Sindarov on a roll, Fabi behind @ Cyprus

Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov is on a roll leading with 4.5 points after the fifth round in the FIDE Candidates 2026 at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. World Cup Goa winner GM Sindarov defeated World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) taking the Candidates field in Cyprus by storm. Former World Championship Challenger GM Fabiano Caruana (USA) kept himself in the race checkmating German GM Matthias Bluebaum, remaining one point behind at 3.5 points. Further one point behind at 2.5 points were GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) and Anish Giri (Netherlands).

In the women’s section, GMs Zhu Jiner, Katernya Lagno and Anna Muzychuk, led the table with 3.0 points after the fifth round. Indian Grandmasters in the fray, GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh stayed one full point behind the leaders at 2.0 points. FIDE Grand Swiss Champion Vaishali Rameshbabu went down to top seed GM Zhu Jiner, while Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh drew with former women’s world champion Tan Zhongyi. This prestigious FIDE event to identify the challenger for the next world championship runs from 28th March till 16th April, 2026.

The choice of rarely played Marshall Gambit in the Semi-Slav Defense, brought the undoing of World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. Once again the World Cup winner GM Javokhir Sindarov displayed that he’s a bit more prepared than his illustrious opponent. By move 13 the American found himself an hour behind in the clock. He could save the resultant two pawn down position and resigned on the 41st move. Sindarov performance here draws parallel to that of Bulgarian star Veselin Topalov’s dominant show in the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship at San Luis, Argentina where he started with a 6.5/7 score emerging FIDE World Champion with a whopping tally of 10/14.

Not to be left far behind, US Champion GM Fabiano Caruana defeated GM Matthias Bluebaum keeping himself in the title race. The sober Petroff defence start indicated that the German might land his fifth consecutive draw. But questionable middle game play left the German in a difficult position to defend, Sensing his chance the former Candidates winner Caruana pounced on the weak Kingside checkmating Bluebaum in 28 moves. This edition might turn into a two horse race in which case the next individual encounter between Sindarov and Caruana could become a decider.

Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu gave himself more ground to cover with a stable draw against World Cup Goa bronze medallist GM Andrey Esipenko. A stiff task of matching and overtaking the pile of plus four score from leader GM Javokhir Sindarov will be a mountain to climb. One can say for sure that with his meteoric Cyprus show Javokhir Sindarov has almost out-pointed the rest, except of course, second placed Fabiano Caruana.

The other game between GMs Anish Giri and Wei Yi ended in a draw after 42 moves. Like 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.

Round 6 starts by Satuday, 4th April at 8:45 AM ET / 2:45 PM CEST / 6:15 PM IST.

Round 5 Results (Open): Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (1.5), Fabiano Caruana (3.5) beat Matthias Bluebaum (2.0), Hikaru Nakamura (1.5) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (4.5), Anish Giri (2.5) drew with Wei Yi (2.0).

Round 5 Results (Women): Aleksandra Goryachkina (2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (3.0), Zhu Jiner (3.0) beat Vaishali Rameshbabu (2.0), Tan Zhongyi (2.0) drew with Divya Deshmukh(2.0), Kateryna Lagno (3.0) beat Bibisara Assaubayeva (2.5).

Hikaru Nakamura (2810) – Javokhir Sindarov (2745) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8. Be2 Na6 9. Bd6 Qxg2 10. Bf3 Qg5 11. Ne2 Ne7 12. Ng3 O-O 13. h4 Qa5+ 14. b4 Nxb4 15. O-O Re8 16. Qd2 c5 17. Rad1 Nf5 18. Nxf5 exf5 19. Qf4 Nc6 20. Kh1 Nd4 21. Rg1 g6 22. Bd5 Be6 23. Bxb7 Ne2 24. Qd2 Qxd2 25. Rxd2 Nxg1 26. Bxa8 Rxa8 27. Kxg1 Rd8 28. Bf4 Rxd2 29. Bxd2 Bxc4 30. Be3 Bxa2 31. Bxc5 a5 32. f4 f6 33. Kf2 Kf7 34. Ba3 Ke6 35. Bf8 a4 36. Ke3 Kf7 37. Bb4 h6 38. Kf2 g5 39. Kg3 Bd5 40. Ba3 Be4 41. Bc1

41…gxh4+ 0-1

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

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

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