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The Cyprus Report: A Masterclass in Resilience

The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournaments finished in Cyprus on 15 April, after 14 rounds played from 28 March at the Cap St Georges resort near Paphos. Two players walked away as the winners. Javokhir Sindarov won the Open section without losing a game, and Rameshbabu Vaishali won the Women's section after starting it as the lowest-rated player in the field. Each of them now plays for a world title.

Sindarov's Unbeaten Ascent

The Open section belonged to the 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov. He came in rated 2745, twelfth in the world, and finished on 10 points out of 14 with six wins, eight draws and no losses. That is the highest score in a Candidates since the event became a 14-round double round-robin in 2013. The old mark was 9.5, set by Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2022.

He clinched first place with a round to spare. In round 13, on 14 April, he drew with Anish Giri, which left him two points clear with one round to play. Afterwards Sindarov said his team had prepared for Giri, and that once the queens came off he felt he would have no problem holding the draw. In round 14 he drew with Wei Yi and finished the event.

Three of his wins have their own stories on this site. In round 5 he forked a queen and a rook to beat Hikaru Nakamura (read it here). In round 6 a passed c-pawn decided his win against Wei Yi (read it here). In round 10 a rook offer on f7 beat R Praggnanandhaa (read it here).

Behind him, Giri took clear second place with 8.5 after beating Matthias Blübaum in round 14. Fabiano Caruana was third on 7.5 after beating Andrey Esipenko, Wei Yi finished on 7, and Nakamura on 6.5. Blübaum and Praggnanandhaa both scored 6, and Esipenko finished on 4.5.

Vaishali's "Miracle of Cyprus"

The Women's Candidates told a different story. Rameshbabu Vaishali was the lowest-rated player in the field at 2470, there because she won the 2025 Grand Swiss. She had a slow start. After five rounds she had two points, from four draws and a loss to Zhu Jiner.

She then turned it around. She beat Kateryna Lagno and Tan Zhongyi in rounds 6 and 7 and won four of her next six games, and she went into the last round tied for the lead with Bibisara Assaubayeva, both on 7.5. Her fate depended on more than her own game. Assaubayeva's last opponent was Vaishali's compatriot Divya Deshmukh, and that game was drawn. With the door open, Vaishali beat Lagno with the black pieces and finished alone in first place with 8.5 points. No tiebreak was needed, because Assaubayeva ended on 8.

Vaishali's record was five wins, seven draws and two losses. Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina finished on 7.5, Anna Muzychuk on 7, Lagno on 6.5, and Deshmukh and Tan on 5.5. Her rise from the bottom of the table after five rounds is why the result is being called the "Miracle of Cyprus."

The Championship Outlook

Open section: Gukesh D vs. Javokhir Sindarov

Sindarov will challenge Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning world champion, for the title later this year. Both players will be 20 when the match begins. In 2024 Gukesh, then 18, played Ding Liren, then 32, so the combined age of the two players was 50. This time it is 40.

• The context: Gukesh won the title in 2024 and is now the champion defending it for the first time.
• The form: Sindarov finished the Candidates without losing a game, and with the best score the modern Candidates has produced.
• What to watch: Two players of the same age, one who has won the title and one who has just shown he can go through a 14-round event unbeaten.

Women's section: Ju Wenjun vs. Rameshbabu Vaishali

Vaishali will play the reigning Women's World Champion, Ju Wenjun of China, who has held the title since 2018.

• The context: Ju Wenjun is the champion, and Vaishali is the challenger who won the Candidates from the bottom seed.
• The contrast: Vaishali won five games in the tournament after a slow start. Ju comes in as the champion, having held the title for years.