TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (13)
Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE Candidates with a round to spare
Mark Crowther - Wednesday 15th April 2026
Giri agrees a draw with Sindarov in Round 13. Photo © | https://candidates2026.fide.com
Javokhir Sindarov will play Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title later in the year. He confirmed his first place in the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus with a draw against Anish Giri. Giri set Sindarov some problems but they weren't enough for a serious advantage at any point and a drawn rook and pawn endgame was reached. Giri looks set to finish second but he was obviously disappointed after the game.
The women's Candidates continues its unpredictable course. Vaishali Rameshbabu survived an inferior position against Tan Zhongyi and this allowed Bibisara Assaubayeva to join her in the lead after beating Anna Muzychuk. The final day will be very tense. A tie will lead to a playoff.
Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 9½/13. 2nd Anish Giri, 7½. 3rd-4th Fabiano Caruana and Yi Wei, 6½. 5th-6th Matthias Bluebaum and Hikaru Nakamura, 6. 7th R Praggnanandhaa, 5½. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 4½. 8 players.
Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st-2nd Bibisara Assaubayeva and Rameshbabu Vaishali, 7½/13. 3rd Jiner Zhu, 7. 4th-6th Anna Muzychuk, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, 6½. 7th Zhongyi Tan, 5½. 8th Deshmukh Divya, 5. 8 players.
Round 14 Wednesday 15th April 2026
Andrey Esipenko — Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa R vs Hikaru Nakamura, Matthias Bluebaum vs Anish Giri, Javokhir Sindarov vs Wei Yi.
FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 14:
Anna Muzychuk vs Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Kateryna Lagno, Divya Deshmukh vs Bibisara Assaubayeva.
Round 13 Summary
Anish Giri ½—½ Javokhir Sindarov
A must win game for Giri. He got a little something but Sindarov seemed well on top of the task and held quite comfortably, his sacrifice of a pawn near the end to completely deny any winning chances was nice.
Wei Yi 1—0 Andrey Esipenko
Wei Yi ground out a win in the last game to finish.
Hikaru Nakamura ½—½ Matthias Bluebaum
A fairly well played draw.
Fabiano Caruana ½—½ Praggnanandhaa R
Caruana obtained a winning position but it remained complicated and Praggnanandhaa escaped with a draw.
FIDE Women’s Candidates
Bibisara Assaubayeva 1—0 Anna Muzychuk
Bibisara got a nice edged out the opening and when the reached a bishops of opposite colours endgame no matter what the engine says it was incredibly hard for Muzychuk to hold and she failed.
Kateryna Lagno 1—0 Divya Deshmukh
Lagno played a side-line against Deshmukh's Caro-Kann, she was given a big advantage out of the opening but missed her chance 16.f4! but 18...Qa6?! was a mistake that along with 19...Rd7? quickly led to the collapse of black's position.
Tan Zhongyi ½—½ Vaishali Rameshbabu
Tan was significantly better at one stage but Vaishali's activity proved enough for equality in the end.
Zhu Jiner 0—1 Aleksandra Goryachkina
This was the most consequent game of the round. Zhu was pressing for the win around first time control but her advantage disappeared and then 51.Re5? was a serious error and her position just collapsed. Instead of a lead or a tie for the lead Zhu is half a point behind.
Highlights Round 13
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