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…

Sindarov closes in, Vaishali leads @ Cyprus

Posted on April 10, 2026 BY R.R. Vasudevan

GM Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) is closing in on the summit after a daring 10th round victory over GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) in the FIDE Candidates 2026 at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. The 2025 World Cup Goa winner GM Sindarov now leads the Candidates field with 8.0 points ahead of GM Anish Giri (Netherlands) at 6.0 points. In the women’s section Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) moved into sole lead with a 6.0 points. Sharing the second spot were GMs Zhu Jiner (China) and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) at 5.5 points each.

Earlier, former world championship challenger and legend GM Boris Gelfand, inaugurated the 10th round performing the ceremonial first move on GM Javokhir Sindarov vs GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu game. Gelfand, the winner of the 2009 FIDE World Cup and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, was also the runner-up in the 2012 World Chess Championship.

Gelfand was joined in the photo frame by his 2012 opponent, GM Viswanathan Anand, a five-time World Champion and current FIDE Deputy President.

In the game of the day, Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu went down blazing against tournament leader GM Javokhir Sindarov. Faced with a do-or-die situation Praggnanandhaa burnt his bridges, but the Uzbek came out better in complications winning the crucial battle in 57 moves. Little out of the Queen’s Gambit Declined opening the younger of the two Grandmasters decided to go in for a speculative piece sacrifice. Throwing spanner in the works has gone well right through the Candidates for Sindarov and today was no different. An exposed black king and one unforced error was more than adequate for the Uzbek to complete the task. A start of six wins and four draws, unprecedented in the annals of Candidates has almost placed Sindarov the qualification summit.

Other games featuring GMs viz., Andrey Esipenko vs Matthias Bluebaum, Wei Yi vs Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri vs Hikaru Nakamura ended in draws.

In the women’s section, Indian Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu improved her chances with a steady draw against GM Anna Muzychuk. With 6.0 points from ten rounds and the position of a sole leader, Vaishali is poised for her best tournamet performance yet. Four rounds remain and not much separate the field with GMs Anna Muzychuk, Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kateryna Lagno breathing down the neck of the leader. A power packed finish on the home-run could carry the Indian through for a historic achievement.

Similar to every Candidates Tournament since 2013, this event will be a 8 player double round-robin tournament. The winner of the Candidates 2026 tournament will earn the right to play the next FIDE World Chess Championship against the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju. The winner of the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates tournament will earn the right to challenge Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.

After a day of rest, Round 11 starts by Saturday, 11th April at 8:45 AM ET / 2:45 PM CEST / 6:15 PM IST.

Round 10 Results (Open): Andrey Esipenko (3.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (4.5), Javokhir Sindarov (8.0) beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (4.0), Wei Yi (4.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (5.0), Anish Giri (6.0) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (4.5).

Round 10 Results (Women): Anna Muzychuk (5.5) drew with Vaishali Rameshbabu (6.0), Divya Deshmukh (4.5) lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina (5.0), Bibisara Assaubayeva (5.0) beat Zhu Jiner (5.5), Kateryna Lagno (5.0) drew with Tan Zhongyi (3.5).

Javokhir Sindarov (2745) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bf4 Bb4 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 Ne4 8. Qc2 g5 9. Bg3 h5 10. Bd3 h4 11. Bxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4+ Kf8 13. Be5 f6 14. Nxg5 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Nxe5 16. dxe5 fxg5 17. f4 h3 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. g3 gxf4 20. O-O Rh6 21. Rxf4+ Kg8 22. Rdf1 Bd7 23. Rf7 Qxf7 24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. Qf4+ Kg7 26. Qg5+ Kh7 27. Qe7+ Kg8 28. Qxd7 Rf8 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. a4 a5 31. Qg5 Rh7 32. e6 Re8 33. Qxa5 b6 34. Qe5+ Kg8 35. Qg5+ Rg7 36. Qf5 Rge7 37. Qg4+ Kf8 38. Qxh3 Rxe6 39. Kf2 R8e7 40. Qh8+ Kf7 41. g4 Re4 42. Qh5+ Kg7 43. Qg5+ Kf7 44. Kf3 Rxa4 45. h4 Ra5 46. Qh6 Rae5 47. Qh7+ Kf8 48. Qh8+ Kf7 49. e4 b5 50. h5 c5 51. h6 Rg5 52. Qd8 Rg8