GM Javokhir Sindarov pounced on a mistake by leader GM Vincent Keymer to grab his first classical win since the FIDE Candidates and transform the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 standings with two rounds to go. Keymer was caught by GM Fabiano Caruana, who similarly took over against GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and GM Jorden van Foreest, who pocketed his forfeit win over GM Alireza Firouzja. There were draws in GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs. GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac and in the day’s longest game, GM Anish Giri vs. Wesley So.
Round eight is on Friday, May 22, starting at 9:10 a.m. ET / 15:10 CEST / 6:40 p.m. IST.
All four games in the playing hall could easily have ended in draws again, but both Praggnanandhaa and Keymer were brutally punished for pushing for more.
Round 7 Results
That means we now have a three-way tie for first, with Caruana and Van Foreest catching Keymer. Giri is half a point behind, followed by four players on 50 percent.
Standings After Round 7
Keymer went into round seven on the back of two rest days in a row, the second because of a forfeit win over Firouzja. He had a one-point lead, but that was instantly wiped out by Van Foreest gaining his own forfeit win. Still, all Keymer needed to do was make a draw to go into the last two rounds as the sole leader. He didn’t manage.
Sindarov 1-0 Keymer
Sindarov’s run in the first half of the FIDE Candidates Tournament was the stuff of legend, but in the second half he slowed down, winning a single game in round 10 vs. Praggnanandhaa. That meant that by round seven in Bucharest he’d gone 10 classical games without a win. Understandably, then, he was very happy when he went on to beat the tournament leader!
It was a day that recalled Sindarov’s experience in Cyprus, when he played fast, won the opening battles, and confidently went on to convert his chances. He’d guessed that Keymer would go for the solid Tarrasch with 4…c5, and said he’d “prepared not too much, but a little.” 8.Qd2 instead of 8.e3 was already very unusual.
By move 12 we were only following a rapid game GM Ian Nepomniachtchi had played against GM Vidit Gujrathi in the 2023 FIDE World Cup. That game ended in a draw, and the same outcome seemed likely in Bucharest until Keymer played one rash bishop move and found himself in trouble. “Maybe he expected he had some attack,” said Sindarov, who calculated a winning sequence culminating in the sting in the tail, 30.b4!, after which he correctly assessed, “it’s a completely resignable position.”
The queen could no longer recapture on g5, and the rest was very easy.
Sindarov commented: “Finally I’m very happy with some good game. I played also with Alireza not bad, but today I really played very nicely—I calculated a lot!”
Today I really played very nicely—I calculated a lot!”
—Javokhir Sindarov
Sindarov only drew the game against Firouzja, which isn’t ideal when his rivals are getting forfeit wins, and he noted that after Keymer he also plays Van Foreest and then So a round after they have a rest with a forfeit win. “My opponents will get an advantage,” said the world championship challenger, who knows he’ll probably have to win his last two games to have any chance of first place, since he currently trails the leaders by a full point.
That win over Keymer was great news for Caruana, who had made only draws before the rest day but now finds himself in the co-lead.
Praggnanandhaa 0-1 Caruana
Praggnanandhaa was unbeaten as he won the Super Chess Classic in 2025, and he only lost games in the playoff in 2024, so that he’d gone 24 classical games unbeaten in Bucharest… until this round. It wasn’t about how the game began, since Caruana confessed, “out of the opening I would have been happy to survive,” since he’d been surprised in a position he’d played recently against So in Titled Tuesday.
Caruana was never really in trouble, however, played a strong pawn sacrifice, and when Praggnanandhaa overpressed with an f-pawn push that was the chance for Caruana to take over. He did, and then after 25.Qe2? he was able to clinch victory.
Caruana’s initial impression was that Praggnanandhaa’s move was “kind of clever,” but then, “I just started to calculate 25…Nf4! and I was kind of amazed, because all of the variations always work out.”
That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.
That win also meant the day ended with notable shifts on the live rating list. Caruana moved above GM Hikaru Nakamura into the world number-two spot, while Sindarov is back at number five.
The day also featured two draws, with local hero Deac making it four draws in a row against the world chess elite.
It was a familiar story, as Vachier-Lagrave tried to complicate, got little at the board, but could still have hope based on his opponent’s time management. By move 32 Deac was down to a minute on his clock, but he’d spent his time contemplating different ways to draw, and he succeeded.
There was much more intrigue in the remaining game, which was also the last to finish. Our commentators were puzzled when So blitzed out 11…Bb7?! instead of the 11…Bd7 that others had chosen in the same position.
It looked like a mistake precisely because of the 12.Nf5 that followed from Giri in the game, with Black soon unpleasantly pinned from multiple angles.
Giri soon traded the pressure for a very pleasant endgame, but converting a slight edge against So is much easier said than done. Some mistakes were no doubt made, but there were no glaring errors before the game ended in a 50-move draw.
That draw was better for Giri, who’s only half a point behind the leaders, but So has the strong consolation that he gets a one-point bye without needing to play in round eight.
Caruana vs. Keymer will be a huge clash of the leaders, while a rested Van Foreest faces Sindarov.
Round 8 Pairings
How to watch?
The 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania is the second event on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and runs from May 13 to 23 at the Museum of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest. It’s a 10-player round-robin with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The prize fund is $475,000.
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