Sindarov and Caruana both win in Candidates Round 5

Home » TWIC News Feed » Sindarov and Caruana both win in Candidates Round 5

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (5)

Sindarov and Caruana both win in Candidates Round 5

Mark Crowther - Friday 3rd April 2026

Hikaru Nakamura lost to Javokhir Sindarov. Photo ©

Hikaru Nakamura lost to Javokhir Sindarov. Photo © | https://candidates2026.fide.com

Javokhir Sindarov continues to lead the FIDE Candidates in Cyprus by a point after crushing Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces. Even at this early stage it's already looking like it's going to be a fight between Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana, they're the only two looking in great form. Caruana overpowered the hitherto undefeated Matthias Bluebaum, he also made the win look very easy. Sindarov's 4.5/5 start is exceptional, that said there are a number of players already looking out of form, so points may be easier to come by that in some Candidates tournaments. The other games were drawn.

The women's event looks far harder to predict. Leader Anna Muzychuk had a quiet draw with Aleksandra Goryachkina and was caught on 3/5 by Kateryna Lagno (beating Bibisara Assaubayeva) and Jiner Zhu who beat Rameshbabu Vaishali. Only a point separates first and last so everyone is still very much in it.

FIDE Candidates: Round 5 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 4½/5. 2nd Fabiano Caruana, 3½. 3rd-4th Matthias Bluebaum and Yi Wei, 2. 5th-6th R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri, 2½. 7th-8th Hikaru Nakamura and Andrey Esipenko, 1½. 8 players.

FIDE Women Candidates: Round 5 (of 14) Standings: 1st-3rd Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lagno and Jiner Zhu, 3/5. 4th-6th Zhongyi Tan, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Deshmukh Divya, 2. 7th-8th Bibisara Assaubayeva and Aleksandra Goryachkina, 2½. 8 players.

Round 6 Saturday 13:30 BST 4th April 2026. FIDE Candidates: Fabiano Caruana vs Andrey Esipenko Hikaru Nakamura vs Praggnanandhaa R Anish Giri vs Matthias Bluebaum Wei Yi vs Javokhir Sindarov

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 6: Zhu Jiner vs Anna Muzychuk Tan Zhongyi vs Aleksandra Goryachkina Kateryna Lagno vs Vaishali Rameshbabu Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Divya Deshmukh.

FIDE Candidates Round 5 Summary

Hikaru Nakamura 0—1 Javokhir Sindarov

Nakamura declared on a video stream that today's game was his last chance to fight for first place, he entered a razor sharp variation of the triangle and his preparation didn't include the fairly obvious 12...0-0, Nakamura thought for an hour and came up with 13.h4?! rather than the correct 13.Ne4 which is complicated but equal, Sindarov is obviously in excellent form and with a better position and an extra hour he just crushed Nakamura.

Fabiano Caruana 1—0 Matthias Bluebaum

Caruana found a side-line in the Petroff that caught Bluebaum out. Bluebaum felt he played extremely poorly today, 14...Re8? rather than 14...Nxd2! was the start of his troubles. Caruana made it look easy.

Praggnanandhaa R ½—½ Andrey Esipenko

A classic Reti, solid play led to a draw in 31 moves.

Anish Giri ½—½ Wei Yi

A fairly dull English drawn in 42 moves.

FIDE Women’s Candidates

Zhu Jiner 1—0 Vaishali Rameshbabu

In a Giuoco Piano Vaishali lashed out with 15...f5?! and although Zhu didn't react in the best way 16...Nc5? made things worse. After 27...Ke6 Zhu was winning and gradually converted her advantage.

Kateryna Lagno 1—0 Bibisara Assaubayeva

Lagno won a sharp Sicilian with castling on the opposite sides of the board. There were some ups and downs but 23...Nc6? was the losing move.

Tan Zhongyi ½—½ Divya Deshmukh

This was a fairly balanced Queen's Gambit drawn in 45 moves.

Aleksandra Goryachkina ½—½ Anna Muzychuk

A positional Sicilian where the players were equally matched and drew in 29 moves.

Round 5 Video Commentary and Peter Svidler summary

FIDE Candidates 2026 Pegeia CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026																			cat. XX (2749)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2745	*	*	1	.	1	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	1	.	4½	3114
2.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2795	0	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	1	.	1	.	1	.	.	.	3½	2901
3.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2741	0	.	.	.	*	*	1	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	2½	2729
4.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2753	.	.	½	.	0	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	2½	2759
5.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2698	½	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	½	.	2	2674
6.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2754	.	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	2	2687
7.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2810	0	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	1½	2600
8.	Esipenko, Andrey	g	RUS	2698	0	.	.	.	½	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	1½	2600

Round 5 (April 3, 2026)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Bluebaum, Matthias	1-0	28	C42	Petroff's Defence
Praggnanandhaa, R	- Esipenko, Andrey	½-½	31	A06	Zukertort Opening
Giri, Anish	- Wei, Yi	½-½	42	A14	Reti Opening
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Sindarov, Javokhir	0-1	41	D31	Semi-Slav Defence

FIDE Women Candidates Pegeia CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026																			cat. XI (2520)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Muzychuk, Anna	g	UKR	2522	*	*	1	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	3	2580
2.	Lagno, Kateryna	g	RUS	2508	0	.	*	*	½	.	1	.	½	.	1	.	.	.	.	.	3	2609
3.	Zhu, Jiner	g	CHN	2578	.	.	½	.	*	*	0	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	1	.	3	2577
4.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2516	.	.	0	.	1	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	2½	2525
5.	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	g	FID	2534	½	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	2½	2502
6.	Tan, Zhongyi	g	CHN	2535	½	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	2	2452
7.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	g	IND	2470	½	.	.	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	2	2457
8.	Divya, Deshmukh	g	IND	2497	½	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	2	2455

Round 5 (April 3, 2026)
Lagno, Kateryna	- Assaubayeva, Bibisara	1-0	40	B34	Sicilian Defence
Zhu, Jiner	- Vaishali, Rameshbabu	1-0	62	C55	Two Knights Defence
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Muzychuk, Anna	½-½	29	B31	Sicilian Rossolimo
Tan, Zhongyi	- Divya, Deshmukh	½-½	45	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)

View the games on this Page

Download the PGN from this page

The Week in Chess