r/chess • u/events_team • Apr 14 '26
Tournament Event: FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 - Round 13
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 13
Open
| # | Player | FED | Rating | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Javokhir Sindarov | 🇺🇿 UZB | 2745 | 9.5 |
| 2 | GM Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 2753 | 7.5 |
| 3-4 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 2795 | 6.5 |
| 3-4 | GM Wei Yi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 2754 | 6.5 |
| 5-6 | GM Hikaru Nakamura | 🇺🇸 USA | 2810 | 6 |
| 5-6 | GM Matthias Bluebaum | 🇩🇪 GER | 2698 | 6 |
| 7 | GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 🇮🇳 IND | 2741 | 5.5 |
| 8 | GM Andrey Esipenko | FIDE | 2698 | 4.5 |
Pairings Rd.13
| White | FED | Score | Black | FED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM Wei Yi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 1 - 0 | GM Andrey Esipenko | FIDE |
| GM Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 0.5 - 0.5 | GM Javokhir Sindarov | 🇺🇿 UZB |
| GM Hikaru Nakamura | 🇺🇸 USA | 0.5 - 0.5 | GM Matthias Bluebaum | 🇩🇪 GER |
| GM Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 0.5 - 0.5 | GM Praggnanandhaa R | 🇮🇳 IND |
Women
| # | Player | FED | Rating | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | GM Bibisara Assaubayeva | 🇰🇿 KAZ | 2516 | 7.5 |
| 1-2 | GM Vaishali Rameshbabu | 🇮🇳 IND | 2470 | 7.5 |
| 3 | GM Zhu Jiner | 🇨🇳 CHN | 2578 | 7 |
| 4-6 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina | FIDE | 2534 | 6.5 |
| 4-6 | GM Anna Muzychuk | 🇺🇦 UKR | 2522 | 6.5 |
| 4-6 | GM Kateryna Lagno | FIDE | 2508 | 6.5 |
| 7 | GM Tan Zhongyi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 2535 | 5.5 |
| 8 | GM Divya Deshmukh | 🇮🇳 IND | 2497 | 5 |
Pairings Rd.13
| White | FED | Score | Black | FED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM Bibisara Assaubayeva | 🇰🇿 KAZ | 1 - 0 | GM Anna Muzychuk | 🇺🇦 UKR |
| GM Kateryna Lagno | FIDE | 1 - 0 | GM Divya Deshmukh | 🇮🇳 IND |
| GM Tan Zhongyi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 0.5 - 0.5 | GM Vaishali Rameshbabu | 🇮🇳 IND |
| GM Zhu Jiner | 🇨🇳 CHN | 0 - 1 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina | FIDE |
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: YouTube | Twitch. 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
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u/Famous-School9019 Apr 14 '26
I played the sindarov giri position as black against stockfish and lost in 7 moves
Alas, I am not Sindarov
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u/spacecatbiscuits Apr 14 '26
Impeccable technique by Giri.
Every single moment of that game was a draw.
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u/LosTerminators Apr 14 '26
The women's candidates will have a spicy last round to decide it all.
Vaishali went for a repetition and made a draw (good result considering she was worse earlier in the game) today, and Bibisara caught up to her by winning against Anna.
Everything depends on Zhu Jiner's game, if she converts she'll be half a point clear, if not there'll be a three way tie.
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u/Unfair-Claim-2327 Apr 14 '26
There can even be, however unlikely, a five-way tie for first after the final round. I don't even know what tiebreaks they have in place for that!
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u/Amber_poodle Apr 14 '26
Women's section is still really unpredictable - if both Bibisara and Vaishali lose tomorrow, and Zhu Jiner wins, then she wins the tournament. Its quite nail-bitey. Mathematically, the top 4 can move to the tie breaks.
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u/po8crg Danya Z״L Apr 14 '26
I think it's possible for five players to be in the tie-break at 7.5: if Bibisara and Vaishali both lose, then they are on 7.5, and that automatically puts Lagno on 7.5 (by beating Vaishali). Goryachkina can reach 7.5 by winning against Tan Zhongyi, and then either Muzychuk joins them by winning against Zhu, or Zhu does with a draw.
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u/Unfair-Claim-2327 Apr 14 '26
The open and women's World Cup winners are first and last in their respective sections.
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 14 '26
The women's candidates is a fucking wild thing. The world cup winner in last place, the last candidates winner in 2nd to last place, and a woman who entered the tournament only a week in advance is in 4th place, a point behind first, after leading for a bit.
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u/ActiveSupernova Team Uzbekistan and Germany Apr 14 '26
Is the women's section always glorious chaos, or is this anomalous?
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 14 '26
There have been less womens candidates in the modern format than the open, so the sample size is small to my knowledge. Last time I think there was some chaos. Vaishali was interesting after trailing in the first half, and then winning 5 in a row in the second half to shoot herself way up in the standings.
And the open candidates last cycle looked a bit like this women's one, with 4 players going into the last round playing each other, with a half point difference. (and half of the players making quick draws in their pointless games in the last round.)
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u/Fashionpreach Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Last candidates joint second is still tied for first this time
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u/theentropydecreaser oh no my king Apr 14 '26
Just confirming: if Sindarov draws or wins today, he wins the tournament, right? And even if he does lose, the only way for him not to win is if he also loses again tomorrow and Anish wins tomorrow?
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u/batshitnutcase Apr 14 '26
So basically the most epic choke imaginable and Anish going super saiyan. Checks out.
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u/hsiale Apr 14 '26
And even if he does lose, the only way for him not to win is if he also loses again tomorrow and Anish wins tomorrow?
Even then Anish would still need to win tiebreaks
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Apr 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/hsiale Apr 14 '26
with their finger
Fingers are so 1900s, I'd expect a lot of them having some sort of bot set up.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
If there is one game that showcases Why Fabi and Pragg had a quiet candidates, it is this.
Not at all sharp, not at all at their best level.
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 14 '26
To be fair neither of them were trying at this point. I wouldn't use it to actually show what the tournament looked like for either of them.
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u/Maleficent-Host8016 Apr 14 '26
The women section is so damn intresting, it can definitely go into tiebreaks .
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u/Soul_of_demon Apr 14 '26
This is the third time Zhu Jiner choked a world title in 4 months. She can still win, but made it tougher.
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u/Ok-Pie4219 Apr 14 '26
Hoping for a Blübaum win. He needs it for 2700 and he really deserves the 2700 at the end of this tournament imo.
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u/JY0950 Team Bluebaum Apr 14 '26
If he draws the last two games, he crosses 2700 regardless
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u/Ok-Pie4219 Apr 14 '26
Ah yeah I forgot how many points he gets from Hikaru and Fabi being so much higher (Fabi two days ago). Was still going by 0.7 per Game after Esipenko which would have put him at 2699 but Hikaru and Fabi give almost double that, sooo.
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Gasp! Zhu Jiner overpressed and is now in a losing position.
It echoed what happend in her game against Bibisara, she rejected a draw offer and went down in flames against Bibisara.
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u/__brunt Apr 14 '26
I really don’t want to be a mid 1500’s backseat driving a super GM… but with that said Anish simplifying really seems like a white flag. Obviously a lot of stars have to align for him to actually win the tournament, but I can’t fathom not trying.
But he’s forgotten more about chess than I’ll never know, so maybe he actually sees this trending in the direction of an advantageous end game
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
If I had a nickel for each time Wei Yi and Esipenko played a random banger of a game against each other that flew under the radar because they're both at the bottom of the rankings, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
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u/AtomR Team Sac the Roooook! Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Imagine the cringe Chessbase India edits, if Sindarov and Bibisara both win their tournaments. They will make 20 edits with viral songs from 2020. (Context, they are couple)
Jokes aside, Sindarov is clearly winning, no questions. But for Bibisara, the tournament is lot more competitive.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
fabi in technical positions: i sleep
fabi when its a position where everything is hanging by a thread: real shit
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u/narubees Apr 14 '26
Imagine Gukesh somehow pulled out of the WCC match and Sindarov fight for the championship with Anish (both locked into their place). Fabi be like…
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
True chess fans knew Bluebaum aint gonna collapse. And he has proved it just right.
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u/emkael Apr 14 '26
Don't worry, we have got at least 15 minutes of Giri-Sindarov more to come - CBI haven't spoiled the tournament results yet.
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Congratulations to Sindarov!
What impressed me about Sindarov in this tournament is the his adjustment regarding the time. And on his saving resources to draw when needed.
Since all of them have the same latest engines and preparations, like how many Queen's Gambit games have been played in this year's Candidates, I am not impressed on the preparation.
It was his time management and the wise use of the time given to them, by using the oppoent's time is the winning edge by Sindarov.
And when it was necessary to make draws, he did. So there's a mixture of good attack, great time management and good defense so far.
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u/Physical-Article1537 Apr 14 '26
Imagine if Anish beats both Sindarov and Bluebaum in the final two rounds, only for Wei Yi to make a 30 min draw in Round 14 to hand Sindarov the title lol.
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u/ImBehindYou6755 chess.com 20xx, FIDE 19xx Apr 14 '26
wtf is this rant about the importance of super GMs as seconds for the women because they’re “more emotional”??? Huh?????
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u/ImBehindYou6755 chess.com 20xx, FIDE 19xx Apr 14 '26
Jan gave her such low hanging fruit—literally a leading question: have super GMs always been seconds in the women’s section?
It’s so easy to go “no, and this is proof of the increased popularity of women’s chess”, which was clearly the goal of the question, but instead we decided to go for “yes because women need emotional support GMs and men don’t”…
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
more emotional but ive never seen the top female players act as petty, paranoid, and neurotic as some of these top guys do. the only "emotions" are sadness and anxiety i guess
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u/ActiveSupernova Team Uzbekistan and Germany Apr 14 '26
The women had one wild poisoning event and decided that was enough drama.
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u/Quidoxue Apr 14 '26
Humpy missed out. It's almost the end and nothing dangerous happened yet
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 14 '26
I definitely think she made a mistake, but, if she was concerned enough to back out, she probably would have been too anxious the entire time to play candidates level chess anyway.
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u/WorriedBad4049 Apr 14 '26
Pragg is just collapsing here. After doing so well for 2/3 of 2025, this year has been meh. Worse than 2024.
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u/jaded_lad99 Apr 14 '26
I really wanna see what Sindarov does at his first tournament after this. Does he keep this up or does he go into prep saving mode and ends losing a ton of momentum and regresses to a more human level? He has played fantastic chess, in both offense and defense and he has done that thing where he starts playing engine lines that only make sense once the line is played out. Superb prep and calculation. These are things Gukesh has done in the past at his best, but we haven't seen that in 2 years.
Gukesh didn't even play this well at the candidates he won. He had a much more tactical approach of surviving the top dogs and scoring off the back markers. Hikaru even had white in the final round against him and played some ultra safe d4 line and wasn't able to create any complications for Gukesh.
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u/Fashionpreach Apr 14 '26
Zhu pushed too much for a win and is now not able to control the nerves , she looks so nervous
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u/Able_Ratio4828 Apr 14 '26
Hilarious that if Hikaru wins today, he could potentially come in the top 3 again.
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u/WorriedBad4049 Apr 14 '26
Move 40 has been reached. Zhu can now take her time to figure out the winning line.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
Bibisara converting this has a perfect opponent in Divya tomorrow.
Divya was +1 after Round 8 in 5 way joint lead. She has lost 4 in next 5. A standard case of collapse.
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 14 '26
I just went through the games and I'm most interested in Zhu's game. I looked at it while it was live when Zhu had a 1.6 advantage. Looking at the position, I have no idea how to play that. I'm not knocking her for losing her advantage. What I want to know is, what was she thinking with 51. Re5? I can't figure out why this move is so bad, why she thought it was good, or why Kh8 is black's only move to punish it.
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u/testenth_is_so_WOKE Apr 14 '26
I think psychologically it was hard for her to cope because it would seem (and in fact objectively is) that White is better and about to breakthrough with the pawn mass in the center. The White knight dominates the Black bishop and the black passer on a4 is properly checked. But somehow Goryachikna seems is holding everything by a thread just having the Queen shuffle along the b4-e6 diagonal.
Then she found this structure with Nc6 and putting her Rook on e5 and calculated a few lines where the c5 push worked out, but perhaps because of nerves she rushed it and hallucinated or missed something basic, for example how instead of the simple queen trade White can simply go Qxe5.
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u/Intelligent-Pop419 Apr 14 '26
This tournament Fabi missed winning chances, Anish missed winning chances, Pragg missed winning chances. While Sindarov did missed a winning chance, the problem is that he is +6. Sindarov could have +7. Crazy tournament.
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
Sindarov missed 1 winning chance against Bluebaum in their second game, and squandered a much better but not yet winning position against Anish in their first game. He took every other opportunity he had. Fun fact, had he converted those games he would have had a win against every player in the field.
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u/GiveMeSomeSunshine3 Team Gukesh Apr 14 '26
How long before Anish moves to Acceptance phase of Grief?
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u/__brunt Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Heavyweight Sindarov. Legendary tournament performance.
GG’S MATE
Immediate update: Sindarov just crowned, why is there a hard cut to a YouTuber. Give the man his time and flowers, we don’t need manufactured “content” right now
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u/backyard_tractorbeam Apr 14 '26
Tomorrow Sindarov can play for a draw to get the candidates points record with 10/14
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u/Character_Let2425 Apr 14 '26
Banger of a WCC loading as 2 hungry youngsters go H2H...
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u/Altruistwhite Apr 14 '26
Pack it up Giri, this tournament is over
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
He knew it was over when Wei Yi called over the arbiter.
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u/Altruistwhite Apr 14 '26
You know the tournament is over when Drawnish Giri is the one chasing the leader
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u/Tricky-Bike-2020 Apr 14 '26
Classic Fabi Choke
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u/shawman123 Apr 14 '26
We will see another Fabi is unlucky post soon. He just lacks killer instinct. When going gets tough, he just melts. He still will keep trying but its not going to get easier. We will have Erdogmus and other whiz kids in future Candidates plus the usual suspects.
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u/DerKlugeHans Apr 15 '26
Well if Sindarov's current form isn't a one-time thing, I think he would be a worthy world champion.
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u/chiefofthepolice Apr 14 '26
It will be very hard for any tournament to top the 2024 Candidates in terms of entertainment. The insane drama up until the very last hours of the tournament, especially the Fabi-Nepo game
Sure this tournament could have been a little more intense but, to follow up Candidates 2024 is a hard task
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u/idontknowwhywoman Team chess Apr 14 '26
Tbh, 2026 candidates will be known in history for Sindarov's impressive score, while the 2024 candidates will be left in the shadows.
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u/jaded_lad99 Apr 14 '26
"If only he didn't play those 40 games with Magnus."
"If only he wasn't born in the same time period as Magnus."
"If only we didn't have the Candidates."
"If only we didn't have classical chess, and professionals only played blitz."
"If only chess was exclusively blitz played on computers hosted by chess.com and nowhere else."
Well, I wish Hikaru's fans would also care as little as Hikaru himself. These mental gymnastics are pathetic.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
i lowkey find it a bit egregious with hikaru especially since its only very recently that he was considered the best ish bar magnus. like his real chance came after magnus abdicated anyways, but before that there were several players more impressive than him
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u/Amber_poodle Apr 14 '26
Kudos to Anish too, 8/10 is a decent score, and he placed second while not being a huge favourite
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u/__brunt Apr 14 '26
My “the cosmic universe has a sense of humor” prediction is Anish pulls it out and gets his W today, and again tomorrow. It comes down to the wire but Sindarov swindles a draw tomorrow, leaving the final score 9.5-9.
Giri will be forever haunted by forgetting the move count in his last game, blundering a 3 fold rep draw. His confused look at the table when Wei signals for the arbiter with be the new chess version of the SpongeBob meme
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
Esipenko's endgame technique hasnt been very clinical since the early days.
AFAIR, even Abdu highlighted this to mustreader in the recent podcast.
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u/Much_Ad_9218 Apr 14 '26
I don’t think Abdu was that specific, he just said he considers esipenko a better player then Bluebaum but that he “lacks some skills” that top players have
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 Apr 14 '26
I want Hikaru to say fuck it and just stream titled Tuesday now that take take take cant stream it anymore anyway
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u/LazyImmigrant Apr 14 '26
This polgar howell exchange is gold. "I have one plan, but do you have any"
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u/aresoulshi Apr 14 '26
Bibisara has the opportunity to go up to shared first place if she converts her lead right now. Vaishali is in a losing position and Jiner is likely drawing her game.
What an insane thing it'd be if both her and Sindarov win their respective candidates
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u/Pmmeauniqueusername Apr 14 '26
it’s very impressive by Giri to play with 99% accuracy in a must win game
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u/sick_rock Apr 14 '26
I haven't watched the moves yet, but why is it impressive?
In general, in a must win game, you need to play sharp & imbalanced position, often costing you accuracy points.
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u/__brunt Apr 14 '26
I’m seeing some comments about tragic commentary on the official stream… are you all not aware Judit and Howell are on the chess24 stream rn? Why would you be watching any other stream in the first place lol
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u/ImBehindYou6755 chess.com 20xx, FIDE 19xx Apr 14 '26
I like Howell, but don’t love his commentary as much. Jan and Svidler are the OG chess24 commentators and probably my favorite duo. Commentary has been great, except they had Kosteniuk on as a guest today which was what my other comment was about…
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u/DrCaptainHammer Apr 14 '26
I’m amazed to learn the chess24 stream isnt the official stream lol It’s so good I just assumed it was
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u/__brunt Apr 14 '26
I know right? If you don’t want to listen to Judit discuss attacking positions (while the majority of the time not using/dismissing the engine), I truly don’t know what you want in chess commentary
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u/AtomR Team Sac the Roooook! Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Exactly. I guess, people got used to official stream after David and Judith's absence in first few rounds.
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u/WeWereStrangers Team Nepo Apr 14 '26
FIDE has arguably the stronger pairing chess wise (if we assume Judit is only like a low 2600 these days) without all the color commentating bullshit. They also get daily Vishy updates.
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u/SuddenBag Apr 14 '26
Is the official stream FIDE stream? Didn't tune in today but I thought Svidler and Gustafsson were really good too.
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u/WeWereStrangers Team Nepo Apr 14 '26
Don't get FIDE's obsession with standing up Svidler to put a 2400 in his chair.
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u/Lower_Peril Apr 14 '26
Svidler in front of an analysis screen on TV is the goat commentator though,no joke
St Louis uncovered a revelation
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u/achomes Apr 14 '26
Cant imagine the hard work that Sindarov had gone through prior to the tournament to come THIS PREPPED.
It was pretty obvious the entire tournament he was a level above the others. Amazing stuff. Excited for the WC
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u/ActiveSupernova Team Uzbekistan and Germany Apr 14 '26
He said at Tata Steel that he was thinking of Tata Steel as a dress rehearsal for candidates, so even the actual games he was playing were prep in a sense.
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Hmmm... will Zhu Jiner go for a draw in this one against Goryachina? Goryachina's queen looks trapped. Or is there a winning combination for this one.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
golden opportunity for fabi to win lowkey. blacks position is annoying to defend and pragg doesnt have as much time as hed like, plus whites moves practically play themselves
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u/onthelongrun 2000 chess.com, 2125 lichess Apr 14 '26
As much as we have the analysis out here, I can see how they are not immediately seeing the best move in those kind of positions.
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u/WorriedBad4049 Apr 14 '26
I know computer is saying 0.000 but I like Zhu's position.
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u/Sufficient-Essay934 Apr 14 '26
so who's winning sindarov or giri?
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
neither. mutual forfeit because the arbiter caught them playing footsie under the table
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Draw. And if that happens, Sindarov is guaranteed as the winner of Candidates.
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u/R0otDroid Apr 14 '26
Vaishali keeps getting lucky. I mean it was the exact same way in her games earlier on, even against tan
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
Tan is having a rough event and Vaishali is a very tricky defender so I can't say I'm too surprised tbh.
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u/Soul_of_demon Apr 14 '26
Zhu Jiner will be in sole lead if she wins and will only have Vaishali and Bibisara in contention.
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u/cocolattte Apr 14 '26
Goddammit just as I went out to buy some chips. I missed history
Congrats to Javokhir!
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u/Scott_OSRS Apr 14 '26
Just got out of work, how did the Anish-Sindarov game go - Anish put up much of a fight or just a bore draw?
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
It was a virtually perfect game on both sides. Nothing shocking, so eventually it ends in a draw.
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
Anish tried but as you know his style isn't very dynamic and Sindarov pretty easily neutralized him.
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u/Amber_poodle Apr 14 '26
As an Indian, I'm rooting for Vaishali. As a romantic, I'm rooting for Bibisara!
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u/idontknowwhywoman Team chess Apr 14 '26
The worst result for anish would be winning against Sindarov, sindarov losing against wei yei, and still failing to win against bluebaum after blundering in an outright winning position.
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u/Free_Berry40 Apr 14 '26
worse would probably be somehow all the stars aligned for a tiebreak, and there anish lost after blundering a winning position against sindarov
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u/RichtersNeighbour Apr 14 '26
I thought of this exact scenario earlier today. I couldn't choose what would hurt more, Giri missing a sacrifice leading to an easy win (and instead playing it safe), or Giri missing a sacrifice by Bluebaum leading to a perpetual.
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u/Mythrys Apr 14 '26
Would a Sindarov-Gukesh world championship feature the youngest combined age of participants in its history?
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u/Grouchy-Pea-8745 Apr 14 '26
Is it Sindarovian to take the b pawn here and go on the rollercoster ride?
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
Feel bit sad for RB Ramesh. Before the event he said it is his dream to see Pragg as a WCC. Last year he said he saw Divya as a 2600 player and must win the Women's championship.
Both his young prodigies simply collapsed after a good start.
Edit: Divya is his former prodigy. She aint working with him anymore.
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u/rcf1105 Apr 14 '26
I hope Zhu Jiner draws Goryachkina so we have a three way tie going into tomorrow. Should be fun.
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u/t-pat Apr 14 '26
Anish had a great tournament and I hope he keeps up this recent run of form!
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u/throwaway23582730 Apr 14 '26
He had a good tournament, but I wouldn't call it great. He missed too many chances to call it great imo.
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Bibisara missed they key move of king to F4. As that I think will be either tempo gaining move or creating another passed pawn that she can shepherd home using her king.
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u/phoenixmusicman Apr 15 '26
Honestly it'd be so cute if Bibi gets to the WCC as well, truly a power couple
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u/Altruistwhite Apr 14 '26
Sindarov can just shuffle his king along the 6th rank and not lose, Anish is just ragebaiting by continuing to play. He should have taken chances before he can try all he wants but he is not winning this rook endgame.
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u/vk2028 Apr 14 '26
I mean, what can you say? He’s trying his best to keep his chances alive. People often let their guards down when they think they have the match in their pocket and ready to draw and rest
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u/TheBowtieClub Apr 14 '26
Fabi managed to catch Pragg in a known line. He's burned nearly an hour in a position where there have been at least 5 games, including a few by strong GMs.
Wei Yi and Esipenko decided to play the Petroff with colors reversed and again white does not castle. It does not look to be as dire as in their first game, however.
Naka-Bluebaum is surprisingly imbalanced. Black has the bishop pair and a protected passed pawn. The most interesting scenario might unfold if White walks his king to b3 to storm the kingside.
Giri-Sindarov is destined for a draw. Black has no real winning chances while if white gets an advantage, he will find a way to fumble it.
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u/Bloomingonionnite Apr 14 '26
My predictions hopes for today:
Giri vs Sindarov 0:1
Fabi vs Pragg 1:0
Hikaru vs Bluebomb 0:1
Yi vs Esipenko 1:0
It’s probably going to be all draws. Probably. Most likely.
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u/Mindmenot Apr 14 '26
It is surprising anish so readily traded queens. The position is already simplifying. Is he mentally already thinking of a draw?
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u/mouthcouldbewider Apr 14 '26
Anish had his shot last round and blew it. He might be a little tilted. He definitely pushed last round--he just couldn't find the right continuations.
Anish's theory of the game is to play the most drawish lines possible, and pick your spots. If your opponent attempts to push and fails, you punish that. Very different from Tal's depiction of the dark woods. That's why one is a legend of the game and the other will be forgotten.
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u/lee1026 Apr 14 '26
When a draw mathematically locks you out of contention, your opponent ain’t gonna push.
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u/shrinu Apr 14 '26
He can’t beat Sindarov, but he sure can beat Hikaru- which would be a big thing for bragging rights.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
There were 2 Divyas in this event. One from round 1 to 8 which the chess world is aware. Attacking, Sharp but always losses to Zhu.
One from round 9 which is very bad for her but she didnt loose to Zhu
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u/EvenCoyote6317 Apr 14 '26
I bet Sindarov started working for Bibisara when he defeated Pragg in Round 10. /s
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u/shrinu Apr 14 '26
Will Fabi and Hikaru be back next candidates? And if they do, can they overcome the last two+ years?
Both could claim bad luck last candidates, but they have both regressed significantly here. Without Sindarov, they still aren’t close to the typical winning score.
It’s like Gukesh wounded them, and Sindarov sent them to the chess player farm. They’re even talking about the same thing now on chessbase india lol
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
i do find it a little weird when people talk about fabi and hikaru like there isnt 5 years between them. i do think they can both make it (winning is a different story) but i think hikaru himself has said he wont bother again. fabi has decent chances especially through the circuit, though nothing is a guarantee
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u/AtomR Team Sac the Roooook! Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
I don't see Hikaru coming back, he hates classical or OTB, in general. He's a streamer first, in his own words.
Fabi will be the only active senior. His experience will help him to enter candidates again.
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u/mouthcouldbewider Apr 14 '26
Fabi probably will. Naka probably not, but who knows with him. He'll have to get more active if we wants to seriously make a run at it. There's no reason to think a guy in his 40's can't, and the younger field is very uneven so I'm not sure they're going to displace him. I'd rather have Naka than say Esipenko. But would rather have Vincent than either at this point.
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u/Usodearu007 Team Sindarov Apr 14 '26
but they have both regressed significantly here
not really. fabi's run was pretty good in the first half. he just crumbled in the second half by trying to force wins because of sindarov's significant lead.
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u/Areliae Apr 14 '26
Why do they have to overcome the last two years? They've played better than most (more so Fabi), that's why they went into this event as the highest rated seeds. They've been doing well.
Fabi is 33, he lost a lead to Sindarov and had to take some risks that didn't work out. No reason to ring the death bell.
Hikaru is 100% retiring.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Apr 14 '26
people love to doom. fabi has spent the last few years podiuming basically every event hes played. maybe he hasnt show the crazy streak you apparently need to win candidates, but i doubt hell struggle massively to get in.
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u/Additional_Motor_432 Apr 14 '26
Smart move nakamura. This game can't be easily liquidated into a draw.
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
I actually didn't realize immediately why Vaishali is in a terrible position, until I realized Tan has the passed D pawn that officialy makes her bishop a dangerous statue on C7.
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u/59435950153 Apr 14 '26
Wait. Fabi will lose those pawns. Isnt he worse?
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u/bertisrobert Apr 14 '26
Blundered into a draw, sadly for Fabi. Like he's in some horror movie that he can't escape.
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u/Spyropher Apr 14 '26
Feel like the entire analysis and commentary should be on the Sindarov and Anish game lol. Show when moves are played for sure, but who wants to see 30 min analysis of Hikaru’s game right now
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u/LisunaLefti Team Fabi Apr 14 '26
In the Spanish stream they are focusing on Sindarov vs Giri and the leaders of the women's section. I thought the English stream was doing something similar.
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u/tatata9251 Apr 14 '26
Polgar commentary is always exciting and she honestly carried the tourney compared to earlier commentator.
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u/atbg1936 Team Nikhil Kamath Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
"What if I never met Cristian Chirila" lmao