Many thanks to @AdrianoNunesFX for writing this recap!
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 11
Open:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Fabiano Caruana | GM Javokhir Sindarov |
| GM Anish Giri | GM Andrey Esipenko |
| GM Hikaru Nakamura | GM Wei Yi |
| GM R Praggnanandhaa | GM Matthias Blübaum |
Women’s:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Aleksandra Goryachkina | GM Vaishali Rameshbabu |
| GM Zhu Jiner | GM Divya Deshmukh |
| GM Kateryna Lagno | GM Anna Muzychuk |
| GM Tan Zhongyi | GM Bibisara Assaubayeva |
Interviews
Make sure to check out all of our interviews from the Candidates on our YouTube channel!
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 Javokhir Sindarov scores another and record-breaking victory over GM R Praggnanandhaa, increasing his lead to two full points over second place GM Anish Giri. GM Fabiano Caruana took risks by employing the very sharp Winawer French as Black, but GM Wei Yi chose a solid approach and never gave the American grandmaster any winning chances. GM Andrey Esipenko and GM Matthias Bluebaum played the calmest draw of the round. The game between GM Anish Giri and GM Hikaru Nakamura also ended in a draw, meaning that every but GM Anish Giri is close to mathematically out of contention for first place.
GM Javokhir Sindarov vs. GM R Praggnanandhaa 1-0
GM Javokhir Sindarov vs. GM R Praggnanandhaa; photo: Dominik Töpfer
Having the White pieces and needing only to draw his remaining games, GM Javokhir Sindarov was ready for a solid game, but that didn’t happen in this game. GM R Praggnanandhaa was clearly looking to avenge his loss to the Uzbek star in round 3, as he chose a very sharp line in a Queen’s Gambit Declined and Ragozin hybrid. Sindarov blinked first, as he messed up his preparation by playing 9. Bg3 instead of 9. Be5, but it was still fine for him. The details were similar, as Sindarov confidently sacrificed a piece knowing he would have at least a draw due to Black’s king being so open. Praggnanandhaa’s low time didn’t help him, and the only mistake of the whole game happened after his 22… Bd7, which allowed Sindarov to deploy an elegant combination that gave the tournament leader a queen vs two rooks endgame. The conversion was ruthless, as Sindarov played quickly and correctly, leading Praggnandhaa to resign on move 53. With this victory, Sindarov extended his lead to two full points over 2nd place Giri.
https://lichess.org/study/G3oSxPgs/RN9BrHlK#0
GM Anish Giri vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura 1/2-1/2
GM Anish Giri vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura; photo: Dominik Töpfer
A critical game for the tournament standings as GM Anish Giri could hope to decrease GM Javokhir Sindarov’s lead over him. GM Hikaru Nakamura is almost mathematically out of contention for 1st place, but his win over GM Fabiano Caruana in round 9 has shown that he isn’t afraid of spoiling his opponent’s campaigns. In the game, Nakamura employed the modern 3… h6 idea in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, with Giri deciding to trade pawns early on d5 and try to press on the endgame. However, Nakamura was never in any danger, and he even could afford to sacrifice a piece to secure the draw by threefold repetition move 36.
https://lichess.org/study/G3oSxPgs/Uav0LRGT#0
GM Wei Yi vs. GM Fabiano Caruana 1/2-1/2
GM Wei Yi vs. GM Fabiano Caruana; photo: Dominik Töpfer
Already on move one GM Fabiano Caruana indicated that he would take risks in order to play for a win; he chose the ever-entertaining French Defense, specifically the very sharp Winawer variation. GM Wei Yi decided to employ a sideline, 4. Ne2, instead of testing his opponent’s preparation in the sharpest lines that arise after 4. e5. By move 20, the Chinese grandmaster found himself down to 23 minutes, needing to make another 20 moves to reach time control. This factor ended up being irrelevant as Wei Yi chose the simplest solutions whenever he could, simplifying the position and not leaving any winning chances for Caruana. The game ended in a draw by threefold repetition on move 39.
https://lichess.org/study/G3oSxPgs/rnuH0n1M#0
GM Andrey Esipenko vs. GM Matthias Blübaum 1/2-1/2
We saw another Petroff Defense on the board, but this time it was a fairly uneventful one. GM Andrey Esipenko didn’t allow any brilliancies like in his game against GM Wei Yi in round 7. GM Matthias Bluebaum seems increasingly satisfied to go for the “half point sweep”, with his only loss so far being to GM Fabiano Caruana. This game never really got going, and Esipenko and Bluebaum drew by threefold repetition on move 40.
https://lichess.org/study/G3oSxPgs/UO81qK9U#0
Women’s Leaderboard
Women’s Overview
GM R Vaishali going for a safe game as Black against GM Anna Muzychuk paid off as she took over the sole lead. GM Zhu Jiner was unable to remain in the shared lead after her loss to GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, and now trails Vaishali by half point. Despite being out of contention for first place, GM Tan Zhongyi went for a very combative opening in her game against GM Kateryna, but the game ended in a draw. GM Aleksandra Gorychkina grabbed her first win in the event after GM Divya Deshmukh failed to find a study-like sequence to save the game. Vaishali’s lead is only one point over sixth place, so the tournament victory is still within reach for most of the players.
GM Divya Deshmukh vs. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina 0-1
GM Divya Deshmukh vs. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina; Dominik Töpfer
A long maneuvering battle in the Ruy Lopez set up the pace for GM Divya Deshmukh and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. When the tension in the position was finally dissipating, Deshmukh was finding herself being very low on time from move 44, leading her to blunder on move 53. On move 57 Goryachkina allowed the Women’s World Cup winner an opportunity to force a study-like draw, but on move 58 Deshmukh made the final mistake and Goryachkina grabbed the opportunity to score her first in the event on move 62.
https://lichess.org/study/Es2IjSwE/8jbePsZT#0
GM Bibisara Assaubayeva vs. GM Zhu Jiner 1-0
Despite the players going for the usually ultra-sharp Moscow variation of the Semi-Slav Defense, the game quickly took a peaceful shape. On move 18 GM Bibisara Assaubayeva started to repeat moves, and GM Zhu Jiner boldly declined a threefold repetition with 21… Qb8. The players reached a very unbalanced position that was equal in computer terms but very dangerous from a human perspective. Assaubayeva’s distant passed pawn gained more strength after every small inaccuracy from Zhu Jiner, and soon the Kazakh star obtained a winning position. After carefully defending against the Chinese’s last ditch attempts, Assaubayeva scored her second win in the event on move 60.
https://lichess.org/study/Es2IjSwE/zdzTivbL#0
GM Anna Muzychk vs. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu 1/2-1/2
GM Anna Muzychk vs. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu; Dominik Töpfer
The least dramatic game of the Women’s section was by no means the least important one for the tournament standings. GM Anna Muzychuk decided to play it safe by an early pawn trade in the center, but this allowed GM R Vaishali to equalize comfortably and soon the draw was on the horizon. The game ended in a draw by mutual agreement on move 42, which allowed Vaishali to take over the sole lead after the other games ended.
https://lichess.org/study/Es2IjSwE/H0AOxSX8#0
GM Kateryna Lagno vs. GM Tan Zhongyi 1/2-1/2
Despite GM Tan Zhongyi being pretty much out of contention for first place, she didn’t shy away from a fight and employed the O’Kelly Sicilian, an uncommon line at the elite level. GM Kateryna Lagno seemed equally prepared and both players reached an equal endgame by move 25. Tan Zhongyi made a small inaccuracy on move 26 and a serious mistake on move 29, which Lagno failed to exploit and the position was equal again. The game ended in a draw by threefold repetition on move 53.
https://lichess.org/study/Es2IjSwE/Jy4QBYwP#0
Simulations
Lichess ran 1 million simulations of round results to determine the Candidates winner. Here are our results after round 4:
Open Candidates:
Women’s Candidates: