TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (1)
FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus starts with three decisive games
Mark Crowther - Sunday 29th March 2026
Fabiano Caruana won a marathon game against Hikaru Nakamura. Photo © | https://candidates2026.fide.com
The FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus started promisingly with wins for Javokhir Sindarov over Andrey Esipenko, Praggnanandhaa over Anish Giri and finally Fabiano Caruana over Hikaru Nakamura. Matthias Bluebaum against Wei Yi was a correct draw. In the women's event Aleksandra Goryachkina missed a simple combination that should have ended the game pretty much immediately against Kateryna Lagno. There were other chances but Divya Deshmukh drew with Anna Muzychuk Vaishali Rameshbabu drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva and Zhu Jiner with Tan Zhongyi so everyone is tied on 0.5 points.
Round 1 Standings: 1st= Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Sindarov 1pt; 4th= Bluebaum, Wei Yi 0.5pts; 6th= Nakamura, Giri, Esipenko 0pts.
Pairings Round 2 30th March 2026: FIDE Candidates: Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana, Wei Yi vs Praggnanandhaa R, Javokhir Sindarov vs Matthias Bluebaum,
FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 2: Anna Muzychuk vs Tan Zhongyi, Kateryna Lagno vs Zhu Jiner, Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh vs Vaishali Rameshbabu.
Games summaries
FIDE Candidates
Javokhir Sindarov 1—0 Andrey Esipenko
Esipenko won the opening battle on the black side of a Queen's Gambit. Starting with 25...Ba5 (not the most precise 25...Be7) he completely lost the thread, 27...Bxf3? was equal, 28...Bb6? (28...Bd2!) and black was worse, 31....Qc6? (31...Bc7 only move) and he was lost.
Matthias Bluebaum draw Wei Yi
This was a quiet draw in a forcing Semi-Tarrasch Wei Yi is known to play.
Praggnanandhaa R 1—0 Anish Giri
Praggnanandhaa played the Grand Prix attack surprising Giri and eventually grabbed a pawn. Giri couldn't find the accurate moves needed and drifted into trouble.
Fabiano Caruana 1—0 Hikaru Nakamura
Caruana had nothing out of the opening and was expecting a draw with liquidation of pieces with 20...b5. Nakamura was fine in a bishops of opposite colours position until he lost control of the e-file after which he was most likely lost. The game went on for a very long time and Caruana just couldn't find a way through. 79.f6? was Caruana's attempt to win but it allowed equality instead but 80...Ke7? (80...Kc7) returned the favour and Nakamura resigned a few moves later.
FIDE Women’s Candidates
Divya Deshmukh draw Anna Muzychuk
An interesting Scotch drawn in 34 moves.
Vaishali Rameshbabu draw Bibisara Assaubayeva
Vaishali played an odd variation of the Sicilian with too many knight moves and just ended up worse. 27.a4! started some sharp play and this led fairly quickly to equality and a draw.
Aleksandra Goryachkina draw Kateryna Lagno
Goryachkina got a winning position, Lagno's troubles really started with 18...Rfd8? Goryachkina was within sight of victory when 24.Nxe5?? was played (24.Rxe5! and the game just ends) and Lagno was allowed to escape with a draw.
Zhu Jiner draw Tan Zhongyi
Zhu Jiner played a very nasty line in a Giuoco Piano and got a large advantage against Tan. 21.h3 (21.gxh5!) was way too cautious and immediately allowed equality.
| FIDE Candidates 2026 Cap St Georges CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026 | cat. XX (2749) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2795 | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 2. | Praggnanandhaa, R | g | IND | 2741 | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 3. | Sindarov, Javokhir | g | UZB | 2745 | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | 1 | |
| 4. | Bluebaum, Matthias | g | GER | 2698 | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2754 |
| 5. | Wei, Yi | g | CHN | 2754 | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2698 |
| 6. | Nakamura, Hikaru | g | USA | 2810 | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | 0 | |
| 7. | Giri, Anish | g | NED | 2753 | . | . | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | 0 | |
| 8. | Esipenko, Andrey | g | RUS | 2698 | . | . | . | . | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | 0 | |
| Round 1 (March 29, 2026) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caruana, Fabiano | - Nakamura, Hikaru | 1-0 | 83 | A13 | Reti Opening | |
| Praggnanandhaa, R | - Giri, Anish | 1-0 | 51 | B23 | Sicilian Closed | |
| Sindarov, Javokhir | - Esipenko, Andrey | 1-0 | 41 | D37 | QGD 5.Bf4 | |
| Bluebaum, Matthias | - Wei, Yi | ½-½ | 26 | D41 | Semi-Tarrasch Defence | |
| FIDE Women Candidates Cap St Georges CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026 | cat. XI (2520) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Tan, Zhongyi | g | CHN | 2535 | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | 2578 |
| 2. | Muzychuk, Anna | g | UKR | 2522 | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2497 |
| 3. | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | g | KAZ | 2516 | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | ½ | 2470 |
| 4. | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | g | FID | 2534 | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2508 |
| 5. | Lagno, Kateryna | g | RUS | 2508 | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2534 |
| 6. | Divya, Deshmukh | g | IND | 2497 | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2522 |
| 7. | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | g | IND | 2470 | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | ½ | 2516 |
| 8. | Zhu, Jiner | g | CHN | 2578 | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | * | ½ | 2535 |
| Round 1 (March 29, 2026) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goryachkina, Aleksandra | - Lagno, Kateryna | ½-½ | 73 | C84 | Ruy Lopez Centre Attack | |
| Divya, Deshmukh | - Muzychuk, Anna | ½-½ | 35 | C45 | Scotch Game | |
| Vaishali, Rameshbabu | - Assaubayeva, Bibisara | ½-½ | 41 | B32 | Sicilian Labourdonnais | |
| Zhu, Jiner | - Tan, Zhongyi | ½-½ | 41 | C55 | Two Knights Defence | |
FIDE Candidates Round 1 Commentary
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