Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov to established veterans like Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. Jan shares insights on preparation, momentum, and who is most likely to win the Candidates and earn the right to challenge for the World Championship. We also discuss the Women’s Candidates Tournament, pop culture, and Jan’s latest projects. Episode Recorded on March 11, 2016 0:00 Intro – Candidates preview with GM Jan Gustafsson You can buy tickets to the Chess in the Schools Poker/Chess Fundraiser here: https://secure.givelively.org/event/chess-in-the-schools-inc/chess-in-the-schools-3rd-annual-charity-poker-tournament Check out Jan’s Chessable courses here: Be sure to check out Chessiverse.com, and use code “Perpetual30” for a discount on premium features and IM John Bartholomew’s course. 5:16 Jan Gustafsson joins the show 6:36 Patreon mailbag question: Strategy for the Candidates tournament 12:55 Matthias Bluebaum preview Mentioned: Kalshi FIDE Candidate’s Odds: https://kalshi.com/markets/kxchesscandidates/chess-candidates-champion/kxchesscandidates-26 17:18 Andrey Esipenko preview 22:39 Praggnanandhaa preview 26:35 Javokhir Sindarov preview 31:20 Anish Giri preview 33:52 Wei Yi preview 39:00 Fabiano Caruana preview 44:42 Hikaru Nakamura preview 49:57 Predictions for the winner 52:40 Women’s Candidates preview 57:00- Patreon mailbag question: What would Jan like to keep as is in the chess world, and what would he like to see changed? 1:00:05 Closing thoughts, tv shows, nonsense. Mentioned: Jeselnik book club: https://anthonyjeselnik.com/the-jeselnik-book-club 1:06:00- Thanks to Jan for joining! Be sure to tune in to the FIDE YouTube channel for his Candidates coverage, sub to Janistan TV on Twitch, and check out his Chessable courses here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:04.1	Hello, everyone, and welcome back to perpetual chess. It is Fidek candidate season. One of my favorite tournaments, one of the biggest chess events of the year, is coming up starting on March 20.
1:14.9	Super excited to dive into it and to discuss it.
1:17.7	We have one of the pods BFFs, Grandmaster Jan Gusefson.
1:22.2	This one's a special treat because Jan will be covering the Fidei candidates.
1:26.6	He will be one of the commentators on site
1:29.0	with his old friend, Grandmaster Peter Svidler. Of course, longtime chess fans remember there
1:34.9	many amusing and insightful appearances covering large chess events for Chess 24. So really excited to
1:42.9	have them back in the broadcasting chair. And we'll bring
1:46.6	you on in in a minute. Just wanted to cover a couple news items first. Number one, just to give a little
1:51.9	more information about the Fide candidates. This, of course, is the tournament that determines who
1:56.1	challenges for the world championship. So again, it starts March 29th. It's in Cyprus, which is an island
2:02.9	country in the Mediterranean Sea, beautiful looking country that I've unfortunately never had the
2:07.3	pleasure of visiting. And eight participants who endured a long qualification process based on
2:13.8	ratings and results in certain tournaments, how they qualified will come out in my conversation with Jan, which is already recorded,
	...

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