Candidates 2026 review: Vaishali finds her moment, Sindarov owns the field

For a long time, Indian chess Grandmaster R. Vaishali existed in the shadows, and thrived there.

First, it was the presence of her brother, R. Praggnanandhaa, who garnered the lion’s share of attention owing to his prodigious talent.

Even in Indian women’s chess, Vaishali was never the centrepiece. The more experienced Koneru Humpy and D. Harika remained the country’s flagbearers.

Following Divya Deshmukh’s swift ascent after her FIDE World Cup 2025 triumph, Vaishali was pushed further into the background.

But over a fortnight in Cyprus, battling through an elite field, Vaishali stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight reserved for the elite.

By becoming the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s Candidates title, the 24-year-old qualified for the World Championship final against China’s Ju Wenjun later this year.

Vaishali entered the Candidates as the lowest-ranked player in the women’s section. Her performance in the opening rounds reflected that: she began with four draws.

A defeat to Zhu Jiner in Round 5 triggered a shift in approach. From Round 6 to 11, Vaishali won four games and drew the other two to surge into the lead.

“I think in the first half, my games were super shaky. I was just scoring points by luck. The loss against Zhu was very crucial. In the second half, my game started to become better,” explained Vaishali in the post-tournament press conference.

Zhu would return later to halt Vaishali’s momentum with a dominant win in Round 12, setting up a thrilling finish. Heading into the final round, Vaishali was in joint lead with Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva.

But Vaishali benefited from her compatriot Divya, who held Assaubayeva to a draw. The equation was simple: the Candidates was Vaishali’s if she beat Kateryna Lagno.

With all eyes on her, Vaishali held her nerve to systematically dismantle Lagno’s defence and claim the requisite point. The spotlight had never shone brighter.

When asked what changed for her in Cyprus, Vaishali replied: “I think it’s just [the result of] continuous hard work. Somehow, I was not getting results in the last couple of years. I think everything came together here in this tournament.”

The chaotic unfolding of the women’s section stood in contrast to the procession-like nature of the open section. Javokhir Sindarov dominated the Candidates, tallying 10 points, the most any player has accumulated in a single edition.

Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov’s unbeaten run, sealed with a round to spare, sets up a World Chess Championship clash against D. Gukesh later this year. | Photo Credit: Niki Riga / FIDE

The Uzbek GM, playing his maiden Candidates, blazed through the opening rounds, winning five of his first six games to open up a sizeable lead.

What stood out most in those early games was Sindarov’s razor-sharp opening preparation, which helped him outfox his experienced opponents. This often gave him a significant advantage on the clock, allowing him to dictate the middlegame and steer games towards inevitable wins.

In Round 5, Sindarov drew World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura into a compromised position with precise opening play. The American struggled to untangle himself and ended up spending over 67 minutes on a move, the second-longest any player has taken for a single move in Candidates history.

Despite burning time on the clock, Hikaru chose a move (13. h4) that only worsened his position. Sindarov seized the advantage and coasted to a comfortable win.

Such was Sindarov’s dominance that even a mid-tournament accidental leak of his opening routines on the online chess portal Lichess barely slowed his charge.

With the title almost secured, the 20-year-old shifted into a pragmatic mode in the latter half of the Candidates. There were no desperate pushes or unnecessary experiments as he steered games into comfortable draws to seal the biggest triumph of his career with a round to spare.

For the quietly confident Sindarov, this was a performance he always believed he was capable of.

“In my opinion, I’m one of the [most] talented players. But you can never predict that you will become the world champion, because it is very hard and you need to be lucky.”

“I have always believed I can be one of the strongest players in the world and cross the 2800 rating. I’m very happy, but I’m not surprised to win this tournament because I always believed in myself,” said Sindarov.

As Sindarov claimed the spotlight emphatically, the much-hyped Fabiano Caruana and Nakamura receded into the background.

The American GMs entered as favourites, backed by their experience against a comparatively inexperienced field.

But both Caruana and Nakamura flattered to deceive, withering under Sindarov’s onslaught. It remains to be seen whether the two veterans have the energy and motivation to navigate another Candidates cycle in pursuit of a long-overdue World title.

India’s sole hope in the open category, Praggnanandhaa, was left behind as well. The 20-year-old began with a confident opening-round win against Dutch GM Anish Giri but fell away from there, failing to win another game to finish seventh in the eight-man standings.

Sindarov will now square off against India’s D. Gukesh for the world title in a 14-game match scheduled for later this year. Their clash has already created history, as it will be the youngest World Chess Championship final of all time, with both players under 21 and Gukesh six months younger than his rival.

This will also be the second consecutive all-Asian World Championship final, signalling a shift in the balance of global chess.

With Gukesh’s recent form in decline, Sindarov has already been labelled the favourite.

Meanwhile, Gukesh has announced that he will scale back his tournament commitments as he prepares for the title defence.

Sindarov, however, is wary of underestimating his opponent.

“I will play against one of the strongest players in the world, and we both have equal chances. Probably, because he played in a [World Championship] match, he has more experience, so a little bit more chance [for him]. Our playing strengths are very close. It will be a very interesting match,” explained Sindarov.

Published on Apr 16, 2026

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