Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the eighth round of the FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament happening in Cyprus on Tuesday.
R Praggnanandhaa (Black) vs Anish Giri (White) – Live board
Divya Deshmukh (Black) vs Anna Muzychuk (White) – Live board
R Vaishali (Black) vs Bibisara Assaubayeva (White) – Live board
April 07, 2026 17:44
Pragg vs Anish Giri
Anish Giri will play with the white pieces, while Praggnanandhaa will play with Black tonight in Round 8.
April 07, 2026 17:44
Here’s what happened when Pragg played Anish in Round 1
GM Praggnanandhaa defeated Anish Giri in his tournament opener, and the latter’s error on move 36 and Praggnanandhaa’s move on move 30 (Nf6) forced Anish to resign on move 51.
April 07, 2026 17:40
Tonight’s Round 8 pairings of the women’s section
Anna Muzychuk — Divya Deshmukh Bibisara Assaubayeva — Vaishali Rameshbabu Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina Tan Zhongyi — Zhu Jiner
April 07, 2026 17:40
Round 8 (Tonight) pairings of Open Section
Andrey Esipenko — Javokhir Sindarov Wei Yi — Matthias Bluebaum Anish Giri — Praggnanandhaa R Hikaru Nakamura — Fabiano Caruana
April 07, 2026 17:39
Sindarov leads the pack at half-way mark
Javokhir Sindarov is currently the runaway leader with a score of 6/7 at the halfway point, holding a significant 1.5-point lead over his closest rival, Fabiano Caruana.
April 07, 2026 17:37
Important week of Chess
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of Round 8 of the FIDE Candidates 2026.
FIDE Candidates 2026: Catch all the Highlights from Round 8 of the Candidates tournament happening in Cyprus on Tuesday.
Updated : Apr 07, 2026 17:44 IST
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Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the eighth round of the FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament happening in Cyprus on Tuesday.
R Praggnanandhaa (Black) vs Anish Giri (White) – Live board
Divya Deshmukh (Black) vs Anna Muzychuk (White) – Live board
R Vaishali (Black) vs Bibisara Assaubayeva (White) – Live board
April 07, 2026 17:44
Pragg vs Anish Giri
Anish Giri will play with the white pieces, while Praggnanandhaa will play with Black tonight in Round 8.
April 07, 2026 17:44
Here’s what happened when Pragg played Anish in Round 1
GM Praggnanandhaa defeated Anish Giri in his tournament opener, and the latter’s error on move 36 and Praggnanandhaa’s move on move 30 (Nf6) forced Anish to resign on move 51.
April 07, 2026 17:40
Tonight’s Round 8 pairings of the women’s section
Anna Muzychuk — Divya Deshmukh Bibisara Assaubayeva — Vaishali Rameshbabu Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina Tan Zhongyi — Zhu Jiner
April 07, 2026 17:40
Round 8 (Tonight) pairings of Open Section
Andrey Esipenko — Javokhir Sindarov Wei Yi — Matthias Bluebaum Anish Giri — Praggnanandhaa R Hikaru Nakamura — Fabiano Caruana
April 07, 2026 17:39
Sindarov leads the pack at half-way mark
Javokhir Sindarov is currently the runaway leader with a score of 6/7 at the halfway point, holding a significant 1.5-point lead over his closest rival, Fabiano Caruana.
April 07, 2026 17:37
Important week of Chess
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of Round 8 of the FIDE Candidates 2026.
#Deadspin #Mets #add #RHP #Daniel #Duarte #move #A.J #Minter #60day">Deadspin | Mets add RHP Daniel Duarte, move A.J. Minter to 60-day IL
Feb 18, 2026; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets pitcher Daniel Duarte (54) throws a pitch during spring training workouts at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
The New York Mets selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Duarte on Monday after right-hander Joey Gerber was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday.
To free up a spot on the 40-man roster for Duarte, left-hander A.J. Minter was moved to the 60-day injured list. Minter continues to recover from a left lat strain and left hip discomfort.
Duarte, 29, has 36 career major league relief appearances, compiling a 3.99 ERA from 2022-24 with the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins. He was 0-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 12 appearances (four starts) at Syracuse after making two appearances with Mexico at this spring’s World Baseball Classic.
Gerber, 29, pitched two scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 13 in his only major league appearance this season. He was recalled on Friday but did not pitch over the weekend against the New York Yankees.
Minter, 32, had lat surgery in 2025 and experienced hip discomfort at spring training that landed him on the injured list to start the season. He has a 3.12 ERA in nine minor league rehab outings for three separate clubs.
The winner of that Game 7 will have two days of rest before beginning the Eastern Conference Finals — the Hurricanes will have had 12.
A bizarre, problematic twist to the NHL Playoff schedule has led to the greatest rest disparity in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nobody has had 12 games of rest before, and it happened because of the bracket’s construction. The NHL has long operated on the idea that nobody should be able to easily sweep a series, let along two back-to-back. What the Canes are doing hasn’t been seen since the 1980s, and it just so happens at the time where the other side of the Eastern conference draw has been a total crapshoot. It took seven games for the Canadiens to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sabres needed six to beat the Bruins in the opening round — now they have gone to seven against each other in this series. Meanwhile the Hurricanes wen 4-0 against the Senators, then 4-0 against the Flyers to reach this spot.
The result is that Carolina has played nearly half less games as anyone left in the East, and the fewest in the playoffs. It’s a blessing in terms of getting healthy, being rested, and entering the Eastern Conference Finals at 100-percent, but it remains to be seen if the rest could come back to bite the team by interrupting their rhythm. That’s a significant worry, and as dominant as the Canes have seemed, there are also some very real worries.
Thus far the team hasn’t seen a lot of production out of its top line. Svechnikov/Aho/Jarvis have been solid, but once again seem to be falling into that all-too-common Carolina trope of stars disappearing in the playoffs. The Hurricanes’ power play has been atrocious as well, 5-for-27 these playoffs after being 24.9% on the season. They’re won on the back of speed, power, and their forecheck — but have yet to be tested in a multi-goal deficit, and still have significant questions in net with Freddie Andersen playing phenomentally well, but being far from a safe bet after a down season in Raleigh.
That makes this upcoming Eastern Conference Final an each way bet, and a litmus test on the NHL’s scheduling. There’s no good result to what will happen next. If Carolina comes out and dominates then opposing fans will cry foul of the amount of rest the Canes got in the lead up to this series, if Carolina gets bodied early in the series it will be an indictment on them having too much rest to stay hot in the playoffs. Sprinkle in the drama of this destined to be another Southern hockey vs. legacy cold-weather city matchup and there will be plenty of angst in the ECF.
Embrace chaos, because it’s coming on Thursday night.
The winner of that Game 7 will have two days of rest before beginning the Eastern Conference Finals — the Hurricanes will have had 12.
A bizarre, problematic twist to the NHL Playoff schedule has led to the greatest rest disparity in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nobody has had 12 games of rest before, and it happened because of the bracket’s construction. The NHL has long operated on the idea that nobody should be able to easily sweep a series, let along two back-to-back. What the Canes are doing hasn’t been seen since the 1980s, and it just so happens at the time where the other side of the Eastern conference draw has been a total crapshoot. It took seven games for the Canadiens to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sabres needed six to beat the Bruins in the opening round — now they have gone to seven against each other in this series. Meanwhile the Hurricanes wen 4-0 against the Senators, then 4-0 against the Flyers to reach this spot.
The result is that Carolina has played nearly half less games as anyone left in the East, and the fewest in the playoffs. It’s a blessing in terms of getting healthy, being rested, and entering the Eastern Conference Finals at 100-percent, but it remains to be seen if the rest could come back to bite the team by interrupting their rhythm. That’s a significant worry, and as dominant as the Canes have seemed, there are also some very real worries.
Thus far the team hasn’t seen a lot of production out of its top line. Svechnikov/Aho/Jarvis have been solid, but once again seem to be falling into that all-too-common Carolina trope of stars disappearing in the playoffs. The Hurricanes’ power play has been atrocious as well, 5-for-27 these playoffs after being 24.9% on the season. They’re won on the back of speed, power, and their forecheck — but have yet to be tested in a multi-goal deficit, and still have significant questions in net with Freddie Andersen playing phenomentally well, but being far from a safe bet after a down season in Raleigh.
That makes this upcoming Eastern Conference Final an each way bet, and a litmus test on the NHL’s scheduling. There’s no good result to what will happen next. If Carolina comes out and dominates then opposing fans will cry foul of the amount of rest the Canes got in the lead up to this series, if Carolina gets bodied early in the series it will be an indictment on them having too much rest to stay hot in the playoffs. Sprinkle in the drama of this destined to be another Southern hockey vs. legacy cold-weather city matchup and there will be plenty of angst in the ECF.
Embrace chaos, because it’s coming on Thursday night.
#Carolina #Hurricanes #coming #historic #rest #NHL #Eastern #Conference #Finals">Carolina Hurricanes coming off historic rest for NHL Eastern Conference Finals
It’s been a long time since the Carolina Hurricanes played hockey, and they have to wait even longer. The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres play in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals on Monday night, with Carolina waiting for the winner to kick off the next series on Thursday.
The winner of that Game 7 will have two days of rest before beginning the Eastern Conference Finals — the Hurricanes will have had 12.
A bizarre, problematic twist to the NHL Playoff schedule has led to the greatest rest disparity in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nobody has had 12 games of rest before, and it happened because of the bracket’s construction. The NHL has long operated on the idea that nobody should be able to easily sweep a series, let along two back-to-back. What the Canes are doing hasn’t been seen since the 1980s, and it just so happens at the time where the other side of the Eastern conference draw has been a total crapshoot. It took seven games for the Canadiens to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sabres needed six to beat the Bruins in the opening round — now they have gone to seven against each other in this series. Meanwhile the Hurricanes wen 4-0 against the Senators, then 4-0 against the Flyers to reach this spot.
The result is that Carolina has played nearly half less games as anyone left in the East, and the fewest in the playoffs. It’s a blessing in terms of getting healthy, being rested, and entering the Eastern Conference Finals at 100-percent, but it remains to be seen if the rest could come back to bite the team by interrupting their rhythm. That’s a significant worry, and as dominant as the Canes have seemed, there are also some very real worries.
Thus far the team hasn’t seen a lot of production out of its top line. Svechnikov/Aho/Jarvis have been solid, but once again seem to be falling into that all-too-common Carolina trope of stars disappearing in the playoffs. The Hurricanes’ power play has been atrocious as well, 5-for-27 these playoffs after being 24.9% on the season. They’re won on the back of speed, power, and their forecheck — but have yet to be tested in a multi-goal deficit, and still have significant questions in net with Freddie Andersen playing phenomentally well, but being far from a safe bet after a down season in Raleigh.
That makes this upcoming Eastern Conference Final an each way bet, and a litmus test on the NHL’s scheduling. There’s no good result to what will happen next. If Carolina comes out and dominates then opposing fans will cry foul of the amount of rest the Canes got in the lead up to this series, if Carolina gets bodied early in the series it will be an indictment on them having too much rest to stay hot in the playoffs. Sprinkle in the drama of this destined to be another Southern hockey vs. legacy cold-weather city matchup and there will be plenty of angst in the ECF.
Embrace chaos, because it’s coming on Thursday night.
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