Javokhir Sindarov leads the FIDE Candidates by 1.5 points at the half way stage - 7

Javokhir Sindarov has finished the first half of the FIDE Candidates on 6/7 following a draw against Anish Giri. Although Sindarov was better Giri's defence was very accurate and really there didn't seem to be any winning chances.

The only decisive game of the day was when Wei Yi took advantage of a gruesome blunder by Andrey Esipenko, this was a case of Esipenko mixing up his move order in a sharp position and being left with a position that was basically unplayable. Bluebaum vs Nakamura and Praggnanandhaa vs Caruana were both drawn in games not without interest.

In the Women's event Anna Muzychuk still leads, Rameshbabu Vaishali hasn't looked all that convincing but two days of turn arounds mean that instead of being potentially out of it she's just half a point behind the leader.

FIDE Women Candidates Round 7 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 5½/7. 2nd Fabiano Caruana, 4. 3rd-4th R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri, 3. 5th Matthias Bluebaum, 2½. 6th-8th Andrey Esipenko, Yi Wei and Hikaru Nakamura, 2. 8 players.

FIDE Women Candidates Round 7 (of 14) Standings: 1st Anna Muzychuk, 4½/7. 2nd Rameshbabu Vaishali, 4. 3rd-6th Aleksandra Goryachkina, Jiner Zhu, Deshmukh Divya and Kateryna Lagno, 3½. 7th Bibisara Assaubayeva, 3. 8th Zhongyi Tan, 2½. 8 players.

Rest Day Monday 6th April

Round 8 13:30BST Tuesday 7th April 2026. Andrey Esipenko — Javokhir Sindarov Wei Yi — Matthias Bluebaum Anish Giri — Praggnanandhaa R Hikaru Nakamura — Fabiano Caruana

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 8 Anna Muzychuk — Divya Deshmukh Bibisara Assaubayeva — Vaishali Rameshbabu Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina Tan Zhongyi — Zhu Jiner