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…

Navara, van Foreest & Nodirbeks’ win @ Prague

Posted on February 26, 2026 BY R.R. Vasudevan

GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, David Navara, Jorden van Foreest were off to a winning start in the first round of the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 organised by Novy Bor Chess Club at Hotel Don Giovanni, Prague. The TATA Steel & London Chess Classic winner GM Abdusattorov climbed to World No. 4 scoring over defending Prague Masters champion GM Aravindh Chithambaram. Top seed GM Vincent Keymer went down to Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest sliding to World No. 5 in LIVE ratings. Also off to a flying start were GMs Nodirbek Yakubboev and David Navara who defeated GMs David Anton Guijarro and Parham Maghsoodloo respectively.

The Prague Chess Festival is now running successfully for the seventh year in a row. Adding lustre to the event are the add-ons viz., the Challengers, Futures and Prague Open. This edition happens to be the first one to have the current world champion – GM Gukesh Dommaraju – playing. The earlier one happened almost a century ago when the then world champion Alexander Alekhine played in the Chess Olympiad at Prague, 1931. In the only drawn game of the day world champion Gukesh Dommaraju split the points in a Ruy Lopez Berlin game against GM Hans Moke Niemann of USA. There was no dearth of excitement as the American Grandmaster came up with a knight sacrifice against the world champion who hung on gamely to snatch a draw after 62 moves.

The 2nd round takes off on Thursday, 26th February at 9 AM ET / 3 PM CET / 7:30 PM IST.

Results (Round 1): Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Aravindh Chithambaram, David Navara beat Parham Maghsoodloo, Jorden van Foreest beat Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Yakubboev beat David Anton Guijarro, Gukesh Dommaraju drew with Hans Moke Niemann.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2751) – V R Aravindh Chithambaram (2700) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 exd4 8. Nxd4 Ne5 9. Bf1 Re8 10. Bf4 Ng6 11. Bg3 Bf8 12. a4 c6 13. a5 Bd7 14. Nb3 Be6 15. h3 b5 16. axb6 axb6 17. Rxa8 Qxa8 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. Re3 b5 20. b4 Qa7 21. Qd2 Qb6 22. Be2 Rd8 23. Nf3 d5 24. exd5 Bxb4 25. Ne5 cxd5 26. Nxd7 Rxd7 27. Qd1 d4 28. Ne4 Nd5 29. Rf3 Bf8 30. Bd3 Nb4 31. Rf5 Nxd3 32. Qxd3 b4 33. h4 Qe6 34. Ng5 Qe1+ 35. Kh2 h6 36. Ne4 Ra7 37. f3 Qb1 38. Qc4 d3 39. cxd3 Qa2 40. Rb5 Qxc4 41. dxc4 Ra4 42. Rb8 b3 43. h5 Ne7 44. Bd6 Ra7 45. c5 Rd7 46. Rxb3 Nc6 47. Rb6 Bxd6+ 48. cxd6 Ne5 49. Rb8+ Kh7 50. Re8 Nc6 51. g4 Nd4 52. Kg3 Nb5 53. Re7 Rd8 54. d7 Nd4