CChessStats

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026

Double Round-RobinStandard

8 players participated in this 14-round tournament, held from 29 Mar 2026 to 18 Apr 2026 in Pafos, Cyprus. 8 titled players from 7 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2749, and top seed was Hikaru Nakamura (🇺🇸 USA, GM, 2810).

Javokhir Sindarov (🇺🇿 UZB, GM, 2745) won with 10.0/14, ahead of Anish Giri (8.5) and Fabiano Caruana (7.5). Sindarov won solo starting round 4.

Location
🇨🇾Pafos, Cyprus
Dates
29 Mar 2026 → 18 Apr 2026
Time control
Standard: 120 minutes for first 40 moves and 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 40
System
Double RR · 14 rounds
Top seed
🇺🇸GMHikaru Nakamura2810
Avg top 10
2,749
Participants
8
Titled players · 8
GM×8
Federations · 7 represented
🇺🇸United States of America×2
🇨🇳China×1
🇷🇺Russia×1
🇺🇿Uzbekistan×1
🇮🇳India×1
🇩🇪Germany×1
🇳🇱Netherlands×1
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 8 · 14 rounds

GM Javokhir Sindarov led from R4 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight.

Co-leaders
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
#1#2#4#8R1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14
Sindarov#1Giri#2Caruana#3Wei#4Nakamura#5Praggnanandhaa#6Bluebaum#7Esipenko#8
R4–R14 · LEAD HELD

GM Javokhir Sindarov never relinquished the lead after R4; final gap +1.5 over the runner-up.

R6 · DECISIVE LEAD04 Apr

GM Javokhir Sindarov opens a +1.5-point gap over the chasing pack (closest: GM Fabiano Caruana); the title is out of reach before R14.

HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND · 2 games

GM Javokhir Sindarov 1.0–1.0 against GM Anish Giri (R7 ½-½, R13 ½-½).

Cross-table

#PlayerElo12345678PtsSBBhΔ EloPerf
1🇺🇿GMSindarov, Javokhir2745*
½½
1½
½1
½1
½½
11
1½
10.064.7592.0+30.62908
2🇳🇱GMGiri, Anish2753
½½
*
½1
½½
½½
½1
10
½1
8.556.5095.0+14.02829
3🇺🇸GMCaruana, Fabiano2795
½0
0½
*
1½
10
1½
½½
½1
7.548.0097.0-5.22772
4🇨🇳GMWei, Yi2754
0½
½½
½0
*
½½
½½
½½
11
7.044.7598.0-1.02749
5🇺🇸GMNakamura, Hikaru2810
0½
½½
10
½½
*
½½
½½
½½
6.544.5099.0-18.42712
7🇩🇪GMBluebaum, Matthias2698
½½
0½
½0
½½
½½
*
½½
½½
6.042.00100.0+1.42707
6🇮🇳GMPraggnanandhaa R2741
00
10
½½
½½
½½
½½
*
½½
6.040.00100.0-7.82700
8🇷🇺GMEsipenko, Andrey2698
½0
0½
0½
00
½½
½½
½½
*4.531.50103.0-13.62624

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers