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FIDE Candidates Summary Round 3

Praggnanandhaa R 0—1 Javokhir Sindarov

This was a sharp Queen's Gambit, 19.Qc3? allowed black to at least equalise (19.e4! with a small edge to white) black took over for a while but 27...Qg5?! returned things to equality again. Praggnanandhaa made two serious errors when both players had about 4 minutes to reach move 40, 33.c5? and 34.Qb3+? and Sindarov was suddenly winning.

Fabiano Caruana 1—0 Wei Yi

An English where Wei Yi played the new 8...Nb6, With 15.Rg1 Caruana started to threaten to trap black's bishop, and two moves later Wei Yi was lost.

Hikaru Nakamura ½—½ Anish Giri

A 41 move English that was more or less balanced.

Matthias Bluebaum ½—½ Andrey Esipenko

Esipenko had slightly the better side of a draw in a Queen's Gambit.

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 3

Zhu Jiner 0—1 Bibisara Assaubayeva

Assaubayeva played a very sharp 7...Rg8 in a Sicilian, at first it seemed like Zhu was heading for a big advantage but around move 20 the games equalised and later became very difficult for white, 29.Bh2? was the losing move and Zhu resigned on move 44.

Tan Zhongyi 0—1 Kateryna Lagno

Lagno won a crazy struggle that started with a big advantage to Tan, then winning for Lagno, then for Tan and finally back to Lagno.

Vaishali Rameshbabu ½—½ Anna Muzychuk

A fairly dry draw in a Two Knights / Giuoco Piano.

Aleksandra Goryachkina ½—½ Divya Deshmukh

Goryachkina got a winning endgame advantage from the white side of a Sicilian but messed up the technical phase and allowed a draw.

FIDE Candidates Round 4

Javokhir Sindarov 1—0 Fabiano Caruana

Sindarov took a one point lead with a very convincing win against Caruana, Sindarov won the opening battle and just continued to improve until he won. Of course this event is by no means over but it was a big statement.

Andrey Esipenko 0—1 Anish Giri

Giri chose a very weird line of the Sicilian that he'd discovered using the engine, it was itself a response to a side-line so he hardly expected to get it. Esipenko had chances to be better but in such a wild position he also went wrong and lost quickly.

Wei Yi ½—½ Hikaru Nakamura

Wei Yi just looked uncertain throughout the game against Hikaru Nakamura and even though he reached a drawn endgame he got into trouble and then with his move 40 a lost position. Nakamura missed the most direct win and then in trying another plan walked into a very drawn position.

Matthias Bluebaum ½—½ Praggnanandhaa R

A well played if fairly dull Semi-Slav.

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 4

Anna Muzychuk 1—0 Kateryna Lagno

Muzychuk was a late replacement for Humpy Koneru and has played solidly so far. Today she beat Lagno to move into the joint lead. The key moment came after 28.d4, Lagno had to take Queens off and would have only been slightly worse. Instead 28..exd4 lost quickly.

Bibisara Assaubayeva ½—½ Tan Zhongyi

Assaubayeva maybe had a little something against Tan out of the opening which was a Tarrasch but by move 22 it was equal and they drew on move 46.

Divya Deshmukh 0—1 Zhu Jiner

Zhu got her campaign back on track with an impressive win over Deshmukh. Zhu's preparation meant they got a sharp position she knew and her opponent did not and Deshmukh was steadily outplayed.

Vaishali Rameshbabu ½—½ Aleksandra Goryachkina

Drawn by repetition on move 27. Goryachkina was considerably better out of the opening and Vaishali had chances for an advantage near the end.

Video Commentary and Hikaru's explanation of his game against Wei Yi

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	.	½	.	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	3½	3069
2.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2795	0	.	*	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	1	.	.	.	2½	2860
3.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2698	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	2	2734
4.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2741	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	1	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	2	2737
5.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2753	.	.	½	.	.	.	0	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	1	.	2	2761
6.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2754	.	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	1½	2674
7.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2810	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	1½	2663
8.	Esipenko, Andrey	g	RUS	2698	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	1	2558

Round 3 (March 31, 2026)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Wei, Yi	1-0	19	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Bluebaum, Matthias	- Esipenko, Andrey	½-½	41	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Praggnanandhaa, R	- Sindarov, Javokhir	0-1	40	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Giri, Anish	½-½	41	A28	English Four Knights
Round 4 (April 1, 2026)
Sindarov, Javokhir	- Caruana, Fabiano	1-0	36	D26	QGA
Bluebaum, Matthias	- Praggnanandhaa, R	½-½	37	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Wei, Yi	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½	62	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Esipenko, Andrey	- Giri, Anish	0-1	34	B95	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bg5

FIDE Women Candidates Pegeia CYP (CYP), 29 iii-16 iv 2026																			cat. XI (2520)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2516	*	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	½	.	.	.	2½	2624
2.	Muzychuk, Anna	g	UKR	2522	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	2½	2597
3.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	g	IND	2470	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	2	2517
4.	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	g	FID	2534	½	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	2	2497
5.	Lagno, Kateryna	g	RUS	2508	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	1	.	.	.	2	2542
6.	Zhu, Jiner	g	CHN	2578	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	1	.	2	2514
7.	Tan, Zhongyi	g	CHN	2535	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	1½	2444
8.	Divya, Deshmukh	g	IND	2497	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	*	*	1½	2439

Round 3 (March 31, 2026)
Vaishali, Rameshbabu	- Muzychuk, Anna	½-½	41	C55	Two Knights Defence
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Divya, Deshmukh	½-½	81	B31	Sicilian Rossolimo
Zhu, Jiner	- Assaubayeva, Bibisara	0-1	43	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Tan, Zhongyi	- Lagno, Kateryna	0-1	54	C53	Giuoco Piano
Round 4 (April 1, 2026)
Assaubayeva, Bibisara	- Tan, Zhongyi	½-½	46	D34	Tarrasch Defence, Main Line
Muzychuk, Anna	- Lagno, Kateryna	1-0	32	C85	Ruy Lopez Steenwijker Defence
Vaishali, Rameshbabu	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	½-½	27	C55	Two Knights Defence
Divya, Deshmukh	- Zhu, Jiner	0-1	36	A21	English Opening

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