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

Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov with a 9.5/13 score won the FIDE Candidates 2026 with a round to spare after the 13th and penultimate round at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. With just one round to go, Sindarov with 9.5 points logged in an unassailable 2.0 point lead over second placed Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri at 7.5 points.

In the women’s section, two time FIDE Grand Swiss winner GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) shares the lead with three-time Women’s World Blitz Chess Champion GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) at 7.5 points. The crowded points position on the top, makes it all the more exciting, where four players other than leaders viz., GMs Zhu Jiner, Anna Muzychuk, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno still have arithmetical chances to win the tournament.

Facing GM Anish Giri who was behind him for most of the tournament, Champion GM Javokhir Sindarov made light of the tense situation, holding the Dutch veteran to a comfortable 58 move draw. The Queen’s Gambit Declined game had destiny written over it when the queen trade-off happened early on. The ensuing rook ending with a slight edge for white demanded precise play and the Uzbek star held on to a draw without much ado. In addition to the winner’s purse of Euros 70,000 GM Sindarov will now have a shot at the world title and will face the youngest World Champion in the history of chess, Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju. It will also go down as the youngest ever World Championship in terms of age, with both the current champion and the challenger aged just 20.

The newest World Championship Challenger GM Sindarov thanked everyone who made it happen, “A big thank you to everyone who supported me during this long event. Every round was very tough, and the last week was the hardest of my life. I even slept very badly in the final days. I’m very happy it’s over. Many thanks to my family, my coach, my seconds and everyone who supports me.”  

A runaway victor of the Candidates 2026 tournament, GM Javokhir Sindarov, earnestly thanked his seconds viz., GM Mukhiddin Madaminov and GM Roman Vidonyak. The chess wave in Uzbekistan is on the rise, annexing titles from the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram & 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa. And now the individual world title beckons the nation, thanks to Challenger Sindarov, who has been a vital part of all the three milestones above. A-start-to-finish winner of the Candidates 2026 tournament GM Javokhir Sindarov now earns the right to play the next FIDE World Chess Championship against the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

Elsewhere, Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi recorded the lone win for the day defeating World Cup Goa bronze medallist GM Andrey Esipenko, while the games between GMs Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa, Nakamura vs Bluebaum ended in draws.

In the women’s section, all boils down to the final round. In the all important clash the two time FIDE Grand Swiss winner GM Vaishali Rameshbabu faces former Women’s World Rapid & Blitz champion GM Kateryna Lagno. As the joint leader of the pack, the Indian has even chances along with co-leader GM Bibisara Assaubayeva who faces Women’s World Cup winner GM Divya Deshmukh. The winner of the highly & closely fought 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates tournament will earn the right to challenge five-time Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.

The 14th & final round starts by Wednesday, 15th April at 8:45 AM ET / 2:45 PM CEST / 6:15 PM IST.

Round 13 Results (Open): Fabiano Caruana (6.5) drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.5), Hikaru Nakamura (6.0) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (6.0), Anish Giri (7.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (9.5), Wei Yi (6.5) beat Andrey Esipenko (4.5).

Round 13 Results (Women): Bibisara Assaubayeva (7.5) beat Anna Muzychuk (6.5), Kateryna Lagno (6.5) beat Divya Deshmukh (5.0), Tan Zhongyi (5.5) drew with Vaishali Rameshbabu (7.5), Zhu Jiner (7.0) lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina (6.5).

Wei Yi (2754) – Andrey Esipenko (2698) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Be7 6. d4 d5 7. Bd3 Bb4+ 8. Kf1 c6 9. Qc2 O-O 10. a3 Ba5 11. Bf4 Nd7 12. Nc3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. c4 b6 16. Nd2 f5 17. Kg1 Bb7 18. f3 Rac8 19. h4 Ndc5 20. dxc5 Qxc5+ 21. Kh2 Qf2 22. Kh3 Qd4 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Bg3 e3 25. Nb3 Qf6 26. c5 Ba6 27. Rac1 bxc5 28. Qd1 Bc4 29. Na5 Qe6+ 30. Kh2 Ba6 31. Nb3 Bc4 32. Na5 Ba6 33. Nb3 Bc4 34. Re1 Rfe8 35. Na5 Ba6 36. Nb3 Bc4 37. Na5 Ba6 38. Qa4 Red8 39. Nb3 Bc4 40. Na5 Ba6 41. Nb3 Bc4 42. Rc3 e2 43. Nc1 Qa6 44. Qc2 Re8 45. Nd3 Qf6

46. Rxe2 1-0

Bibisara Assaubayeva (2516) – Anna Muzychuk (2522) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. Nc3 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Bg4 10. f3 Qxe2+ 11. Bxe2 Be6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bb5+ Bd7 15. Rhe1 Bxb5 16. Bb4 O-O-O 17. Rxe7 Rd7 18. Rxd7 Bxd7 19. Rxd5 h5 20. Bc3 f6 21. h4 Be6 22. Rc5 Kb7 23. a4 Bf7 24. b4 Rd8 25. b5 Rd5 26. Rc6 Rd6 27. Rxd6 cxd6 28. Kd2 Be6 29. Bb4 Kc7 30. Ke3 Bc4 31. Ba5+ Kd7 32. Bc3 a6 33. b6 Bf7 34. a5 Bg6 35. Kd2 Bf5 36. Bd4 Kc6 37. c3 Bc8 38. Ke3 Kd5 39. g4 g6 40. Bxf6 Bb7 41. Kf4 Ke6 42. Kg5 Kf7 43. gxh5 gxh5

44. f4 1-0

Picture & Graphics courtesy: Michal Walusza / Yoav Nis / Niki Riga / FIDE

Event photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fide/

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Official Site: https://candidates2026.fide.com/