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

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FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (11)

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

Mark Crowther - Saturday 11th April 2026

Fabiano Caruana drew against Javokhir Sindarov. Photo ©

Fabiano Caruana drew against Javokhir Sindarov. Photo © | https://candidates2026.fide.com

Javokhir Sindarov moved a step closer to winning the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus. Sindarov was put under serious pressure for the first time in the event. Sindarov made a number of inaccuracies 22...Rc8! would probably have avoided all difficulty, I'm not sure Sindarov was lost but after Caruana's 31.g4?! he realised immediately that he should save the position which he did fairly easily from then on. A two point lead with three rounds to go means Sindarov is almost there.

The other games were drawn, Anish Giri had his chances against Andrey Esipenko, Praggnanandhaa was flat out winning against Bluebaum and Wei Yi easily held Nakamura.

In the women's event Vaishali Rameshbabu now leads by a point. It's hard to know what to say without sounding mean spirited but she's been gifted a lot of points. Today Goryachkina self-emolliated her own rook, there was no real reason to do that. The other games were drawn. Lagno-Muzychuk quiet draw, Zhu Jiner escaped with a draw against Divya Deshmukh and Tan Zhongyi allowed Bibisara to escape with a draw after late blunders from both players.

Round 11 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 8½/11. 2nd Anish Giri, 6½. 3rd-5th Matthias Bluebaum, Hikaru Nakamura and Yi Wei, 5. 6th Fabiano Caruana, 5½. 7th Andrey Esipenko, 4. 8th R Praggnanandhaa, 4½. 8 players. FIDE Women Candidates DRR.

Round 11 (of 14) Standings: 1st Rameshbabu Vaishali, 7/11. 2nd-3rd Anna Muzychuk and Jiner Zhu, 6. 4th-5th Deshmukh Divya and Aleksandra Goryachkina, 5. 6th-7th Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kateryna Lagno, 5½. 8th Zhongyi Tan, 4. 8 players.

Round 12 Sunday 12th April 13:30 BST: Andrey Esipenko vs Praggnanandhaa R, Matthias Bluebaum vs Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov vs Hikaru Nakamura, Wei Yi vs Anish Giri.

Women’s Candidates Round 12: Anna Muzychuk vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Zhu Jiner, Divya Deshmukh vs Tan Zhongyi, Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Kateryna Lagno.

FIDE Candidates Round 11 summary

Fabiano Caruana ½—½ Javokhir Sindarov

Fabiano Caruana admitted that he'd more or less given up and he was only looked for a decent performance in the final rounds, today's pressure came from over the board inspiration. Sindarov thought he was very close to losing after some slight inaccuracies, it may not have quite been that bad, but after one inaccuracy from Caruana Sindarov held comfortably. The precision and confidence of his comments afterwards in the commentary stream demonstrated to me why he's winning this event.

Anish Giri ½—½ Andrey Esipenko

Giri pressed a little but a couple of inaccuracies left Esipenko with an easy draw.

Hikaru Nakamura ½—½ Wei Yi

Wei Yi came with a drawing line against the Catalan and Nakamura repeated.

Praggnanandhaa R ½—½ Matthias Bluebaum

Praggnanandhaa has been struggling for several months, he's clearly not put it right for this tournament. Today he built up a winning position against Bluebaum only to allow his opponent to escape with a draw.

FIDE Women’s Candidates

Kateryna Lagno ½—½ Anna Muzychuk

A Queen's Indian that was balanced throughout.

Tan Zhongyi ½—½ Bibisara Assaubayeva

A balanced game until the Rook endgame, Bibisara's 58..Rxh4? was losing 62.Ra6? restore equality.

Zhu Jiner ½—½ Divya Deshmukh

Divya was better and pushing for a win but let Zhu Jiner off with a draw.

Aleksandra Goryachkina 0—1 Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali moved a point clear of the field with this win, Goryachkina blundered a rook.

Round 11 Commentary

At 5hrs 52 minutes Sindarov explains the game.

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	*	*	½	.	1	½	½	½	1	.	1	.	1	1	1	½	8½	2954
2.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2753	½	.	*	*	½	1	½	.	½	½	½	.	0	1	1	½	6½	2818
3.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2795	0	½	½	0	*	*	1	.	1	0	1	½	½	.	½	.	5½	2751
4.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2698	½	½	½	.	0	.	*	*	½	.	½	½	½	½	½	½	5	2712
5.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2810	0	.	½	½	0	1	½	.	*	*	½	½	½	.	½	½	5	2708
6.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2754	0	.	½	.	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	*	½	½	1	.	5	2717
7.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2741	0	0	1	0	½	.	½	½	½	.	½	½	*	*	½	.	4½	2680
8.	Esipenko, Andrey	g	RUS	2698	0	½	0	½	½	.	½	½	½	½	0	.	½	.	*	*	4	2652

Round 11 (April 11, 2026)
Giri, Anish	- Esipenko, Andrey	½-½	43	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Caruana, Fabiano	- Sindarov, Javokhir	½-½	58	A14	Reti Opening
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Wei, Yi	½-½	22	A14	Reti Opening
Praggnanandhaa, R	- Bluebaum, Matthias	½-½	42	C42	Petroff's Defence

FIDE Women Candidates Pegeia CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026																			cat. XI (2520)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	g	IND	2470	*	*	½	½	0	.	½	½	1	.	½	1	½	1	1	.	7	2625
2.	Muzychuk, Anna	g	UKR	2522	½	½	*	*	1	.	½	.	1	½	½	0	½	.	½	½	6	2549
3.	Zhu, Jiner	g	CHN	2578	1	.	0	.	*	*	0	0	½	1	1	½	½	.	½	1	6	2548
4.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2516	½	½	½	.	1	1	*	*	0	.	0	.	½	½	½	½	5½	2523
5.	Lagno, Kateryna	g	RUS	2508	0	.	0	½	½	0	1	.	*	*	½	.	½	1	1	½	5½	2529
6.	Divya, Deshmukh	g	IND	2497	½	0	½	1	0	½	1	.	½	.	*	*	½	0	½	.	5	2488
7.	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	g	FID	2534	½	0	½	.	½	.	½	½	½	0	½	1	*	*	½	.	5	2474
8.	Tan, Zhongyi	g	CHN	2535	0	.	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	.	½	.	*	*	4	2420

Round 11 (April 11, 2026)
Zhu, Jiner	- Divya, Deshmukh	½-½	47	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Lagno, Kateryna	- Muzychuk, Anna	½-½	49	E15	Queens Indian
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Vaishali, Rameshbabu	0-1	45	D02	Queen's Pawn Game
Tan, Zhongyi	- Assaubayeva, Bibisara	½-½	102	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo

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