American GM Fabiano Caruana shared his thoughts on the difficulty of the opponents at the upcoming Candidates 2026. Fabiano notes that the difference in strength between the players is small, and recalls how he dealt with stress at the Candidates 2018 and 2022.

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana

World No. 3

“It will be a very difficult tournament and a very tight battle. It’s all very psychological. The pressure affects everyone. And no one is completely immune to it.

Unless you’ve already dropped out of the race for first place — then the pressure is less, but a certain despair sets in…

But for everyone fighting for the top spots, the pressure is enormous, and there’s no escaping it. You can only try to handle it as best you can. No one shows their best chess under pressure, but you can try to mitigate its impact so you don’t fall apart, which happens to many. This has happened to me too.

Madrid 2022, for example — the pressure and other factors affected me, and I just crumbled…

But there were also moments when I managed to handle the pressure. For example, in 2018. After the loss to Karjakin, there was some desperation, and the pressure was also building up. I can’t say I did everything perfectly and was in the best psychological shape in the middle of the tournament. But in the last two rounds, I was able to cope with the stress.

Often, very small details decide. The difference between us is really very, very small.”

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 will take place from March 28 to April 16, at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. American GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) won the Candidates in 2018 and then lost to Magnus Carlsen in the Title match, drawing all 12 Classical games and losing 0-3 on Rapid tiebreaks. In the 2022 Candidates Fabiano finished in 5th place.

Credit: Crystal Fuller