Sindarov stuns Caruana, leads 3.5/4 @ Cyprus

Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov led with a powerful 3.5/4 score in the FIDE Candidates 2026 after the 4th round at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. World Cup Goa winner GM Sindarov brought down co-leader GM Fabiano Caruana with a powerful middle game display, that came along with opening preparation. In the women’s section, GMs Bibisara Assaubayeva and late entrant Anna Muzychuk led the table with 2.5 points after the fourth round. This prestigious FIDE event to identify the challenger for the next world championship runs from 28th March till 16th April, 2026.

In the game of the day, 20-year-old Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov defeated World No. 3 GM Fabiano Caruana of USA. In the Queen’s Gambit Accepted game Sindarov caught Caruana with a home preparation from which the American couldn’t recover. Consuming huge time to find over the board answers Caruana left himself with just ten minutes at the half-way mark to reach the first time control. An exposed king and acute time pressure took its toll and the Uzbek went on to score a fine win in 36 moves. Back-to-back wins against star top 10 GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Fabiano Caruana shows the youngest participant in the Candidates 2026 is a serious contender for the title. With a plus three score in his kitty, it will be a stiff task for the rest of the field to match Sindarov who’s sharp, aggressive and fully prepared.

In the second game to conclude positively, Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri overcame World Cup Goa bronze medallist GM Andrey Esipenko. Executing a rarely played line in the Sicilian Najdorf, Giri managed to provoke white into early aggression. Finding himself into unfamiliar territory Esipenko took undue risks ceding material and compromising defence. Once the attack settled down, it was smooth sailing for the Dutchman who converted the advantage into his first victory after 34 moves.  With a comeback win offsetting his first round loss, Giri goes into the rest day in a better shape and is likely to come up with more surprises.

The other two games between GMs Praggnanandhaa vs Bluebaum, Nakamura vs Wei Yi ended in draws. 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.

After a day or rest, round 5 starts by Friday, 3rd April at 8:45 AM ET / 2:45 PM CEST / 6:15 PM IST.

Round 4 Results (Open): Andrey Esipenko (1.0) lost to Anish Giri (2.0), Wei Yi (1.5) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (1.5), Javokhir Sindarov (3.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (2.5), Matthias Bluebaum (2.0) drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2.0).

Round 4 Results (Women): Anna Muzychuk (2.5) beat Kateryna Lagno (2.0), Bibisara Assaubayeva (2.5) drew with Tan Zhongyi (1.5), Divya Deshmukh (1.5) lost to Zhu Jiner (2.0), Vaishali Rameshbabu (2.0) drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina (2.0).

Javokhir Sindarov (2745) – Fabiano Caruana (2795) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qe2 a6 8. Nc3 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Ne4 Na5 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. dxc5 Nb3 14. c6 Bxc6 15. Nd4 Nxd4 16. exd4 Rg8 17. g3 f5 18. Bc4 Rg4 19. Be3 Bd5 20. Rac1 Be7 21. Bxa6 Kf8 22. Bb5 Bf6 23. Rfd1 Kg7 24. Bc6 Ra5 25. Bxd5 Rxd5 26. Rc5 Rd7 27. d5 exd5 28. Qf3 Bxb2 29. Rcxd5 Rxd5 30. Rxd5 Qe8 31. Rxf5 Rg6 32. h4 Bc3 33. h5 Ra6 34. Qg4+ Kh8 35. Bd4+ f6

36. Rc5 1-0

Andrey Esipenko (2698) – Anish Giri (2753) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. Qe2 Nxe4 9. Nxe4 Bxg5 10. Nf5 Be7 11. Nxg7+ Kd7 12. O-O Nc6 13. c4 Kc7 14. Nh5 Bd7 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. b4 Nxb4 17. Rab1 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Ba4 19. Rd2 Kb8 20. Rdb2 Bc6 21. c5 dxc5 22. Qxa6 Qd5 23. f3 Rc7 24. Nhg3 Rd8 25. Nf2 c4 26. Nge4 f5 27. Nc3 Qc5 28. Re2 Bf6 29. Na4 Bxa4 30. Qxa4 c3 31. Qc2 Bg5 32. Kf1 Qc4 33. Rd1 Rd2 34. Rxd2

34…cxd2 0-1

Picture courtesy: Michal Walusza / Yoav Nis / FIDE

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