Praggnanandhaa Stuns Giri in FIDE Candidates Opener

Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa began the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 on a strong note, defeating Dutch GM Anish Giri in the first round. After a few challenging months, Praggnanandhaa bounced back in style, employing the Grand Prix Attack against Giri’s Sicilian Defense . The opening gave him an early advantage on the clock, and while Giri managed to equalise in the early middle game, Praggnanandhaa gained a critical pawn in the ensuing endgame. Under time pressure , Giri blundered, handing Praggnanandhaa a clear path to victory.

The men’s tournament, featuring eight players in a double round-robin format , also saw World Cup champion Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan using his tactical acumen to beat Russian GM Andrey Esipenko . The closely contested all-American clash The game between Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura ended decisively, with Caruana defeating Nakamura, while Matthias Bluebaum (GER) and Wei Yi (CHN) shared the point in their game.

In the simultaneous women’s section , all four games ended in draws . Indian GM Divya Deshmukh , the World Women’s Cup champion , drew with last-minute replacement Anna Muzychuk (UKR) , while R Vaishali (IND) split the point with Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) . Russian GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno drew, and the all-Chinese game between Jiner Zhu and Zhongyi Tan also ended evenly. The women’s event was marked by cautious play, with competitors prioritising solid positions over risky attacks.

Praggnanandhaa’s win has set an exciting tone for the men’s tournament, highlighting his return to form and signalling a challenging campaign ahead. Fans can expect intense battles of strategy and tactics as the round-robin format ensures each participant faces all others twice. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments promise to deliver high-level chess and nail-biting moments on the path toward the World Chess Championship .

Round 1 Results – Men:

R Praggnanandhaa (IND) beat Anish Giri (NED); Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) beat Andrey Esipenko (RUS); Matthias Bluebaum (GER) drew with Wei Yi (CHN); Fabiano Caruana (USA) beat Hikaru Nakamura (USA).

Round 1 Results – Women:

Goryachkina (RUS) drew with Lagno (RUS); Vaishali (IND) drew with Assaubayeva (KAZ); Deshmukh (IND) drew with Muzychuk (UKR); Zhu (CHN) drew with Tan (CHN).