Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh and Praggnanandhaa (photo by Michal Walusza and Yoav Nis) NEW DELHI: As the FIDE Candidates tournament crosses almost the halfway mark of its 14-round marathon, a certain intensity has begun to fill the Mediterranean air. For the Indian contingent, however, the narrative is split between a desperate scramble for relevance in the Open section and a gritty, if somewhat erratic, revival in the women’s category.While Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov is currently playing a version of chess that seems light years ahead of his peers, leading the Open section with a stunning 5.5/6, India’s challenge, which is single-handedly led by R Praggnanandhaa in the relevant category, appears to be stuck in second gear.
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Exclusive Nihal Sarin: 2026 Candidates Predictions, Anish Giri’s ‘Drawish’ Label & More #chess In the women’s section, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh managed to secure crucial victories with the black pieces in Round 6 at Cyprus’s Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort on Saturday, although these victories owed as much to the collapse of their opponents as to their own clinical play.The Sindar Storm continuesIn the Open category, the gap between the leading and chasing pack widens into a chasm. Sindar’s dominance is so absolute that a World Championship match against D Gukesh later this year looks inevitable.Fabiano Caruana is second on 4 points, 1.5 points behind the leader, while India’s only hope, Praggnanandhaa, is languishing on 3 points.Analyzing the round, veteran grandmaster Pravin Thipsay noted that while Praggnanandhaa showed intent against Hikaru Nakamura, the execution fell short of landing the decisive blow.“Praggnanandhaa played quite ambitiously against Nakamura. He was black, but he kept making the positions complicated. However, Nakamura was able to find the right moves and the game ended in a replay because both players were forced to replay or they would be in a worse position. It was a well-fought draw. play. However, the real story remains Sindarov, who Wei Yi dissected with surgical precision. Thipsay was full of praise in his praise, making the difference between the Uzbek and the rest of the field clear.“The best game of the round was between Wei Yi and Sindarov. Sindarov simply outplayed him in a very strange positional battle. Wei Yi seemed to be better, but in reality Sindarov was better for quite some time. The quality of play is completely above the rest, a completely different class,” explained Thipsay.
Javokhir Sindarov (Photo by Michal Walusza)
If Sindarov continues like this, he is bound to win the tournament with one or two rounds to spare. Although Caruana has played consistently and solidly, Sindarov is simply in a different class at this tournament.”Results of the 6th round of FIDE Candidates – April 4, 2026Open the section
- Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5 Andrey Espipenko
- Hikaru Nakamura 0.5-0.5 R Praggnanandhaa
- Anish Giri 0.5-0.5 Matthias Blübaum
- Wei Yi 0-1 Javokhir Sindarov
Fortune favors the erratic in the women’s sectionIn the women’s section, India finally found some momentum, although the critical lens remains fixed on how those points were scored.Vaishali and Divya have now joined the chasing pack behind leader Anna Muzychuk (4/6 points). Vaishali’s encounter with Kateryna Lagno was like a rollercoaster where the Indian opted for aggression at the expense of structural integrity.“Vaishali tried to complicate things at the cost of positional concessions,” Thipsay noted. “It wasn’t clear if she was better by move 20. When she offered the h5 pawn (move 22), it was a risky decision. Lagno could have taken it with 24.Qxh5 instead of 24.Rc1, which turned out to be a bad choice.” According to Thipsay, Vaishali’s persistence paid off only because Lagno went into a shell.“Vaishali played aggressively and Lagno played passively. Move 29 offered Vaishali a bishop sacrifice (…Bxh3) that could not be accepted,” he noted. “In move 32, she sacrificed the same bishop in another position (32…gxf3) to completely open up the king’s position. Lagno eventually had to surrender in move 47, but the game was on a knife’s edge for a long time.”Divya’s great escapeDivya Deshmukh’s win over Bibisara Assaubayeva followed a similar scenario of drifting followed by a late game save. Using her favorite Cambridge Springs defense, Divya found herself in a rare variation previously seen between Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer.“The position was the same at the start, but Bibisara varied correctly on move 15, which gave her a slight advantage. At this stage, Divya began to drift. On move 24, she faced serious trouble when Bibisara opened the kingside,” noted Thipsay. However, a series of unforced errors by the Kazakh player brought the Indian a lifeline.“Bibisara decided to attack with the queen instead of the knight in move 26. 26.Ng4 would have given her a big advantage, but she played 26.Qe3. Then came a sequence of imprecise, unforced errors: 27.c5,28.c6. These moves were inferior compared to her earlier play. Finally, she got a strategic opportunity after the Divas 46 moves.”Despite Saturday’s favorable results, the Indians camp will be cautious. If Praggnanandhaa is to stop the Sindar juggernaut and if the women are to overtake Muzychuk, the reliance on opponent mistakes must be replaced with the clinical dominance currently displayed by the tournament leader.Results of the 6th round of FIDE Candidates – April 4, 2026Women’s section
- Zhu Jiner 0–1 Anna Muzychuk
- Tan Zhongyi 0.5-0.5 Aleksandr Goryachkin
- Kateryna Lagno 0-1 Vaishali Rameshbabu
- Bibisara Assaubayeva 0-1 Divya Deshmukh
Round 7 Pairings – April 5, 2026
- Open Section: Espenko vs. Wei Yi; Sindarov vs. Anish Giri; Blubaum vs. Nakamura; Praggnanandhaa Vs. Caruana.
- Women’s section: Muzychuk vs. Assaubayeva; Divya Vs. Kateryna Lagno; Vaishali Vs. Tan Zhongyi; Goryachkina vs. Zhu Jiner.
