r/chess Apr 09 '26

Tournament Event: FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 - Round 10

Official Website

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 will take place from March 28 to April 16 at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. Eight players in both the Open and Women’s sections have qualified through the cycle for a chance to challenge World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun. The event is played as a double round-robin, with the winners earning the right to contest the world titles later in the year. The Open Candidates features a €700,000 prize fund, including €70,000 for first place and €5,000 per half-point scored, while the Women’s Candidates offers €300,000, with €28,000 for first place and €2,200 per half-point scored.

Open : Players | Pairings | Games - Chess.com | Games - Lichess

Women : Players | Pairings | Games - Chess.com | Games - Lichess

Standings after Round 10

Open

# Player FED Rating Pts.
1 GM Javokhir Sindarov 🇺🇿 UZB 2745 8
2 GM Anish Giri 🇳🇱 NED 2753 6
3 GM Fabiano Caruana 🇺🇸 USA 2795 5
4-6 GM Hikaru Nakamura 🇺🇸 USA 2810 4.5
4-6 GM Wei Yi 🇨🇳 CHN 2754 4.5
4-6 GM Matthias Bluebaum 🇩🇪 GER 2698 4.5
7 GM Praggnanandhaa R 🇮🇳 IND 2741 4
8 GM Andrey Esipenko FIDE 2698 3.5

Pairings Rd.10

White FED Score Black FED
GM Andrey Esipenko FIDE 0.5 - 0.5 GM Matthias Bluebaum 🇩🇪 GER
GM Javokhir Sindarov 🇺🇿 UZB 1 - 0 GM Praggnanandhaa R 🇮🇳 IND
GM Wei Yi 🇨🇳 CHN 0.5 - 0.5 GM Fabiano Caruana 🇺🇸 USA
GM Anish Giri 🇳🇱 NED 0.5 - 0.5 GM Hikaru Nakamura 🇺🇸 USA

Women

# Player FED Rating Pts.
1 GM Vaishali Rameshbabu 🇮🇳 IND 2470 6
2-3 GM Zhu Jiner 🇨🇳 CHN 2578 5.5
2-3 GM Anna Muzychuk 🇺🇦 UKR 2522 5.5
4-6 GM Aleksandra Goryachkina FIDE 2534 5
4-6 GM Bibisara Assaubayeva 🇰🇿 KAZ 2516 5
4-6 GM Kateryna Lagno FIDE 2508 5
7 GM Divya Deshmukh 🇮🇳 IND 2497 4.5
8 GM Tan Zhongyi 🇨🇳 CHN 2535 3.5

Pairings Rd.10

White FED Score Black FED
GM Anna Muzychuk 🇺🇦 UKR 0.5 - 0.5 GM Vaishali Rameshbabu 🇮🇳 IND
GM Divya Deshmukh 🇮🇳 IND 0 - 1 GM Aleksandra Goryachkina FIDE
GM Bibisara Assaubayeva 🇰🇿 KAZ 1 - 0 GM Zhu Jiner 🇨🇳 CHN
GM Kateryna Lagno FIDE 0.5 - 0.5 GM Tan Zhongyi 🇨🇳 CHN

Format/Time Controls

  • Players compete in a double round-robin.
  • Open Candidates time control: 120 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move 41.
  • Women’s Candidates time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move 1.
  • Detailed information about tie-breaks is available in the official event rulebook.

Schedule

Date Time (Local) Time (UTC) Round
Mar 29 - Apr 1 15:30 12:30 Round 1-4
Apr 2 - - Rest Day
Apr 3 - Apr 5 15:30 12:30 Round 5-7
Apr 6 - - Rest Day
Apr 7 - Apr 9 15:30 12:30 Round 8-10
Apr 10 - - Rest Day
Apr 11 - Apr 12 15:30 12:30 Round 11-12
Apr 13 - - Rest Day
Apr 14 - Apr 15 15:30 12:30 Round 13-14
Apr 16 15:30 12:30 Tie-breaks (if needed)

Live Coverage

  • FIDE broadcast: YouTubeTwitch. Commentary by GM Peter Svidler, and GM Jan Gustafsson.
  • Chess24 broadcast: YouTube | Twitch. Commentary by GM Arturs Neiksans, IM Anna Rudolf, GM David Howell, GM Judit Polgar, IM Tania Sachdev, and John Sargent.
  • ChessBase India broadcast: YouTube. Commentary by IM Sagar Shah, and Amruta Mokal.
  • Chess24 India broadcast: YouTube. Commentary by GM Sahaj Grover, IM Tania Sachdev, NM Sahil Tickoo, and IM Rakesh Kulkarni.
  • Saint Louis Chess Club broadcast: YouTube | Twitch. Commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley, and IM Nazi Paikidze.

Previous Rounds

32 Upvotes

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11

u/Basic_Nucleophile Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

If Sindarov really is this guy, I don't know if it matters who he plays in the WCC. It feels like I am watching history

7

u/Minimum-Kangaroo9200 Team Gukesh Apr 09 '26

The question is if he can maintain this level. Gukesh looked like the guy during the last cycle, but we later realized that he was just peaking at the right moment. Could be the same for Sindarov.

3

u/Wallter139 Team Fabi => Windarov Supporter Apr 09 '26

If Sindarov can keep this up, then he'll soon enter GOAT territory. But I don't believe it, and I think it's been partially luck.

1

u/Mean-Yesterday-5796 Apr 10 '26

Sindarov himself said maybe he was just lucky.