As soon as once more it was all about GM Javokhir Sindarov within the 2026 FIDE Candidates Event because the Uzbek star received a troublesome place towards GM Wei Yi to maneuver to a mind-blowing 5.5/6. He leads his closest pursuer GM Fabiano Caruana by 1.5 factors after GM Andrey Esipenko held the U.S. champion to a draw. There have been additionally attracts in GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and GM Anish Giri vs. GM Matthias Bluebaum, although the latter recreation stretched to 84 strikes.
Late substitute GM Anna Muzychuk took a full-point lead over 5 gamers within the 2026 FIDE Girls’s Candidates after taking down GM Zhu Jiner to achieve 4/6, whereas GM Kateryna Lagno was put to the sword by GM Vaishali Rameshbabu. It was an awesome day for India, as GM Divya Deshmukh additionally defeated GM Bibisara Assaubayeva for her first win. All of the wins got here with Black, and it may have been 4, as GM Tan Zhongyi needed to construct a fortress to outlive towards GM Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Spherical seven is on Sunday, April 5, beginning at 8:45 a.m. ET / 14:45 CEST / 6:15 p.m. IST.
FIDE Candidates: Sindarov Extends His Lead
Sindarov scored the one win in spherical six to emphasise his whole domination.
Candidates Spherical 6 Outcomes
Sindarov is out of attain for now, transferring 1.5 factors away from Caruana and a whopping 3.5 factors forward of the trio in final place.
Candidates Standings After Spherical 6
It was that man once more, as Sindarov stole all of the headlines for one more spherical of the FIDE Candidates Event in Cyprus.
Wei Yi 0-1 Sindarov
A lot of Sindarov’s wins have been constructed round opening preparation, however this time he was shocked early on by 5.a3.
Tania after Wei Yi’s 5.a3 will get Sindarov pondering: “This can be the primary time within the #FIDECandidates the surpriser has been shocked!” pic.twitter.com/pNFURfjmm5
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 4, 2026
The place that quickly arose was extremely double-edged, however it was Sindarov who navigated the problems higher. He would say afterward:
I’m a dynamic participant. I perceive for my match state of affairs I must play very stable, but when I get an opportunity to play for either side a dynamic place I’ll all the time be very completely satisfied!
I perceive for my match state of affairs I must play very stable, but when I get an opportunity to play for either side a dynamic place I’ll all the time be very completely satisfied!
—Javokhir Sindarov
Wei has by no means been afraid of taking part in dynamic positions and defined he needed to push for a win with White, however he was let down by his time administration. When 27…Re8?! (27…Be5!) gave him an opportunity to get again into the sport he was down to 6 minutes to Sindarov’s 51.
Javokhir Sindarov rushes in a profitable place and Wei Yi is again within the recreation! #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/5f3uE8vl4X
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 4, 2026
Wei missed the slender path and shortly it was Sindarov notching up a fifth win in six video games.
Sindarov’s staggering run continues as he beats Wei Yi to achieve 5.5/6! #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/UdtuL6K82H
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 4, 2026
That is our Sport of the Day, and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao under.
Sindarov’s out-of-this-world run continues, with 5.5/6 and solely Giri to go earlier than he is performed all his opponents.
Sindarov advised FM Mike Klein this was solely “possibly” the match of his life, earlier than clarifying, “I’m solely 20—I’ll play plenty of tournaments after this match, in order that’s why I mentioned possibly!”
The theme of age returned when Sindarov was advised Nakamura was a fan (he mentioned of Sindarov and Praggnanandhaa that it is “a breath of recent air to play and speak to individuals who on some degree view the sport in another way than the older era”):
Sindarov on studying Nakamura is a fan: “I used to be additionally one of many largest followers of his! Once I was younger he was actually my idol, I’ve a photograph with him again in 2012 once I was a small boy. I used to be all the time loving his video games, as a result of he was taking part in the King’s Indian…”#FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/I5DSKp1tNa
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 4, 2026
For now the closest Sindarov’s rivals are coming to him is in selfies, as spherical six was irritating for the chasing pack.
Caruana, the one different participant within the subject on a plus rating, slipped 1.5 factors behind the chief after a quiet recreation towards Esipenko, who performed an previous line within the English and gave up a pawn, however equalized with none bother.
With that draw, Caruana slipped barely on the ranking checklist and GM Magnus Carlsen grew to become the one 2800-player, although on Sindarov’s present trajectory he ought to get there within the close to future!
Nakamura’s recreation was the primary to complete, after a draw by repetition in a double-edged place. Each gamers may provide you with causes to play on, but in addition to chop the motion quick. Nakamura advised WIM Charlize van Zyl he felt the place was equal with appropriate play however: “It appears like what’s going to occur there’s we’re each going to make use of time and any individual’s going to make a blunder, and I’ve made so many blunders on the finish of video games so I wasn’t actually feeling it and a draw appeared like an affordable end result.”
The analysis appeared appropriate, although the draw helped neither participant.
Take a look at Nakamura’s personal recap of the day’s motion:
The longest recreation of the day on this event wasn’t essentially the most entertaining, with GM David Howell discovering a substitute for counting sheep.
“I did rely, possibly boredom was a slight issue, that this knight has moved 29 occasions out of 71 strikes!”
— David Howell#FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/DjnsvMkLgM— chess24 (@chess24com) April 4, 2026
The shuffling continued till transfer 84, however nothing modified.
The primary half of the match ends on Easter Sunday with Sindarov taking part in White towards Giri, whereas Caruana has a tough take a look at with Black towards Praggnanandhaa.
FIDE Candidates: Spherical 7 Pairings
FIDE Girls’s Candidates: Muzychuk Leads As Indian Stars Seize 1st Wins
There have been three wins for Black within the Girls’s occasion, and it was very almost 4.
Girls’s Candidates Spherical 6 Outcomes
Muzychuk’s win noticed her open up a full-point lead, however with so many gamers in pursuit, and the hole to final place just one.5 factors, the Girls’s Candidates stays vast open.
Girls’s Candidates Standings After Spherical 6
Whereas there have been three comparatively uneventful video games within the Open match it was mayhem in every single place you regarded within the Girls’s. Within the one draw, Tan possible missed a shocking useful resource noticed by Howell, …Nd4!!, essentially the most lovely transfer we did not get to see on the board.
That may have been a clincher on account of back-rank mate threats on c1 and e1. Tan needed to go for a determined second alternative, however actually she managed to make a fortress and survive.
All of the remaining video games have been decisive, with Anna Muzychuk’s win essentially the most signficant.
Zhu 0-1 Muzychuk
When GM Teimour Radjabov pulled out of the 2020 FIDE Candidates Event per week earlier than the beginning he was changed by GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman had no time to arrange, however then nobody had time to arrange towards him both and he was spared the nervous build-up to the occasion. He ended the primary half of that occasion with a one-point lead over the sphere, earlier than the pandemic intervened.
It has been the same story for Muzychuk, who changed GM Koneru Humpy and had a gradual begin, however has now received two of her final three video games to take a one-point lead—not dangerous contemplating the Ukrainian had gone 21 Candidates video games and not using a win till defeating Lagno in spherical 4.
In spherical six, Muzychuk confronted Zhu, and summed up: “She’d received the final two, she’s a really robust participant, she’s the highest-rated, she’s taking part in with the white items, so it was type of a harmful recreation, however it completed nicely!”
It was type of a harmful recreation, however it completed nicely!
—Anna Muzychuk
The sport turned when Zhu’s 22.Nh2? allowed 22…Nd4!, although there have been nonetheless some twists forward.
Muzychuk had defeated one co-leader, whereas the opposite fell to Vaishali.
Lagno 0-1 Vaishali
This was a completely wild recreation, which included Vaishali twice accurately sacrificing her bishop—on a distinct sq. every time!
The clock state of affairs explains why these blows weren’t fairly decisive, as quickly afterward Vaishali blundered and would have misplaced if Lagno had been capable of finding the precise path in time bother. She did not, and Vaishali picked up her first win of the occasion to return to 50 %, a degree behind the chief.
It was an awesome day for India, since Divya additionally picked up her first win to return to 50 %.
Assaubayeva 0-1 Divya
“I ought to positively have stopped the pawn in some unspecified time in the future” mentioned Divya after permitting Assaubayeva to ship her h-pawn all the best way to h6.
“I assumed if I’m going to be worse, I would as nicely simply be a pawn up and be worse!” mentioned Divya of her double-edged determination to take the pawn. It will definitely paid off, with Assaubayeva’s pawns changing into targets and the Indian Girls’s World Cup winner joking, “Materialism is useful!”
Assaubayeva has now misplaced two video games in a row, and it would not get any simpler as she’s dealing with Muzychuk with the black items in spherical seven. It is all to play for for all eight gamers, nonetheless, and we’ve some massive clashes to look ahead to.
FIDE Girls’s Candidates: Spherical 7 Pairings
The FIDE Candidates Event is crucial FIDE match of the 12 months. Within the Open and Girls’s occasions, eight gamers play one another twice for the precise to problem the FIDE World Champions Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun to a match for the title.
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