Pragg, Fabi, Sindarov off to winning start @ Candidates 2026 Cyprus

Grandmasters Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov drew the first blood in the FIDE Candidates 2026 after the first round at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. Pragg scalped Giri, while Sindarov accounted for Esipenko. In the last game to conclude, former world championship challenger GM Fabiano Caruana overcame fellow American GM Hikaru Nakamura. All the games in the women’s section ended in draws. The prestigious FIDE event to identify the challenger for the next world championship was inaugurated on Saturday, 28th March and runs till 16th April, 2026.

Playing his second Candidates in a row, GM Praggnanandhaa managed to surprise the highly prepared Candidates veteran Anish Giri. Unleashing the Sicilian Grand Prix attack Pragg had Giri thinking for long. The Dutch Grandmaster gradually stabilised and looked set to bail out with an even score when time pressure hit black’s wobbling position. Choosing to play out in the kingside saw Giri offer a half-chance which Pragg grabbed and converted with precision in 51 moves.

In what turned out to be a good start, GM Fabiano Caruana turned it around World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura with with whom he’d suffered 5 losses in the last 12 classical meetings. A not so enterprising 1. Nf3 hid good bit of drama that was in store later in the game. The Reti opening had Hikaru thinking for some time before Fabi took over consuming more time. Closer to the first time control the difference in clock evened out and when both survived the 40 move mark, white came out with advantage. The opposite colored bishop ending with major pieces wasn’t easy to convert and only when Hikaru missed a possible draw (80…Kc7!) Fabi could land his win. The six hour grind would have left both the gladiators exhausted as they get ready for the next battle on the morrow.

Also winning a fluctuating game was World Cup winner GM Javokhir Sindarov, while the game between GMs Matthias Bluebaum and Wei Yi ended in a draw. 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.

Round two starts by Monday, 30th March at 8:45 AM ET / 2:45 PM CEST / 6:15 PM IST.

Round 1 Results (Open): Javokhir Sindarov beat Andrey Esipenko, Matthias Bluebaum drew with Wei Yi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu beat Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana beat Hikaru Nakamura.

Round 1 Results (Women): Divya Deshmukh drew with Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali Rameshbabu drew with Assaubayeva Bibisara, Aleksandra Goryachkina drew with Katerya Lagno, Zhu Jiner drew with Tan Zhongyi.

Fabiano Caruana (2795) – Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d4 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. O-O Bc5 6. e3 Nge7 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. b4 Bxb4 9. exd4 O-O 10. Qb3 Ba5 11. Nc3 Nf5 12. Ba3 Re8 13. d5 Nd4 14. Qa4 b6 15. Rae1 Bd7 16. Qd1 c5 17. Bb2 Rb8 18. a4 a6 19. dxe6 Bxe6 20. Nd5 Qd6 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Re4 Bxd5 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Bxd5 Bb4 25. h4 a5 26. d3 Qf6 27. Kg2 Qe5 28. Qf3 Qf6 29. Qg4 Bc5 30. h5 h6 31. Rh1 Qg5 32. Qd1 Qe7 33. Bc6 Rc8 34. Re1 Qc7 35. Bd5 Kf8 36. Qg4 Rd8 37. Qe4 Kg8 38. Qf5 Qd7 39. Qf3 Rf8 40. Re5 Bd6 41. Rf5 Qe7 42. Qg4 Be5 43. Rf3 Bf6 44. Rf4 Qd8 45. Be4 Re8 46. Rf5 Qd7 47. Qf4 Bg5 48. Qf3 Qc7 49. Rxf7 Qxf7 50. Bd5 Re6 51. Qg4 Kf8 52. Bxe6 Qe8 53. Bd7 Qa8+ 54. Kg1 Bf6 55. Qe6 Qd8 56. Bc6 Qe7 57. Qc8+ Qd8 58. Qb7 Be5 59. Bd5 Qc7 60. Qa8+ Ke7 61. Qg8 Kd6 62. Be4 Ke7 63. Bg6 Bf6 64. Qf7+ Kd6 65. Qd5+ Ke7 66. Bf5 Be5 67. f4 Bf6 68. Kg2 Qd6 69. Qb7+ Kf8 70. Kf3 Qe7 71. Qe4 Qxe4+ 72. dxe4 Be7 73. e5 Bb4 74. Bd3 Be1 75. g4 Ke7 76. Ke4 Bg3 77. f5 Kd7 78. Kd5 Bh4 79. f6 gxf6 80. e6+

80…Ke7?? (80…Kc7! 81. e7 Kd7 82. e8=Q+ Kxe8 83. Kc6 f5 84. Bxf5 Bd8 85. g5 Bxg5 86. Kxb6 Bd8+ should draw) 81. Kc6 Kxe6 82. Kxb6 Be1 83. c5 1-0

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) – Anish Giri (2753) 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. a4 Nc6 7. O-O a6 8. Bc4 e6 9. d3 Nge7 10. f5 exf5 11. Qe1 Be6 12. exf5 gxf5 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Qxe6 Qd7 15. Qc4 O-O-O 16. Bg5 Rde8 17. Rae1 Ng6 18. Nd5 Kb8 19. Nf6 Bxf6 20. Bxf6 Rhf8 21. Bc3 f4 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Re1 Rf8 24. Qe6 Qxe6 25. Rxe6 Kc7 26. Ng5 Kd7 27. Re4 Rf5 28. Nxh7 d5 29. Re2 d4 30. Be1 Nce5 31. Re4 Ng4 32. h3 Ne3 33. c3 Nd5 34. h4 dxc3 35. bxc3 Rh5 36. Ng5 Nf6 37. Re6 Rxg5 38. Rxf6 Rg4 39. h5 Ne5 40. h6 Nf3+ 41. Kf1 Nxe1 42. Kxe1 Rxg2 43. Rxf4 Rh2 44. Rf6 Rh3 45. Kd2 Rh2+ 46. Ke3 Rh3+ 47. Ke4 c4 48. dxc4 Rxc3 49. Kf5 Ke7 50. Rb6 Rxc4

51. h7 1-0

Picture courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE

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