Javokhir Sindarov tightened his grip on the world championship Candidates tournament in Cyprus with a commanding performance on Thursday. The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster notched his sixth win of the event, pushing his total to an unbeaten eight points out of 10. That puts him two full points ahead of his nearest challenger, Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri.
India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu came prepared with a sharp, complex defense against the Queen’s Gambit, launching an early push with his g and h pawns. But a critical blunder on move 22 proved costly. Sindarov capitalized instantly, trading up for a queen and multiple pawns in exchange for two ineffective rooks.
In the previous round, Giri solidified his status as Sindarov’s primary rival. The 31-year-old Dutchman took down pre-tournament favorite and US champion Fabiano Caruana in a game that ended with a brilliant flourish. The exquisite sequence 42…f5+! 43 exf5 Kh6!! forced either unavoidable checkmate or the win of the queen.
Sindarov himself nearly stumbled in that same round. After building a winning attack against Matthias Blübaum’s king, he miscalculated and allowed a queen exchange instead of converting with 24…Qb7!
The biggest remaining hurdle for Sindarov likely arrives in round 13, where he’ll have the Black pieces against Giri. If he navigates that clash successfully, he’ll advance to a best-of-14-games world championship match later in 2026 against Gukesh Dommaraju. Both players will be under 21, with Gukesh roughly six months younger than Sindarov.
Candidates Standings After 10 Rounds: Sindarov 8, Giri 6, Caruana 5, Blübaum (Germany), Wei Yi (China), and Hikaru Nakamura (US) 4.5, Praggnanandhaa 4, Andrey Esipenko (Russia) 3.5.
Over in the women’s Candidates, chaos has reigned. Five players were tied on 4.5 points after eight rounds. India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu, sister of Praggnanandhaa, now leads outright with six points—a remarkable surge after sitting on a minus score just three rounds earlier.
Women’s Candidates Standings After 10 Rounds: Vaishali 6, Zhu Jiner (China) and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 5.5, Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina (both Russia) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) 5, Divya Deshmukh (India) 4.5, Tan Zhongyi (China) 3.5.
The Candidates coincided with Germany’s Grenke Freestyle Open, a festival event that drew a mammoth entry of over 3,500 competitors across multiple sections. A large prize fund and a spot in the next Freestyle World Championship were on the line. Germany’s world No. 5 Vincent Keymer claimed the title on tie-break over France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, with both finishing on 7.5/9.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen placed third on 7/9, also on tie-break, after agreeing to a draw by repetition in his final-round game against India’s much lower-rated Aryan Chopra. Carlsen had posted a perfect 9/9 score the previous year but was reportedly unwell this time due to excessive heat in the playing hall.
Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov have already secured qualification for the Freestyle World Championship.
In domestic news, England’s IM Marcus Harvey scored his first GM norm over the weekend at the 4NCL Easter congress in Daventry. The event is part of a series backed by the English Chess Federation and a £250,000-a-year fund established by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to support top English talents.
At 29, the Wood Green IM has reached this milestone relatively late in his career. But he already boasts a strong 2446 rating, well above the mandatory 2400 minimum. With one norm secured, he can expect further support for his upcoming attempts at the full GM title.
Harvey currently ranks No. 23 in England. Only three players ahead of him are not yet GMs, and two of those—IM Harry Grieve and IM Jonah Willow—already hold two GM norms each.
Puzzle Solution (4019): 1 g4+! hxg4 2 Rxc5! Rd1+ (if 2…Qxc5 3 Qxd7+ and White is a piece ahead with a mating attack) 3 Kg2 Qxc5 (if 3…bxc5 4 Qxf7+ and mates) 4 Qxf7+ Ke5 5 Bf4 mate.
