{"id":11689,"date":"2026-04-15T07:31:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=11689"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:31:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:31:06","slug":"sindarov-storms-to-candidates-victory-womens-title-hangs-in-the-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/sindarov-storms-to-candidates-victory-womens-title-hangs-in-the-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Sindarov storms to Candidates victory; women\u2019s title hangs in the balance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Javokhir Sindarov has won the FIDE Candidates Tournament with a round to spare and will challenge Gukesh D for the World Championship at the end of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His game against Anish Giri ended in a draw, and with one round remaining, Sindarov holds a commanding two-point lead over the rest of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the FIDE Women\u2019s Candidates Tournament, Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Anna Muzychuk to move into a tie for first place with R Vaishali. The final round later today will determine whether there will be an outright winner or a tiebreak will be required. Up to six of the eight players still have a theoretical chance to win the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the key game of the round, Sindarov and Giri blitzed out the first fourteen moves. Sindarov accepted an isolated d-pawn in the Queen\u2019s Gambit Declined, while Giri was content with a slight edge, enjoying a dynamic position without any real risk. However, Sindarov made excellent use of the rest day and came into the game extremely well prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe checked and prepared against Anish. At some point, it became boring because I reviewed this line ten times, as he had already played it against Andrey Esipenko. We had a good fight, but after we exchanged queens, I felt I wouldn\u2019t have any problems holding the draw. That proved true: I played quickly, and it was an easy draw,\u201d Sindarov explained in the postgame press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also added with a touch of humour: \u201cI had zero problems in the rook ending and saw the final line very quickly. I knew I wouldn\u2019t lose that position with one hour and thirty minutes left on the clock \u2013 I was just chilling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sindarov expressed deep gratitude to those who supported him throughout the tournament: \u201cA big thank you to everyone who supported me during this long event. Every round was very tough, and the last week was the hardest of my life. I even slept very badly in the final days. I\u2019m very happy it\u2019s over. Many thanks to my family, my coach, my seconds, and everyone who supports me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also praised his coach, Roman Vidonyak: \u201cHe analyses all the information from the tournament and points out what I\u2019m doing wrong in certain positions. He gives me advice. I\u2019ve been working with him for more than a year. He has also worked with Nodirbek Yakubboev, and you can see the results of our work. He\u2019s a great person: we play board games together, he\u2019s funny, very supportive, and a hard worker. With him, I\u2019ve improved my chess a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the other three games of the round, Wei Yi defeated Andrey Esipenko in a highly complex attacking line of the Petrov Defence. Interestingly, Wei Yi had already employed this line back in 2017 against Yu Yangyi at the Hainan Danzhou GM Tournament, where he also scored a brilliant victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a critical moment, Esipenko sacrificed a piece for a couple of pawns and an attacking initiative. In different circumstances, the gamble might have paid off, but Wei Yi\u2019s defensive precision proved impeccable on this occasion. Both players joined Zachary Saine in the media centre for a joint press conference in which they went over the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his young age, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu already has extensive experience against Fabiano Caruana, with their head-to-head record standing at 13 games: two wins each and nine draws. The Nimzo-Indian Variation they chose dates back to the 1970s and is known for its deep strategic complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By around move twelve, Praggnanandhaa had already spent over half an hour in a position with more than 300 recorded master games, an unusual situation indeed. This left Caruana with an intriguing choice: follow the main theoretical path or deviate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He opted for a secondary line and soon generated a powerful attack, ultimately forcing his opponent to sacrifice his queen to avoid immediate checkmate. Caruana appeared to be on the verge of victory, but Praggnanandhaa demonstrated remarkable resilience, finding a defensive resource based on a fortress setup that allowed him to secure a draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the final game of the round, Hikaru Nakamura and Matthias Bluebaum produced an exceptionally accurate encounter, both achieving a near-perfect 99% accuracy score in a solid draw. Facing a classical Queen\u2019s Gambit Declined setup, Nakamura quickly relinquished the bishop pair to reach a standard Carlsbad structure and prepare a minority attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfazed, Bluebaum responded confidently, simplifying the position and equalizing with ease. By move twenty-five, the game was completely balanced. Although play continued until move forty-one, the evaluation remained unchanged throughout, further reinforcing Bluebaum\u2019s reputation as one of the most solid players on the circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results of the penultimate round in the FIDE Women\u2019s Candidates Tournament have left the competition wide open. Six players still have a theoretical chance of winning the event, although only five can qualify for a playoff at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leading contenders are Vaishali Rameshbabu, who held Tan Zhongyi to a draw, and Bibisara Assaubayeva, who defeated Anna Muzychuk with an impressive display of home preparation. Both now stand on 7.5 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the final round, Vaishali will have the white pieces against Kateryna Lagno, while Assaubayeva will play Black against Divya Deshmukh. If one of them wins and the other does not, the victor will be crowned champion outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the situation remains tense. If both leaders draw, Zhu Jiner \u2013 currently on seven points \u2013 could still tie them, as she faces Anna Muzychuk in the final round. Moreover, should both leaders lose, players on 6.5 points still retain outside chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among them, Kateryna Lagno, fresh off a victory over Divya Deshmukh, and Aleksandra Goryachkina, who prevailed over Zhu Jiner in a fiercely contested seesaw battle, will be pushing hard to keep their title hopes alive in the final round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kateryna Lagno\u2019s technique this afternoon was especially impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Material is equal, but Lagno holds a clear positional advantage thanks to the bishop pair and the potential of a passed d-pawn. What followed was a beautiful and highly instructive manoeuvre:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26.Bf1! \u2013 hitting the black queen, 26\u2026Qb7 27.Bb5!\u00a0 attacking the rook. 27\u2026Re7 28. Bc6! Qb8 29. Bf4! Nd6 and finally 30.Qg3!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, Black is completely tied up along both diagonals. Divya Deshmukh found herself in a virtually hopeless position and was forced to resign shortly thereafter, effectively trapped in a middlegame zugzwang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standings after Round 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Javokhir Sindarov has won the FIDE Candidates Tournament with a round to spare and will challenge Gukesh D<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-11689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-chess"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw.jpg",1200,770,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-768x493.jpg",640,411,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-1024x657.jpg",640,411,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw.jpg",1200,770,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw.jpg",1200,770,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Javokhir-Sindarov-held-Anish-Giri-to-a-draw.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11691,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689\/revisions\/11691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}