🧠 FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 – Schedule, Pairings, Results & Standings

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (Open) brings together eight of the world’s top grandmasters in a 14-round double round-robin to determine the next World Championship challenger.

📍 Location: Cyprus
📅 Dates: March 28 – April 16, 2026
🕒 Round Time: 15:30 (CEST+1)

Last updated: April 1, 2026 (After Round 4)

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♟️ Players

• Hikaru Nakamura
• Fabiano Caruana
• Anish Giri
• R Praggnanandhaa
• Wei Yi
• Javokhir Sindarov
• Andrey Esipenko
• Matthias Blüebaum

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📊 Standings (After Round 4)

Rank	Player	Points
1	Javokhir Sindarov	3.5
2	Fabiano Caruana	2.5
3	Anish Giri	2.0
3	Matthias Blüebaum	2.0
3	Praggnanandhaa R	2.0
6	Wei Yi	1.5
6	Hikaru Nakamura	1.5
8	Andrey Esipenko	1.0

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📅 Full Tournament Schedule

Date	Event
March 28	Opening Ceremony
March 29	Round 1
March 30	Round 2
March 31	Round 3
April 01	Round 4
April 02	Rest Day
April 03	Round 5
April 04	Round 6
April 05	Round 7
April 06	Rest Day
April 07	Round 8
April 08	Round 9
April 09	Round 10
April 10	Rest Day
April 11	Round 11
April 12	Round 12
April 13	Rest Day
April 14	Round 13
April 15	Round 14
April 16	Tie-breaks & Closing Ceremony

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🔢 Pairings & Results (Open)

Round 1

• Javokhir Sindarov 1–0 Andrey Esipenko
• Matthias Blüebaum ½–½ Wei Yi
• Praggnanandhaa R 1–0 Anish Giri
• Fabiano Caruana 1–0 Hikaru Nakamura

Round 2

• Andrey Esipenko ½–½ Hikaru Nakamura
• Anish Giri ½–½ Fabiano Caruana
• Wei Yi ½–½ Praggnanandhaa R
• Javokhir Sindarov ½–½ Matthias Blüebaum

Round 3

• Matthias Blüebaum ½–½ Andrey Esipenko
• Praggnanandhaa R 0–1 Javokhir Sindarov
• Fabiano Caruana 1–0 Wei Yi
• Hikaru Nakamura ½–½ Anish Giri

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Round 4

• Andrey Esipenko 0–1 Anish Giri
• Wei Yi ½–½ Hikaru Nakamura
• Javokhir Sindarov 1–0 Fabiano Caruana
• Matthias Blüebaum ½–½ Praggnanandhaa R

Round 5

• Praggnanandhaa R vs Andrey Esipenko
• Fabiano Caruana vs Matthias Blüebaum
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Anish Giri vs Wei Yi

Round 6

• Fabiano Caruana vs Andrey Esipenko
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Anish Giri vs Matthias Blüebaum
• Wei Yi vs Javokhir Sindarov

Round 7

• Andrey Esipenko vs Wei Yi
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Anish Giri
• Matthias Blüebaum vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Fabiano Caruana

Round 8

• Andrey Esipenko vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Wei Yi vs Matthias Blüebaum
• Anish Giri vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Fabiano Caruana

Round 9

• Hikaru Nakamura vs Andrey Esipenko
• Fabiano Caruana vs Anish Giri
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Wei Yi
• Matthias Blüebaum vs Javokhir Sindarov

Round 10

• Andrey Esipenko vs Matthias Blüebaum
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Wei Yi vs Fabiano Caruana
• Anish Giri vs Hikaru Nakamura

Round 11

• Anish Giri vs Andrey Esipenko
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Wei Yi
• Fabiano Caruana vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Matthias Blüebaum

Round 12

• Andrey Esipenko vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Matthias Blüebaum vs Fabiano Caruana
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Wei Yi vs Anish Giri

Round 13

• Wei Yi vs Andrey Esipenko
• Anish Giri vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Matthias Blüebaum
• Fabiano Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa R

Round 14

• Andrey Esipenko vs Fabiano Caruana
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Matthias Blüebaum vs Anish Giri
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Wei Yi

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📌 Format

• 8 players
• Double round-robin (14 rounds)
• Each player plays every opponent twice
• Player with highest points wins

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🔔 Live Updates

This page is updated after every round with:

• Results
• Standings
• Pairings

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🔗 Women Section Coverage

👉 For full coverage of the Women's tournament, including schedule and pairings:
FIDE Candidates 2026 – Women Section

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