Sindarov almost home and dry in the FIDE Candidates with four rounds to go - 10

Javokhir Sindarov put the disappointment of missing a win against Bluebaum in Round 9 and won a fine game against Praggnanandhaa, this restored a two point lead with only four rounds to go. Sindarov said his coach told him that he was playing the best chess and not to worry. In post-game analysis he was so precise it was obvious what great form he's in, a level above anyone else here. It's of course possible Caruana could beat him with the white pieces in Round 11 and Giri in Round 13, but at this stage it seems unlikely, he's simply seeing too much, even then Giri would have to score almost perfectly to even catch him. The other games were drawn. Friday is a rest day.

In the Women's event Rameshbabu Vaishali leads after holding a draw against Anna Muzychuk but she's hardly been convincing, in fact no-one has, it's still so close that anyone in the top 6 could realistically win it.

Round 10 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 8/10. 2nd Anish Giri, 6. 3rd Fabiano Caruana, 5. 4th-6th Matthias Bluebaum, Hikaru Nakamura and Yi Wei, 4½. 7th R Praggnanandhaa, 4. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 3½. 8 players. FIDE Women Candidates DRR.

Women's Round 10 (of 14) Standings: 1st Rameshbabu Vaishali, 6/10. 2nd-4th Bibisara Assaubayeva, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, 5. 5th-6th Anna Muzychuk and Jiner Zhu, 5½. 7th Deshmukh Divya, 4½. 8th Zhongyi Tan, 3½. 8 players.

Rest Day 10th April 2026.

Round 11 FIDE Candidates Anish Giri vs Andrey Esipenko, Hikaru Nakamura vs Wei Yi, Fabiano Caruana vs Javokhir Sindarov, Praggnanandhaa R vs Matthias Bluebaum.

FIDE Women’s Candidates

Kateryna Lagno vs Anna Muzychuk, Tan Zhongyi vs Bibisara Assaubayeva, Zhu Jiner vs Divya Deshmukh, Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Vaishali Rameshbabu.