Last updated: Friday 1st May 2026 11:22 am

The Week in Chess 1642 of 27th April 2026 by Mark Crowther. 18 stories and 7119 games. Links down the right hand margin for games in PGN or Chessbase format or on the The Week in Chess Download page.

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A compilation of the games can be had for a donation of £30. There have been over 4 million games in TWIC since the first edition on 17th September 1994.

TWIC News Feed

Vaishali wins the Women's Candidates Tournament

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 14

Mark Crowther (Thu Apr 16 03:14:38 2026)

Rameshbabu Vaishali won the FIDE Women's Candidates tournament after beating Kateryna Lagno in the final round. Praggnanandhaa's elder sister will play Ju Wenjun for the title later in the year. Sindarov forced a quick draw in the final round to finish on +6 undefeated. Giri finished second after beating Bluebaum, Caruana finished 3rd after beating Esipenko. Strange statistic, there were no Ruy Lopez variations played in the open section.

Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE Candidates with a round to spare

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 13

Mark Crowther (Wed Apr 15 11:30:37 2026)

Sindarov wraps up victory in the Candidates with a round to spare after drawing with black against Anish Giri his only challenger. In the women's event Bibisara and Vaishali share the lead after a dramatic loss by Jiner Zhu.

Sindarov on the brink of winning the Candidates after Round 12, Zhu beats Vaishali to catch her in the Women's event

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 12

Mark Crowther (Sun Apr 12 18:00:26 2026)

Sindarov took a quick draw against Nakamura to lie dormie 2 going into the final two rounds. Anish Giri has to beat him in Round 13 after failing to convert a winning advantage against Wei Yi. Jiner Zhu beat Rameshbabu Vaishali to join her in the lead of the Women's Candidates. Bibisara and Muzychuk are also in contention half a point behind.

Sindarov defends confidently against Caruana, Vaishali moves a point clear in the women's event. Candidates Round 11

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 11

Mark Crowther (Sat Apr 11 17:03:36 2026)

Sindarov was forced to work hard for a draw by Caruana, he leads Giri by two points with just three rounds to go. Rameshbabu Vaishali is in poll position in the Women's Candidates with a 1 point lead following a win against Goryachkina who blundered a rook.

Sindarov almost home and dry in the FIDE Candidates with four rounds to go

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 10

Mark Crowther (Thu Apr 09 18:17:59 2026)

Sindarov looked frighteningly strong today as he set Praggnanandhaa problems he couldn't handle in a variation he himself chose, the distant chasers Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana both drew. The women's event is led by Vaishali who drew with Anna Muzychuk, six of the eight players could still realistically win this event.

Dossiers and Main Stories

31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026

31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 Games and Results

Mark Crowther (Fri May 1 11:20:00 2026)

The 31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament takes place Fri 1st May to Thu 7th May 2026. Players: Magnus, Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, van Foreest Jorden, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Nils Grandelius, Andy Woodward and Jiner Zhu. Read more ....

Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (Malmo SWE)
Fri 1st May 2026 - Thu 7th May 2026 - Official Site

31st Sigeman & Co 2026 (8 players 7 Rds SRR Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Games | Live

Chess.com Open Playoffs 2026

Chess.com Open Playoffs 2026 Games and Results

Mark Crowther (Sun Apr 26 18:30:00 2026)

The Chess.com Open Playoffs took Thu 23rd to Sun 26th Apr 2026. This offered two places in the Esports World Cup. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Denis Lazavik, Sam Sevian, Javokhir Sindarov, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer, Qualified through Play-Ins, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Pranesh M, Yu Yangyi, Sina Movahed, Daniil Dubov, Nihal Sarin and Shant Sargsyan. The event is a Double Elimination KO. Magnus Carlsen beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the Final, lost the Grand Final and then finally won again in the reset final. Both players qualified for the Esports World Cup. Read more ....

Chess.com Open Playoffs 2026 (chess.com INT)
Thu 23rd Apr 2026 - Sun 26th Apr 2026 - Official Site - Live

Chess.com Open Playoffs (16 players 6 Rds DEKO Indiv TC:10m) - Games in PGN: Chess.com Playoffs

26th European Individual Championship 2026

26th European Individual Championship 2026 Games and Results

Mark Crowther (Thu Apr 23 14:19:00 2026)

The 26th European Individual Championship took place 6th (arrival day) to 20th April 2026. In an astonishing result 17 year-old Roman Dehtiarov who started as 126th seed and has had travel limited by the war won with 9/11. There is a reworked game file now. Read more ....

26th European Individual Championship 2026 (Katowice POL)
Mon 6th Apr 2026 - Mon 20th Apr 2026 - Official Site - Results

26th ch-EUR Indiv 2026 (11 Rds Swiss Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Games

FIDE Candidates Tournaments 2026

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 Games and Results

Mark Crowther (Sun Mar 29 00:12:00 2026)

The FIDE Candidates Tournaments both open and women's events take place in the Cap St Georges resort, Cyprus, Sun 29th Mar to Thu 16th Apr 2026. I would argue that this is the highlight of the entire FIDE World Championship cycle. The poor form of the current champion Gukesh has to be a major motivating factor for anyone in the open event. The event is on the periphery of the current Iran conflict and Humpy Koneru decided that she would not participate in the women's event due to the perceived danger and was at the last minute replaced by Anna Muzychuk.

Players open: Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, R Praggnanandhaa, Javokhir Sindarov, Andrey Esipenko, Matthias Bluebaum and Wei Yi.

Players: women: Tan Zhongyi, Anna Muzychuk, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno, Deshmukh Divya, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Zhu Jiner.