Javokhir Sindarov has seized control of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus. The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster notched his sixth win on Thursday, pushing his total to an unbeaten eight points out of 10. That gives him a two-point cushion over his nearest rival, Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri.
Sindarov’s latest victory came against India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Praggnanandhaa deployed a sharp defense to the Queen’s Gambit, advancing his g and h pawns early. But a critical blunder on move 22 proved costly. Sindarov capitalized, snagging a queen and multiple pawns in exchange for two ineffective rooks.
In the previous round, Giri solidified his status as Sindarov’s primary challenger. The 31-year-old toppled pre-tournament favorite Fabiano Caruana, the U.S. champion, with a brilliant finish. The exquisite sequence 42…f5+! 43 exf5 Kh6!! forced unavoidable checkmate or queen loss.
That same round saw Sindarov stumble slightly. After building a winning attack against Matthias Blübaum’s king, he miscalculated. Instead of converting with 24…Qb7!, he allowed a queen exchange.
The biggest remaining hurdle for Sindarov looms in round 13. He’ll have Black against Giri. If he clears that obstacle, he’ll advance to a best-of-14 world championship match later in 2026 against Gukesh Dommaraju. Both players will be under 21, with Gukesh about six months younger than Sindarov.
Candidates scores after 10 of 14 rounds: Sindarov 8, Giri 6, Caruana 5, Blübaum (Germany), Wei Yi (China), and Hikaru Nakamura (U.S.) 4.5, Praggnanandhaa 4, Andrey Esipenko (Russia) 3.5.
Over in the women’s Candidates, chaos reigns. Five players were tied at 4.5 points after eight rounds. India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu, sister of Praggnanandhaa, now leads outright with six points. She surged from a minus score just three rounds earlier.
Women’s Candidates scores after 10 of 14 rounds: Vaishali 6, Zhu Jiner (China) and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 5.5, Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina (both Russia) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) 5, Divya Deshmukh (India) 4.5, Tan Zhongyi (China) 3.5.
The Candidates coincided with Germany’s Grenke Freestyle Open, a festival drawing over 3,500 competitors across multiple sections. A large prize fund and a spot in the next Freestyle World Championship were on the line.
Germany’s world No. 5 Vincent Keymer claimed victory on tie-break over France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Both finished with 7.5/9. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen placed third on 7/9, also on tie-break. He agreed to a draw by repetition in his final-round game against India’s Aryan Chopra, a much lower-ranked opponent.
Carlsen had posted a perfect 9/9 score the previous year. This time, reports indicated he was unwell due to excessive heat in the playing hall.
Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov have already qualified for the world championship cycle.
In other news, England’s IM Marcus Harvey scored his first GM norm over the weekend at the 4NCL Easter congress in Daventry. The event is part of a series backed by the ECF and a £250,000-a-year fund established by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to support top English talents.
Can Harvey now secure the full GM title? At 29, the Wood Green IM has reached this milestone relatively late in his career. But he boasts a strong 2446 rating, well above the mandatory 2400 minimum. With one norm achieved, he can expect further support for future attempts.
Harvey currently ranks No. 23 in England. Only three players ahead of him are not yet GMs. Two of those, IM Harry Grieve and IM Jonah Willow, already have two GM norms each.
Puzzle solution: 1 g4+! hxg4 2 Rxc5! Rd1+ (if 2…Qxc5 3 Qxd7+ and White is a piece ahead with a mating attack) 3 Kg2 Qxc5 (if 3…bxc5 4 Qxf7+ and mates) 4 Qxf7+ Ke5 5 Bf4 mate.
