The Week in Chess

• Vaishali wins the Women's Candidates Tournament - 14

  Vaishali Rameshbabu took her opportunities in the final round of the Women's Candidates tournament to beat Kateryna Lagno and combined with Bibisara Assaubayeva's draw with Divya Deshmukh meant she took clear first place. Vaishali's win means she will play the champion since 2018, Ju Wenjun. Vaishali is the elder sister of Praggnanandhaa. Anna Muzychuk drew with Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina beat Tan Zhongyi in the remaining games.

  Javokhir Sindarov had already sewn up the Candidates in Round 13 and he engineered a very quick draw against Wei Yi to finish on +6 undefeated. Matthias Bluebaum came in a fighting mood against Anish Giri but it's not really his style and Giri impressively refuted his ideas. Fabiano Caruana also won his final game against Andrey Esipenko. Praggnanandhaa-Nakamura was a quiet draw.

  Both events have been super, Sindarov seems to have taken huge strides and the rest of the year watching him should be very exciting. Anish Giri was probably the only

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• Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE Candidates with a round to spare - 13

  Javokhir Sindarov will play Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title later in the year. He confirmed his first place in the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus with a draw against Anish Giri. Giri set Sindarov some problems but they weren't enough for a serious advantage at any point and a drawn rook and pawn endgame was reached. Giri looks set to finish second but he was obviously disappointed after the game.

  The women's Candidates continues its unpredictable course. Vaishali Rameshbabu survived an inferior position against Tan Zhongyi and this allowed Bibisara Assaubayeva to join her in the lead after beating Anna Muzychuk. The final day will be very tense. A tie will lead to a playoff.

  Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 9½/13. 2nd Anish Giri, 7½. 3rd-4th Fabiano Caruana and Yi Wei, 6½. 5th-6th Matthias Bluebaum and Hikaru Nakamura, 6. 7th R Praggnanandhaa, 5½. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 4½. 8 players.

  Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st-2nd Bibisara Assaubayeva...

• Sindarov on the brink of winning the Candidates after Round 12, Zhu beats Vaishali to catch her in the Women's event - 12

  Javokhir Sindarov was happy to take a quick draw against Hikaru Nakamura in Round 12 of the Candidates, in fact his entire preparation was directed towards it. Anish Giri was left trying to beat Wei Yi and he did in fact get a winning position in an endgame but it remained tricky. Giri accidentally repeated the position three times and Wei Yi was immediately alert to this. Matthias Bluebaum was slightly better against Fabiano Caruana but no more than that. Praggnanandhaa was pushing against Andrey Esipenko but had to settle with a draw. Following the rest day Giri will have to win against Sindarov in order to keep his chances alive.

  The women's event was blown wide open when Zhu Jiner beat the leader Vaishali Rameshbabu in a tense game, these players share the lead. Half a point behind are Bibisara Assaubayeva who won a game that could have gone either way, and Anna Muzychuk who blew a winning position against Aleksandra Goryachkina at the very end of a long game. The top four are still in it, I...

• Sindarov defends confidently against Caruana, Vaishali moves a point clear in the women's event. Candidates Round 11 - 11

  Javokhir Sindarov moved a step closer to winning the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus. Sindarov was put under serious pressure for the first time in the event. Sindarov made a number of inaccuracies 22...Rc8! would probably have avoided all difficulty, I'm not sure Sindarov was lost but after Caruana's 31.g4?! he realised immediately that he should save the position which he did fairly easily from then on. A two point lead with three rounds to go means Sindarov is almost there.

  The other games were drawn, Anish Giri had his chances against Andrey Esipenko, Praggnanandhaa was flat out winning against Bluebaum and Wei Yi easily held Nakamura.

  In the women's event Vaishali Rameshbabu now leads by a point. It's hard to know what to say without sounding mean spirited but she's been gifted a lot of points. Today Goryachkina self-emolliated her own rook, there was no real reason to do that. The other games were drawn. Lagno-Muzychuk quiet draw, Zhu Jiner escaped with a draw against Divya...

• Sindarov almost home and dry in the FIDE Candidates with four rounds to go - 10

  Javokhir Sindarov put the disappointment of missing a win against Bluebaum in Round 9 and won a fine game against Praggnanandhaa, this restored a two point lead with only four rounds to go. Sindarov said his coach told him that he was playing the best chess and not to worry. In post-game analysis he was so precise it was obvious what great form he's in, a level above anyone else here. It's of course possible Caruana could beat him with the white pieces in Round 11 and Giri in Round 13, but at this stage it seems unlikely, he's simply seeing too much, even then Giri would have to score almost perfectly to even catch him. The other games were drawn. Friday is a rest day.

  In the Women's event Rameshbabu Vaishali leads after holding a draw against Anna Muzychuk but she's hardly been convincing, in fact no-one has, it's still so close that anyone in the top 6 could realistically win it.

  Round 10 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 8/10. 2nd Anish Giri, 6. 3rd Fabiano Caruana, 5. 4th-6th...

• 26th European Individual Championship 2026 - Games and Results

  The 26th European Individual Championship takes place 6th (arrival day) to 20th April 2026.

  Players: Igor Kovalenko, David Anton Guijarro, Daniel Deac Bogdan Aydin Suleymanli, Shant Sargsyan, David Navara, Alexander Donchenko, Anton Demchenko, Ediz Gurel, Haik Martirosyan Buhl Bjerre Jonas Robert Hovhannisyan, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Maxime Lagarde, Gabriel Sargissian, Aleksandar Indjic, Anton Korobov, Jaime Santos Latasa, MarcAndria Maurizzi, Mahammad Muradli, Lorenzo Lodici, Maxim Rodshtein, Maxim Dardha Ihor Samunenkov, Daniil Yuffa, Szymon Gumularz, Casper Schoppen, Constantin Lupulescu, Nijat Abasov, Elham Amar, Manuel Petrosyan, Bartosz Socko, Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis, Mustafa Yilmaz, Alan Pichot, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli, Peter Acs, Valery Kazakouski, Vaclav Finek, Gleb Dudin etc.

• Sindarov misses a big opportunity and Giri beats Caruana in Candidates Round 9 - 9

  The 9th Round of the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus saw some very consequent action. First of all the leader by two points Javokhir Sindarov missed a clear winning chance against Matthias Bluebaum and had to settle for a draw. No disaster but nevertheless a chance. Fabiano Caruana dropped out of contention when he lost to Anish Giri, who is now 1.5 points behind Sindarov and is surely the only player that can catch the leader.

  In the women's event there was another very wild day that finished with Zhu Jiner and Rameshbabu Vaishali sharing the lead, Anna Muzychuk missed a chance to join them.

  Round 9 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 7/9. 2nd Anish Giri, 5½. 3rd-5th Matthias Bluebaum, R Praggnanandhaa and Yi Wei, 4. 6th Fabiano Caruana, 4½. 7th Hikaru Nakamura, 3½. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 2½. 8 players. FIDE Women Candidates DRR.

  Round 9 (of 14) Standings: 1st-2nd Jiner Zhu and Rameshbabu Vaishali, 5½/9. 3rd Anna Muzychuk, 5. 4th-5th Bibisara Assaubayeva and Aleksandra...