One race is all but decided and one is set up for a thrilling stretch run as the FIDE Candidates and FIDE Women’s Candidates tournaments approach the finish line in Pegeia, Cyprus, this week.
Coming into Monday’s final rest day, 20-year-old Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov at 9-3 holds a stunning 2-point lead over Dutch GM Anish Giri and needs just a draw in the final two games to clinch first place and book a title match with Indian world champion GM Dommaraju Gukesh of India later this year. Sindarov’s scintillating, undefeated performance may make him the favorite in the title match, as Gukesh, who himself turns 20 next month, has had some indifferent results since winning the title in late 2024.
It’s a very different story in the women’s bracket, with women’s world No. 2 GM Zhu Jiner of China and tournament surprise GM Rameshbabu Vaishali of India tied at the top at 7-5, with Kazakh GM Bibisara Assaubayeva and GM Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine just a half-point back, with two games to be played. Awaiting the winner is the formidable women’s world champ, GM Ju Wenjun of China, who has held the title since 2018, winning four title defense matches in the process.
Play in both events wraps up Wednesday, and we’ll have a full recap of the action next week.
Sindarov’s dominance was unexpected but not unearned: He defeated some of his key rivals in head-to-head battles during the tournament, including American co-favorites GM Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. He came to the event armed with a well-chosen opening repertoire and has proved a superb calculator in the few times when he was pressed at the board.
His Round 10 win over young Indian superstar GM Rameshbabu Praggnananhaa — his second win in Cyprus over his fellow prodigy — was one of the highlights of the event, with the Uzbek grandmaster entering into a daringly sacrificial Queen’s Gambit sideline at a time when many players would be trying to sit on their lead with more conservative play.
White gets two pawns for the piece barely a dozen moves into the game after 13. Be5 f6 14. Nxg5!? Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Nxe5 16. dxe5 fxg5, with Black facing some real developmental and defensive challenges. Sindarov’s 17. f4!? is the first new move in this sharp variation, and he remarked later he liked the position because Black is forced to be extremely precise in his defense just to survive White’s pressure.
Both players shine as the struggle intensifies: 18. Rd1 (the engines rate 18. 0-0!? hxg2 19. Rf2 Qe8 20. f5 Rh4 as equal, but human players may beg to differ) Qe7 19. g3 gxf4 20. 0-0! Rh6! (the rook is well-placed here to defend the glaring holes on Black’s kingside) 21. Rxf4+ Kg8 22. Rdf1 (see diagram), but now Praggnanandhaa had to find 22…Be6! 23. Rf6 Qh7!!, when after 24. Qxh7+ Kxh7 25. Rxh6+ Kxh6 26. Rf6+ Kg5 27. Rxe6 Rd8!, Black’s active rook and king offer full compensation for the material deficit.
Instead, White breaks decisively on top after the game’s 22…Bd7? 23. Rf7! Qxf7 (Qe6 24. R7f6! Rxf6 [Bc6 25. Rxe6 Bxe4 26. Rxh6 Re8 27. e6 and wins] 25. Rxf6 Qg4 26. Rg6+ Qxg6 27. Qxg6+ Kf8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. e6) 24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. Qf4+ Kg7 26. Qg5+ Kh7 (Rg6 27. Qe7+ 27. Qe7+ — as Sindarov foresaw back on Move 23, Black will lose his bishop  and his two uncoordinated rooks will be dominated by the White queen in the subsequent play.
The White queen methodically picks off Black pawns, while Black must avoid any trade down to a lost pawn ending. After 38. Qxh3 Rxe6 39. Kf2, for instance, Praggnanandhaa can’t take the White e-pawn because of 39…Rxe3? 40. Qh6+ Kf7 41. Qxe3 Rxe3 42. Kxe3, with a trivial endgame win.
The pawns are decisive after 51. h6 Rg5 52. Qd8 Rg8 53. Qd5+, and Black resigned, facing such hopeless lines as 53…Kf8 54. Qxc5 Rh8 55. g5 Rg8 56. Qxb5.
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Vaishali has had a superb tournament despite having the lowest rating in the eight-grandmaster women’s field. She piled up four wins to offset two losses to Zhu, including an impressive demolition of Indian GM Divya Deshmukh in Round 9.
In a Zukertort Opening, Deshmukh as Black correctly hits back actively at White’s imposing center with 14. h3 b5 15. Ra2 Ba6, but immediately goes wrong with 16. Rc1 bxc4?! (clarifying the center only helps White here, as the c- and d-pawns will prove a formidable duo; better was to keep to the counterattacking agenda with 16…a4) 17. bxc4 Nd7? (c5 18. g4 cxd4 19. Qxd4 Qe7 limits White’s advantage), inviting complications that can only favor White.
Vaishali does not need to be asked twice: 18. Nxc6 Rc8 19. d5! Nc5 20. Qd4?! (much more forceful here was 20. Ba3, and White is better in lines such as 20…Rf6 21. g4 Bf8 22. Ne5 exd5 23. cxd5 Nd3 24. Rxc8 Bxc8 25. Nxd3 Bxa3 26. Ne5) Rf6? (Black returns the favor; covering the g7-square with 20…Rf7! was indicated, as it’s still a game on 21. Bf1 exd5 22. cxd5 Bxf1 23. Rxf1 Nd3) 21. Rd2, with mounting pressure on Black’s shaky set-up.
As so often happens, a well-timed exchange sacrifice releases the latent power in the attacker’s array: 21…Rg6 22. Kh2 Nd3 (Kh8 23. Ne5 Bxe5 24. fxe5 Qd8 25. dxe6 Qg5 26. e7 Qxg3+ 27. Kh1 h6 28. Qxc5! and wins) Rxd3! exd3 24. c5, and, as promised, the White pawns sweep away all in their path.
Black tries to give back the material, but even that fails to ease the pressure on her game: 24…Rxc6 25. dxc6 Bc7 26. Qd7! — White’s two c-pawns remain a significant threat and the offered queen trade only leads to Black’s defeat. Vaishali wraps things up efficiently against her frantically backpedaling opponent.
Thus: 26…Qb8 27. Be5! Bxe5 28. Rb1! (a nice interpolation that underscores Black’s plight; 28. fxe5 h6 29. c7 Qb2 30. c8=Q+ Bxc8 31. Qxc8+ Kh7 32. Rf1 was also winning, but much less forceful) Qf8 (Bb2 29. Rxb2 Qxb2 30. Qe8 mate) 29. fxe5 h5 30. Qd6 Qf7 (Qxd6 31. cxd6 and the pawns can’t be stopped) 31. Rb7!, and the last finesse forces Deshmukh to concede. On 31…Bxb7 (Qe8 32. Rb8 Bc8 33. Qc7 Kh7 34. Qxc8) 32. cxb7 d2 (Qe8 33. Bc6)33. b8=Q+ Kh7 34. Qdd8, White wins easily.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Sindarov-Praggnanandhaa, FIDE Candidates Tournament, Pegeia, Cyprus, April 2026
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bf4 Bb4 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 Ne4 8. Qc2 g5 9. Bg3 h5 10. Bd3 h4 11. Bxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4+ Kf8 13. Be5 f6 14. Nxg5 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Nxe5 16. dxe5 fxg5 17. f4 h3 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. g3 gxf4 20. O-O Rh6 21. Rxf4+ Kg8 22. Rdf1 Bd7 23. Rf7 Qxf7 24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. Qf4+ Kg7 26. Qg5+ Kh7 27. Qe7+ Kg8 28. Qxd7 Rf8 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. a4 a5 31. Qg5 Rh7 32. e6 Re8 33. Qxa5 b6 34. Qe5+ Kg8 35. Qg5+ Rg7 36. Qf5 Rge7 37. Qg4+ Kf8 38. Qxh3 Rxe6 39. Kf2 R8e7 40. Qh8+ Kf7 41. g4 Re4 42. Qh5+ Kg7 43. Qg5+ Kf7 44. Kf3 Rxa4 45. h4 Ra5 46. Qh6 Rae5 47. Qh7+ Kf8 48. Qh8+ Kf7 49. e4 b5 50. h5 c5 51. h6 Rg5 52. Qd8 Rg8 53. Qd5+ Black resigns.
Vaishali-Deshmukh, FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, Pegeia, Cyprus, April 2026
1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 e6 4. c4 Bd6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. d4 a5 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ne5 f5 12. f4 Nf6 13. e3 Qe8 14. h3 b5 15. Rf2 Ba6 16. Rc1 bxc4 17. bxc4 Nd7 18. Nxc6 Rc8 19. d5 Nc5 20. Qd4 Rf6 21. Rd2 Rg6 22. Kh2 Nd3 23. Rxd3 exd3 24. c5 Rxc6 25. dxc6 Bc7 26. Qd7 Qb8 27. Be5 Bxe5 28. Rb1 Qf8 29. fxe5 h5 30. Qd6 Qf7 31. Rb7 Black resigns.
• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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