3 min readUpdated: Mar 17, 2026 11:50 PM IST When asked for his favourite for the upcoming Candidates at Cyprus starting March 26, Viswanathan Anand had said, “I think Fabi (Fabiano), Hikaru (Nakamura), Anish (Giri)… you know this is got to be their time, so they will have that feeling going into it that this is a chance to grab… and a lot of wildcards.” While World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura and No 3 Fabiano Caruana start favourites by ranking, the Dutchman Anish Giri was delirious and took to Twitter late Monday night to post, “Call me a weirdo, but I feel so proud, having a chess hero of mine even just mention my name when giving an interview.” The candidate, with his wry takes on all things chess, has been happily posting alongside his preparations. To Chess.com’s prediction attributed to Magnus Carlsen that proclaimed, “The old Americans are the favourites”, Giri would say, “Oof more spicy stuff.” Call me a weirdo, but I feel so proud, having a chess hero of mine even just …