Vaishali triumphs @ FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 Cyprus

April 16, 2026

Indian Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu (8.5) emerged the champion ahead of Kazakh GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (8.0) after the 14th round of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus…

Sindarov (9.5/13) wins Candidates 2026 with a round to spare @ Cyprus

April 15, 2026

Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov with a stunning 9.5/13 score won the FIDE Candidates 2026 with a round to spare after the 13th round at Cyprus. In the women’s section, GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) & Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) led the table with 7.5 points…

Zhu Jiner joins Vaishali in lead, Sindarov 9/12 @ Cyprus

April 13, 2026

GM Zhu Jiner & Vaishali Rameshbabu led the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 while GM Javokhir Sindarov led the Open section after the 12th round at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort, Cyprus...

GMs Zhu Jiner & Vaishali Rameshbabu led the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 while GM Javokhir Sindarov led the Open section after the 12th round at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort, Cyprus…

Sindarov & Vaishali stay on top @ Cyprus

April 12, 2026

GMs Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) led the FIDE Candidates 2026 after the 11th round at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus…

Aravindh & Theodorou lead @ Biel

Posted on July 16, 2025 BY R.R. Vasudevan

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (12.5) moved into sole lead defeating GM Frederik Svane (4.5) in the second round of the Masters section in the 58th Biel Chess Festival, Biel, Switzerland. Behind Aravindh was top seed GM Vladimir Fedoseev (10.0) who drew against World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin (8.0). The earliest game to conclude for the day was between GMs Radoslaw Wojtaszek (9.0) and Salem A R Saleh (5.0) where white gave up his queen to land a perpetual check.

In a Sicilian Taimanov game of fluctuating fortunes, it was the Indian Grandmaster who came out happy, thanks to costly blunders by the German GM Frederik Svane. Aravindh appeared to be on the back-foot for the first few hours as Svane exerted heavy pressure on the king-side. Black offered an exchange to tone down the attack with 21…Rd4. Ignoring the offer Svane went for the king hunt, but slipped two moves later with 23. Rf5? which swept away all the good work. Seizing the moment, Aravindh never looked back and capitalized on further mistakes by Svane (35. Qc4 & 50. Kh1) to wind up the game nicely by 50 moves.

The Challengers section saw GM Nikolas Theodorou grind down joint leader GM David Navara in a marathon game that lasted 77 moves. In other games, Daniel Dardha drew with Aram Hakobyan, while Ma Qun was held to a draw by Rinat Jumabayev.

Similar to Norway Chess, Biel has it’s own unique points system for the Grandmaster triathlon GMT viz., (a) Classical: 4 points for a win; 1.5 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss, (b) Rapid: 2 points for a win; 1 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss (c) Blitz: 1 point for a win; 0.5 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss.

Time Control: Classical: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game + 30 seconds increment as of move 41. Rapid: 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move & Blitz: 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.

The 3rd round of Biel Masters classical chess starts by Thursday 17th July at 2 PM local time, 5:30 PM IST.

Round 2 Results (Biel GMT Masters Classical): Volodar Murzin (8.0) drew with Vladimir Fedoseev (10.0), Frederik Svane (4.5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (12.5), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (9.0) drew with Salem A R Saleh (5.0)

Round 2 Results (Biel GMT Challengers Classical): David Navara (6.0) lost to Nikolas Theodorou (16.0), Ma Qun (6.5) drew with Rinat Jumabayev (5.5), Daniel Dardha (5.5) drew with Aram Hakobyan (12.5)

Svane Frederik (2659) – Aravindh Chithambaram (2724) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. a3 Be7 8. f4 d6 9. Qf3 e5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. Bc4 Rb8 13. b3 Qa5 14. Bd2 Qb6 15. Na4 Qc7 16. h3 O-O 17. O-O Bb7 18. Be3 c5 19. Nc3 h6 20. Rf2 Rbd8 21. Raf1 Rd4 22. Qg3 Qd6 23. Rf5? Rxc4 24. bxc4 Nxe4 25. Qxe5 Nxc3 26. Qxc3 Qg6 27. R5f2 Bf6 28. Qb3 Be4 29. Bxc5 Rc8 30. Be3 Be5 31. c5 Rc7 32. Re2 Rb7 33. Qa4 Re7 34. Bf4 Bc6 35. Qc4? (35. Qxa6 Bd4 36. Kh2 Bxc5 37. Rd1 Kh7 38. Bg3 Ra7 39. Qd3 Rxa3 40. Qxg6+ Kxg6 is better for white)

35…Bb5 36. Qxb5 axb5 37. Rxe5 Ra7 38. Re3 Qxc2 39. Bd6 Qb2 40. Rff3 b4 41. axb4 Ra2 42. Rg3 Qf2+ 43. Kh2 Ra1 44. Re8+ Kh7 45. Rxg7+ Kxg7 46. Be5+ Kg6 47. Rg8+ Kf5 48. Bxa1 Qf4+ 49. g3 Qd2+ 50. Kh1? (the final mistake, leading to a mate in 9)