Javokhir Sindarov tightened his grip on the world championship Candidates tournament in Cyprus with a commanding sixth victory on Thursday. The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster now sits on an unbeaten eight points from 10 rounds, pulling two full points clear of his nearest pursuer, Dutch number one Anish Giri.
Sindarov’s latest triumph came at the expense of India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Praggnanandhaa had prepared a sharp, complex defense against the Queen’s Gambit, launching an early advance with his g and h pawns. But a critical blunder on move 22 proved fatal. Sindarov pounced, securing a queen and multiple pawns in exchange for two ineffective rooks, a decisive material advantage that sealed the game.
The previous round had solidified the tournament’s hierarchy. Anish Giri, 31, established himself as Sindarov’s primary challenger by toppling pre-tournament favorite and US champion Fabiano Caruana. Giri’s victory featured a brilliant finishing sequence: 42…f5+! 43 exf5 Kh6!! This exquisite maneuver forced either unavoidable checkmate or the win of Caruana’s queen.
In that same round, Sindarov himself had a minor stumble. After constructing a winning attack against German GM Matthias Blübaum’s king, he miscalculated, allowing a queen exchange instead of converting with the stronger 24…Qb7! Despite this, his overall campaign remains dominant.
The path to the world title match now runs through a critical showdown in round 13. Sindarov will have the black pieces against Anish Giri. If he navigates that hurdle, he will earn the right to challenge reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a best-of-14-games match later in 2026. That contest would be a historic youth clash, with both players under 21—Gukesh is roughly six months younger than Sindarov.
Candidates Standings After 10 Rounds:
Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan): 8
Anish Giri (Netherlands): 6
Fabiano Caruana (USA): 5
Matthias Blübaum (Germany), Wei Yi (China), Hikaru Nakamura (USA): 4.5
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India): 4
Andrey Esipenko (Russia): 3.5
The women’s Candidates tournament has been a whirlwind of unpredictability. After eight rounds, five players were tied on 4.5 points. The standings have since shifted dramatically. India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu—sister of Praggnanandhaa—now leads outright with six points. Remarkably, she was on a minus score just three rounds earlier.
Women’s Candidates Standings After 10 Rounds:
Vaishali Rameshbabu (India): 6
Zhu Jiner (China) & Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine): 5.5
Kateryna Lagno (Russia), Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia), Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan): 5
Divya Deshmukh (India): 4.5
Tan Zhongyi (China): 3.5
Elsewhere, the Grenke Freestyle Open in Germany drew a massive field of over 3,500 competitors across multiple sections. The event offered a substantial prize fund and a coveted spot in the next Freestyle World Championship. Germany’s world number five, Vincent Keymer, clinched the berth on tie-break after he and France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave both finished on 7.5 points from nine games.
World number one Magnus Carlsen placed third with 7/9, also decided on tie-break. His final-round game against India’s much lower-rated Aryan Chopra ended in a draw by repetition. Carlsen, who had achieved a perfect 9/9 score the previous year, was reportedly unwell during the event, struggling with excessive heat in the playing hall. Notably, Carlsen, along with Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, has already qualified for the Freestyle World Championship.
In domestic English chess, IM Marcus Harvey achieved a significant milestone at the 4NCL Easter congress in Daventry. The 29-year-old Wood Green player secured his first Grandmaster norm. The event is part of a series supported by the English Chess Federation and a £250,000 annual fund established by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to nurture top English talent.
Harvey, currently rated a strong 2446—well above the mandatory 2400 minimum—now sets his sights on the full GM title. While he ranks 23rd in England, only three players above him are not yet Grandmasters. Two of those, IMs Harry Grieve and Jonah Willow, already possess two GM norms each, setting up an intriguing domestic race for the title.
Puzzle Solution (Position 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.
