FIDE Candidates 2026 – Experiences, Stories, and Analysis
26 days ago, the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament concluded in the picturesque village of Pegia, near Paphos, Cyprus. Yevgeny Levanzov had the privilege of spending an extended time at the event and also delivering three lectures there. In the following review, he will try to cover the tournament both from a professional chess perspective and by describing the surrounding atmosphere, including the various activities offered to spectators, notable figures who came to visit, and some touching human stories. Photo: Michal Walusza
Life at the Candidates
The tournament was hosted at the luxurious five-star Cap St. Georges Hotel & Resort, overlooking the sea. Interestingly, the hotel’s entrance floor and lobby are located on the sixth floor, while the guest rooms are situated below, due to the hotel being built on a mountainside. At the entrance level stood the FIDE desk, where spectators, media personnel, and others received their accreditation badges. The third floor served as the main tournament level, housing the playing hall, media and broadcast rooms, and the fan zone, where lectures, simultaneous exhibitions, masterclasses, and other events took place. Notably, an additional fan zone was set up on the entrance level outdoors, offering an impressive sea view.
The playing and living conditions for the participants were perhaps among the best in the entire history of Candidates Tournaments. In particular, the players enjoyed spacious rooms, a rich and diverse selection of food at the various meals, breathtaking sea views, and peaceful natural surroundings for walks. The hotel staff, at every level and in every role, devoted themselves fully to the success of the event, and their dedication was clearly felt. Some of them even took an interest in the tournament format and in how the World Championship cycle is conducted.
Excellent video tours of the hotel and the playing halls were made by the legendary Indian journalist IM Sagar Shah, and they can be viewed here:
The FIDE team selected to organize and run the tournament was exceptionally professional. All schedules, procedures, and the not-so-simple logistics were executed flawlessly, with continuous explanations provided to visitors about the various events.
All rounds of the tournament began at 15:30, and entry to the playing hall was allowed during three time windows: 15:20–15:30 (before the round), 17:30–17:40, and 19:20–19:30. Once a spectator entered the hall, they could remain there for as long as they wished; however, once they left, they could not re-enter until the next time window. Naturally, upon entering the hall, every spectator was carefully checked with metal detectors, and signal detectors were also used during the tournament, as part of the fair play regulations.
The playing hall was both comfortable and impressive, designed in an L-shape. The dominant color was green, chosen as the main background theme for this edition of the Candidates Tournament. The boards of the Open and Women’s events were arranged alternately, and next to each table, there was a screen displaying the game live.
The spectators’ area was set about three meters away from the boards and included a VIP section with elegant seating, as well as a standing area behind it. The young FIDE volunteers were strict in enforcing silence, and the spectators behaved impeccably.
When I first entered the playing hall, just as the games began and the “sacred silence” of chess took hold, it was a magical experience to observe the thought processes and body language of the world’s top players. Some, such as Sindarov and Giri, tended to walk around frequently, while others barely left their seats, maintaining intense concentration as they studied the position.
Each round attracted over 100 spectators, with significantly larger crowds on Saturdays and Sundays compared to weekdays. Naturally, some of the spectators were chess journalists, who followed the games closely and took notes that later became questions at the press conferences. At the start of each round, a ceremonial first move was usually made by a well-known chess figure.
Every round was fully broadcasted, with commentary by the legendary duo – GMs Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson.
Alongside the playing hall, a fan zone operated under the excellent leadership of Angelika Valkova. A wide range of activities for visitors took place there, including lectures, masterclasses, simultaneous exhibitions, and live commentary. During the first part of the tournament, the weather was rainy, so all events were held in the fan zone adjacent to the playing hall. Once the weather turned sunny, the activities moved to the open-air fan zone.
The author of these lines was given the great privilege and honor of delivering several lectures as part of the fan zone program. Originally, two lectures were planned: the first, titled “Chess Mathematics”, dealt with natural mathematical problems involving chess pieces and the board - from well-known puzzles such as the eight queens problem, to less familiar ones. The second lecture, titled “Chess and Machines”, surveyed the history of chess engines and software, and explained the fundamental differences between traditional engines such as Stockfish and Komodo, and machine-learning-based engines such as AlphaZero (or Leela Chess Zero, Lc0).
Upon my arrival at the tournament, I was asked whether I could give an additional lecture. I gladly agreed and suggested a talk on the lives and games of the American genius Paul Morphy and the 8th World Champion, the “Magician from Riga”, Mikhail Tal, two figures whose influence on the development of the game has been immense. Needless to say, each lecture was thoroughly rehearsed.
The lectures attracted considerable interest, and the audiences were diverse: local children and teenagers, adult spectators from several countries, grandmasters who were visiting the tournament or assisting one of the players, and more. One attendee was even a Catholic priest!
After finishing my role as a lecturer, I had the privilege of attending fascinating talks by several legends of the game: an excellent lecture by British chess legend Nigel Short, former World Championship challenger (and currently responsible within FIDE for developing chess in emerging countries), on building an attack against a king stuck in the center; a Q&A session with the 15th World Champion, Vishy Anand; a simultaneous exhibition with grandmaster Boris Gelfand, who attended together with his son Avner; live game analysis by former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk; an excellent lecture by the renowned grandmaster, coach, and author Jacob Aagaard on the importance of analyzing without the use of a computer; an enlightening talk by the well-known grandmaster Maurice Ashley, in which he presented remarkable studies of his own; solving brilliant tactical puzzles with the legendary IM Sagar Shah and his wife Amruta.
It is worth noting that some of the players came to the fan zone after finishing their games, where they met enthusiastic fans who were waiting to get autographs and take photos with them.
The fan zone hall was named after the Scheinberg family, which has been making significant contributions to FIDE and to the development of chess for the past eight years. The head of the family, Isai Scheinberg, visited on one of the days and was given the honor of making the ceremonial first move in one of the games.
You can find the full schedule of fan zone events here.
We will conclude the first part of this review with a few touching human stories.
I had the privilege of speaking with perhaps two of the greatest chess journalists in history, both of whom visited the tournament: The Dutch journalist Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, editor-in-chief for over a decade of the world’s leading chess magazine New In Chess, and a member of its editorial team since 1985 (a year after it was founded by the late legendary Jan Timman). He has spoken with and interviewed nearly all of the Soviet chess giants, and in our conversation, he shared some stories about his encounters with Mikhail Tal and David Bronstein. Dirk Jan also has a unique and remarkable chess library in his home in The Hague, containing rare and antique books. On the rest day, he interviewed Boris Gelfand.
The Spanish journalist and chess master Leontxo Garcia, who has been covering chess for over 40 years for the leading Spanish newspaper El País, and has attended nearly every World Championship match and Candidates Tournament. His passion for the game remains extraordinary even after so many years. Garcia spoke about his great excitement when, early in his career, he was sent to cover the second match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Moscow in 1985.
In addition, I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with the founder and driving force behind ChessBase India, the legendary IM Sagar Shah. It is hard to find enough praise for this remarkable person, whose passion for chess is truly unparalleled. His tremendous dedication to covering chess events from every possible angle, conducting interviews with both famous players and lesser-known but fascinating figures, and his journalistic innovation are all worthy of the highest praise. It is also worth noting that Sagar is a very humble, kind, and good-humored person.
Also present at the tournament was the excellent ChessBase journalist Arne Kaehler, known for his colorful interviews and original questions.
Finally, during one of my visits to the playing hall, I was watching Anish Giri pacing back and forth while his opponent, Fabiano Caruana, was thinking over his move. At one point, a small cute child entered the VIP seating area, holding a hand-drawn sign that read “Go Hikaru!” The child waved the sign, Giri noticed it, and broke into a sly smile that he couldn’t quite hide for several seconds. Even elite grandmasters, at the peak of tension and pressure, are still human.
In a similar vein, it was a truly interesting and unique experience to see the world’s top players dining in the hotel restaurant together with their seconds, just like ordinary people. That said, after a while, one does get used to it.
Note: You can explore the presentations delivered by Yevgeny Levanzov during the FIDE Candidates Tournament here.
And now, to the professional review of the two tournaments. As you all know, the Open section was won by the 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov, the 2025 World Cup winner, in a display of dominance the likes of which have not been seen in Candidates Tournaments - at least not in the modern era. He broke into the elite only recently, and his form in the six months leading up to the event was excellent. However, not many believed he was capable of winning, given his lack of experience and certainly no one anticipated such a commanding performance.
He finished the first half of the tournament with a score of 6/7, with only Matthias Blübaum and Anish Giri managing to stop him. Interestingly, it all began with a rather poor game on his part against Andrey Esipenko in the first round, in which he was worse with the white pieces and struggled for most of the game. In their encounter, the following critical position arose after White’s 27th move:
Sindarov had only six minutes on the clock, compared to Esipenko’s half hour. Black has a clear advantage, thanks to the protected passed pawn and White’s bad light-squared bishop. However, at this point, Esipenko made a poor decision, playing 27... Bxf3?, which threw away his entire advantage. Moves like Ra8 or Bb6 would have maintained the pressure on White’s position. Subsequently, Esipenko collapsed under time pressure, and Sindarov won with the beautiful finishing move Re6!, leading to either checkmate or the loss of significant material.
This game had a major impact on the course of the tournament for both players. It is worth noting that in the first round, three out of the four games were decisive, including a win by Fabiano Caruana over Hikaru Nakamura in the all-American derby.
Round 2 was almost entirely uneventful. In Round 3, Javokhir Sindarov, playing Black, defeated his peer Praggnanandhaa in an excellent dynamic game, despite Praggnanandhaa traditionally being a very uncomfortable opponent for him.
At the same time, the main favourite to win the tournament, Fabiano Caruana, crushed Wei Yi in just 19 moves, in a highly unusual and sharp opening line. After White’s 17th move, the following position was reached:
White is completely undeveloped, his king stuck in the center, and earlier he had wasted several moves with the queen and was even forced to play Rg1 to prevent Bg2. However, as GM Jacob Aagaard likes to say: “Chess is both a game of principles and of specifics.” The bishop on h3 is in serious danger, and Black’s position is not easy to handle.
Wei Yi went wrong immediately with 17... Ne5? 18. Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Nd1! (a move that was likely overlooked), and there is no way to save the bishop on h3. Wei Yi resigned.
The game that perhaps decided the tournament was Sindarov’s win with White against Fabiano Caruana in Round 4. With excellent preparation, Sindarov managed to catch Caruana in a sideline of the Queen’s Gambit accepted, something quite rare, given Caruana’s reputation as a great theoretician. After 18. Bc4 by Sindarov, the following complex position arose:
Earlier, Caruana had already come to terms with the fact that his king would remain in the center, since castling kingside was extremely dangerous. He played Rg8 and f5, probably intending Be7 and Kf8. Now, Bxe6 is a very strong threat (of course, Sindarov never seriously considered capturing on a6, given the position of Black’s king).
In this extremely difficult-to-calculate position, Caruana chose the wrong defensive plan: 18... Rg4? (Bxe6?? would be met now with Re4). The critical and correct move was 18... Qxd4, and after Bxe6 to continue with Qe4. Even so, this would have been very hard to play even for a top-GM, since the d-file would open with the king stuck in the center. Sindarov converted his advantage with remarkable dynamic understanding. The way Fabi lost this game clearly affected him deeply.
In Round 5, Sindarov continued his winning streak, defeating Hikaru Nakamura with Black in an extremely complex line of the Marshall Gambit in the Slav Defense. Nakamura forgot his preparation and spent 67 (!) minutes thinking on move 13, surely a record in the modern era of Candidates Tournaments.
After Round 7, at the halfway mark, Sindarov had 6 points, while his closest pursuer, Caruana, trailed by 1.5 points. Given Sindarov’s form, level of preparation, and immense confidence (also reflected in his rapid play), first place already seemed decided.
At the start of the second half, Caruana suffered two consecutive losses, to Nakamura (who avenged his earlier defeat) and to Anish Giri, losing all chances of winning the tournament. Meanwhile, Giri scored two straight victories, reached +2, and became the only player still capable of catching Sindarov.
In Round 9, Sindarov obtained a winning position against Matthias Blübaum, who had demonstrated outstanding defensive skills throughout the tournament, but miscalculated and missed an opportunity to virtually secure overall victory. However, in the following round he again defeated Praggnanandhaa, increasing his lead over Giri to two points, with their head-to-head encounter scheduled for the penultimate round. In Round 12, Giri missed a win against Wei Yi, which could have added some late intrigue to the tournament.
Sindarov did not falter in the ending phase, drawing against both Caruana and Giri, and completed the tournament undefeated with an outstanding score of 10/14. Giri finished second with 8.5 points, while Caruana placed third with 7.5. Sindarov qualifies for the World Championship match against Gukesh Dommaraju later this year, a match that will be the youngest in history, with both players aged just 20.
In the Women’s Candidates Tournament, there was a great deal of intrigue until the very end, with major ups and downs and, unfortunately, also a high number of blunders, due to the immense pressure. It is worth noting that the field was very evenly matched.
The tournament was ultimately won, in a dramatic final round, by GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, Pragg’s sister and the winner of the 2025 Grand Swiss, who had been seeded last. However, she did not start the event well, scoring just 2 points from the first 5 rounds, but in the second half she played extremely impressively.
In the first two rounds, all games ended in draws, without any notable events. The ice was broken in Round 3, when Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kateryna Lagno defeated their Chinese opponents, Zhu Jiner and Tan Zhongyi, respectively.
After wins in Rounds 4 and 6, the lead was taken by Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk, who had joined the tournament at the last moment, following the withdrawal of Humpy Koneru for security reasons. In Round 4, Muzychuk defeated Lagno in a principled game.
In Round 6, Vaishali scored her first win, capitalizing on a serious mistake by Lagno, who had been in a winning position.
In the above position, Lagno is a piece up, and Black’s attack should not work. However, under time pressure, she blundered with 38. Qf1?? (a natural move, but a losing one). After 38... Rxg3+ 39. fxg3 Qxg3+ 40. Qg2 Qe3+ 41. Kh2 Rg5, Black has a mating net.
In Round 7, Vaishali won again, this time also due to a terrible mistake by her opponent Tan Zhongyi, perhaps the most serious blunder of the entire tournament. In the following endgame, Tan had an extra pawn, but White should be able to draw without difficulty:
Here, Tan Zhongyi played Ra1??, missing a basic tactical idea: Rxf6 Rf1+ (if Kxf6 then Bd4+) Ke2, winning.
After seven rounds, Anna Muzychuk was leading with 4.5 points, while Vaishali had 4.
The second half of the tournament featured many dramatic twists at the top, with no fewer than six players in contention at one stage. In Round 8, Kateryna Lagno defeated her compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina. Meanwhile, Muzychuk reached a winning position against Divya Deshmukh after an impressive positional game, but collapsed under time pressure, failed to find the winning continuation, and in a tragic turn of events even transitioned into a lost endgame and was defeated. In Round 12, another tragedy struck Muzychuk. In the following theoretically winning endgame against Goryachkina, after many hours of play, Anna erred with Ra2+??
The winning move is Kg4, after which, following Kh2, White must find Rh5.
After three wins in the middle of the second half, Bibisara Assaubayeva climbed into a shared first place.
Before the final round, Vaishali and Assaubayeva were jointly leading with 7.5 points, while Zhu Jiner was just behind them with 7 points. In case of a tie for first place, a tiebreak would have been played the following day.
In the final round, Assaubayeva drew her game, but Vaishali fought against the Dragon Sicilian chosen by her opponent, Kateryna Lagno. In a dramatic game, she managed to win and finish in clear first place. Assaubayeva finished second, while Zhu Jiner took third.
Vaishali qualifies for the World Championship match against China’s Ju Wenjun, who has held the title since 2018, later this year.
At the end of the tournament, a spectacular closing ceremony was held, which can be viewed here:
About the author
Yevgeny Levanzov is a mathematician and lecturer specializing in combinatorics and graph theory, who earned his PhD in 2024. Alongside his academic work, he is a passionate chess enthusiast, player, and international arbiter, with a deep love for chess history.
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FIDE Candidates 2026 R12: Sindarov maintains his lead. Can Anish stop him in the penultimate round?
FIDE Candidates 2026 R11: Vaishali beats Goryachkina to gain a full point lead, Sindarov still going strong
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