About the Candidates and What’s at Stake?
The Candidates tournament is an eight-player double round robin whose winner earns the right to challenge the reigning world champion in a world championship match. Historically, the Candidates was an elimination knockout tournament, but since 2013, it has been conducted as a double round robin with eight players.
Lichess Coverage
Lichess will produce in-depth blog posts with annotations for each round of the 2026 FIDE Candidates. GM Axel Bachmann (@ABachmann) will annotate R1–7 and GM Maksim Chigaev (@Fandorine96) R8–14 + potential tiebreaks from the Open Candidates, while WGM Petra Papp (@cukus) will annotate R1–4, IM / WGM Lilit Mkrtchian (@Lilit-Mkrtchian) R5–7, and IM / WGM Ekaterina Atalik (@EkaterinaAtalik) R8–14 + potential tiebreaks from the Women’s Candidates. Lichess will also create videos for each round of the tournament, with interviews and other types of content. Keep an eye on our socials for the videos!
Tournament Schedule
Pairings for Round 4
Open:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Javokhir Sindarov | GM Fabiano Caruana |
| GM Matthias Blübaum | GM R Praggnanandhaa |
| GM Wei Yi | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| GM Andrey Esipenko | GM Anish Giri |
Women’s:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Anna Muzychuk | GM Kateryna Lagno |
| GM Bibisara Assaubayeva | GM Tan Zhongyi |
| GM Divya Deshmukh | GM Zhu Jiner |
| GM Vaishali Rameshbabu | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina |
Interviews
Make sure to check out all of our interviews from the Candidates on our YouTube channel! All our round 2 interviews are also embedded throughout this article.
Lichess Broadcast
The Lichess broadcast for the Candidates can be found here:
https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-candidates-2026/oe4JqS3R
Open Leaderboard
Open Overview
GM Fabiano Caruana defeated GM Wei Yi in a miniature that lasted just 19 moves, while GM Javokhir Sindarov won against GM R Praggnanandhaa after playing a creative piece sacrifice. GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Anish Giri and GM Matthias Blübaum vs. GM Andrey Esipenko were two correct, calm draws.
GM Fabiano Caruana vs. GM Wei Yi 1-0
Watch our interview with GM Fabiano Caruana here:
In a symmetrical English Opening, GM Wei Yi uncorked a powerful novelty against GM Fabiano Caruana, which saw him gambit two pawns to trap Caruana’s king in the center. Caruana was spending a lot of time, ending up nearly an hour down on the clock, so it seemed as if Wei’s opening surprise was reaping the rewards. Unfortunately for Wei, Caruana found a good setup, threatening to trap Wei’s wayward bishop, and after he failed to find the correct 16…Nf6, Wei blundered again, allowing Caruana to win in just 19 moves.
GM Axel Bachmann has annotated this game for you to learn from:
https://lichess.org/study/Y1yXP80U/w6WpKB6q#0
GM R Praggnanandhaa vs. GM Javokhir Sindarov 0-1
Watch our interview with GM Javokhir Sindarov here:
The seemingly calm and positional Queen’s Gambit Declined played by GM R Praggnanandhaa and GM Javokhir Sindarov belied the chaos that was unfolding over the board. With Praggnanandhaa’s king in the center, the game took a sharp turn as Sindarov sacrificed a piece to completely open up Praggnanandhaa’s king. Praggnanandhaa retained a slight advantage, but after he missed Sindarov’s powerful 19…e5! retort, the game started slipping from Praggnanandhaa’s hands. Sindarov was better, but did not play perfectly, and for some brief moments Praggnanandhaa was back into the game. However, in as Praggnanandhaa was in the throes of severe time trouble, he sacrificed a pawn with 33. c5??, allowing Sindarov’s pieces to crash through.
GM Axel Bachmann has annotated this game for you to learn from:
https://lichess.org/study/Y1yXP80U/WLDXdhfw#0
GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Anish Giri 1/2-1/2
GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Anish Giri; photo: Yoav Nis
GM Hikaru Nakamura’s English Opening saw a very sturdy central structure appear on the board, whereafter GM Anish Giri’s pieces were well-placed and Black was not under any pressure. The game even briefly started turning in Giri’s favor; however, the central structure simply afforded too much solidity, and a draw was the logical conclusion of the game.
https://lichess.org/study/SDizieNR/AaJLmuxI
GM Matthias Blübaum vs. GM Andrey Esipenko 1/2-1/2
GM Matthias Blübaum needed to find multiple highly precise and nuanced moves to maintain even a semblance of an opening advantage against GM Andrey Esipenko. With the center getting liquidated very quickly, Blübaum was no longer theoretically better and had to pull the brakes to secure the draw as Esipenko was looking practically better in the endgame.
https://lichess.org/study/SDizieNR/8fhADxUe#0
Women’s Leaderboard
Women’s Overview
GM Zhu Jiner had the upper hand against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, but in the complications, she lost her advantage and had to resign in short order. GM Tan Zhongyi vs. GM Kateryna Lagno was a back-and-forth game where both sides were winning twice, but it was Tan who made the last mistake. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina failed to convert a winning rook endgame against GM Divya Deshmuk, while GM Vaishali Rameshbabu vs. GM Anna Muzychuk was a quiet draw.
GM Zhu Jiner vs. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva 0-1
Watch our interview with GM Bibisara Assaubayeva here:
GM Zhu Jiner’s preparation in the Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack netted her a large advantage against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who played in enterprising fashion with a kingside attack, but was also rather underdeveloped. Nevertheless, White’s play was not easy, and, on move 20, Zhu was enticed to force matters rather than play more slowly to consolidate her advantage. Assaubayeva was soon no longer worse, and with only the kings, queens, and a pair of rooks and opposite-colored bishops on the board, Zhu allowed Assaubayeva a strong attack, an advantage which she transformed into a winning endgame.
WGM Petra Papp has annotated this game for you to learn from:
https://lichess.org/study/Y1yXP80U/MgJOWRgU#0
GM Tan Zhongyi vs. GM Kateryna Lagno 0-1
GM Tan Zhongyi vs. GM Kateryna Lagno; photo: Michal Walusza FIDE Candidates 2026
GM Tan Zhongyi and GM Kateryna Lagno played the most topsy-turvy game of the tournament so far as the advantage switched sides a staggering three times. First, Tan played the opening well, even though Lagno was also responding to Tan’s threats accurately. The edge Tan had built up disappeared in one fell swoop with 20…Rg4??, when, following a tactical sequence, Tan was down a pawn. In time trouble, Lagno blundered a full piece, though, which Tan gained with a forcing three-move tactic. Just as it seemed Tan would go on to win the game, she played the surprisingly losing 42. Qxd5??, which only loses because of an absolutely stunning checkmating idea, which Lagno found: 42…Nf4!! 43. exf4 Rh6+ 44. Kg3 Qd3+ 45. Qf3 g4!!, threatening Rh3 mate. Tan played on, but she was down material and the position was hopeless.
WGM Petra Papp has annotated this game for you to learn from:
https://lichess.org/study/Y1yXP80U/buCQdWKB#0
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina vs. GM Divya Deshmuk 1/2-1/2
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina vs. GM Divya Deshmuk; photo: Michal Walusza FIDE Candidates 2026
Rook endgames are never as easy as they look. After having outplayed GM Divya Deshmukh in the opening, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina was well on her way to converting her advantage into a win as she enjoyed the better side of a pawn-up rook endgame. However, the old adage of “all rook endgames are drawn” proved to be once again true; Goryachkina had just one narrow path toward victory, which she failed to find.
https://lichess.org/study/2qEm9CH3/nXH4CkD5#0
GM Vaishali Rameshbabu vs. GM Anna Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
GM Vaishali Rameshbabu’s Italian Opening showed no cracks, both for her and GM Anna Muzychuk. A trade-heavy line of the opening saw pieces get traded left, right, and center, and with almost every move paving the way to further liquidation, the players agreed to a draw in a rook + two pawns vs. rook + two pawns endgame.
https://lichess.org/study/2qEm9CH3/UnHEOEpu#0
Simulations
Lichess ran 1 million simulations of round results to determine the Candidates winner. Here are our results after round 3:
Open Candidates:
Women’s Candidates: