The Week in Chess

• Sindarov takes an early lead in the Candidates after beating Caruana in Round 4 - 3-4

  Javokhir Sindarov put a major marker down by beating Fabiano Caruana in Round 4 of the Candidates, the two were sharing the lead. Sindarov was one of the favourites before the event alongside Caruana. Sindarov has started with 3.5/4, whilst there's an extremely long way to go he looks in very fine form. In the women's event Bibisara Assaubayeva and Anna Muzychuk share the lead on 2.5/5 half a point clear of most of the rest of the players. Thursday sees the first rest day.

  Round 4 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 3½/4. 2nd Fabiano Caruana, 2½. 3rd-5th Matthias Bluebaum, R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri, 2. 6th-7th Yi Wei and Hikaru Nakamura, 1½. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 1. 8 players.

  Round 4 (of 14) Women's Standings: 1st-2nd Bibisara Assaubayeva and Anna Muzychuk, 2½/4. 3rd-6th Rameshbabu Vaishali, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno and Jiner Zhu, 2. 7th-8th Zhongyi Tan and Deshmukh Divya, 1½. 8 players.

  FIDE Candidates Round 5 Friday 3rd April

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• All games drawn on day two of the Candidates - 2

  The second round of the FIDE Candidates in the Cap St Georges resort, near Pegeia, Cyprus saw all the games finish in a draw in the end. In the open event maybe Javokhir Sindarov got a little something against Matthias Bluebaum and perhaps Praggnanandhaa too could have done a little better against Wei Yi, Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana was a well played draw, Hikaru Nakamura suffered a little bit against Andrey Esipenko but there was never anything clear.

  In the women's event there were more missed chances with Kateryna Lagno escaping a lost position for the second day running, this time against Zhu Jiner. Vaishali Rameshbabu was briefly lost against Divya Deshmukh having at first equalised quite comfortable. Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Aleksandra Goryachkina and Anna Muzychuk vs Tan Zhongyi were correct draws. There hasn't been a decisive game yet in the women's event so everyone is tied for first place.

  Round 2 Standings: 1st= Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Sindarov 1.5pt; 4th= Bluebaum, Wei...

• FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus starts with three decisive games - 1

  The FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus started promisingly with wins for Javokhir Sindarov over Andrey Esipenko, Praggnanandhaa over Anish Giri and finally Fabiano Caruana over Hikaru Nakamura. Matthias Bluebaum against Wei Yi was a correct draw. In the women's event Aleksandra Goryachkina missed a simple combination that should have ended the game pretty much immediately against Kateryna Lagno. There were other chances but Divya Deshmukh drew with Anna Muzychuk Vaishali Rameshbabu drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva and Zhu Jiner with Tan Zhongyi so everyone is tied on 0.5 points.

  Round 1 Standings: 1st= Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Sindarov 1pt; 4th= Bluebaum, Wei Yi 0.5pts; 6th= Nakamura, Giri, Esipenko 0pts.

  Pairings Round 2 30th March 2026: FIDE Candidates: Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana, Wei Yi vs Praggnanandhaa R, Javokhir Sindarov vs Matthias Bluebaum,

  FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 2: Anna Muzychuk vs Tan Zhongyi, Kateryna Lagno vs...

• FIDE Candidates Tournaments 2026 - Games and Results

  The FIDE Candidates Tournaments both open and women's events take place in the Cap St Georges resort, Cyprus, Sun 29th Mar to Thu 16th Apr 2026. I would argue that this is the highlight of the entire FIDE World Championship cycle. The poor form of the current champion Gukesh has to be a major motivating factor for anyone in the open event. The event is on the periphery of the current Iran conflict and Humpy Koneru decided that she would not participate in the women's event due to the perceived danger and was at the last minute replaced by Anna Muzychuk.

  Players open: Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, R Praggnanandhaa, Javokhir Sindarov, Andrey Esipenko, Matthias Bluebaum and Wei Yi.

  Players: women: Tan Zhongyi, Anna Muzychuk, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno, Deshmukh Divya, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Zhu Jiner.

• American Cup 2026 - Games and Results

  The American Cup was a double elimination knockout tournament held in Saint Louis. There is an open and women's event.

  Players Open event: Fabiano, Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Levon Aronian, Awonder Liang, Samuel Sevian, Ray Robson and Abhimanyu Mishra

  Players Women's event: Carissa Yip, Alice Lee, Irina Krush, Tatev Abrahamyan, Anna Sargsyan, Zoey Tang, Anna Zatonskih and Rachael Li.

  Wesley So won the final against Fabiano Caruana and the Grand Final against Levon Aronian. Alice Lee won the women's event, she beat Carissa Yip in the final, then lost a long tie to the same opponent in the Grand Final setting up a final Grand Final Reset which she won 1.5-0.5.

• 8th Prague International Chess Festival 2026 - Games and Results

  The 8th Prague International Chess Festival took place Tue 24th Feb to Fri 6th Mar 2026. Players Masters: Vincent Keymer, D Gukesh, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Moke, Niemann, Parham Maghsoodloo, Jorden Van Foreest, Aravindh Chithambaram V, Nodirbek Yakubboev, David Anton Guijarro and David Navara. There's a strong Challengers section, Futures and an open too.

  Nodirbek Abdusattorov won his third classical tournament in a row after London and Tata Steel. He won three and drew six games. Jorden Van Foreest took an early lead but defeats in the final two rounds took him down to a tie for second place with Maghsoodloo and Aravindh. World Champion Gukesh finished tied for last place with David Anton, his only win came in the last round against Anton. Top seed Vincent Keymer tied for 8th place. Vaclav Finek won the challengers.

• Saint Louis Masters 2026 - Games and Results

  The Saint Louis Masters took place Tue 24th Feb to Sun 1st Mar 2026. Mikhail Antipov won the event with 7.5/9 after beating Andy Woodward in the final round, he was half a point clear of Fabiano Caruana who failed to convert a winning endgame against Francesco Sonis. Lorenzo Lodici finished in clear third place with 6.5/9.