Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov beat China's Wei Yi in round six of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 in Pegeia, Cyprus, reaching 5.5/6 points for a 1.5-point lead over Fabiano Caruana. India's R Praggnanandhaa drew Hikaru Nakamura and sits on three points. In the women's section, Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk took outright first with four points, while Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali earned their first wins to join second place on three.
Playing black against the Bishop's Opening, Sindarov equalized early, sacrificed a pawn in the middlegame, and launched threats that dragged Wei into complications, winning in 36 moves. Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi, commentating for Chessbase India, lauded the bishop to g4 move: 'He found such a practical way of playing... bishop g4, exchange the knight, put the bishop on d4. Not to be worried of this f6 pawn. You have long-term compensation.' This marked Sindarov's fourth straight win and fifth overall, putting him near historical Candidates scoring records with eight rounds left. It builds on his FIDE World Cup final run last year against another Chinese opponent.
Praggnanandhaa, with black in the Nimzo-Indian, agreed to an early repetition against Nakamura for a quick draw, trailing Sindarov by 2.5 points. Fabiano Caruana drew Andrey Esipenko, as did Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum.
In the women's event, Muzychuk ended Zhu Jiner's streak with a win, claiming sole first on four points. Vaishali toppled Kateryna Lagno in a chaotic Bishop's Opening on move 47, featuring two bishop sacrifices hailed as brilliancies by Chess.com. Deshmukh outplayed Bibisara Assaubayeva with black in a Queen's Gambit Declined, thriving under severe time pressure. Both Indians reached three points for joint second.
