New Delhi, 30 March (H.S.):

In the opening round of the FIDE Candidates 2026 chess tournaments, India’s R Praggnanandhaa produced a headline result, defeating top‑seeded Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri in a commanding performance that set the tone for the week‑long showdown in Cyprus.

On the women’s side, fellow Indian grandmasters Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali each ground out hard‑fought draws, keeping their campaigns very much alive in the race for the world‑championship challenger’s spot.

Playing with the white pieces, R Praggnanandhaa treated the game as a slow‑burn strategic battle, steadily increasing the pressure on Giri’s position over more than 40 moves.

By the late middlegame, the young Indian had built up a pawn‑plus structural edge, suffocating his higher‑rated opponent’s resources and leaving Giri with no realistic path to fight back.

The win marks a powerful statement of intent for Praggnanandhaa, who enters the Candidates 2026 as one of the tournament’s “outsiders” but with growing momentum and a reputation for sparkling classical play.

His cool handling of the clock and the position under the weight of expectations has already drawn plaudits from commentators and fans tracking the event live from the tournament venue in Cyprus.

The most dramatic encounter of the opening round came in the clash between American grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, who locked horns in a tense, grinding struggle that stretched well beyond the typical time control.

After more than six hours of play, Caruana edged ahead in the endgame to deliver a full‑point victory, handing Nakamura his first loss of the tournament.

The match was also the longest game of the round, underscoring the high stakes and the depth of preparation on display in a field that includes the world’s top eight players competing for a shot at the World Championship crown.

In the open section, Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov flexed his rising‑star credentials by defeating Andrey Esipenko of Russia, splitting the point tally early in the cycle.

German Matthias Blübaum and China’s Wei Yi played out a hard‑fought, theory‑rich encounter that ended in a draw, reflecting the razor‑thin margins between elite players at this level.

Those results, combined with Praggnanandhaa’s win and Caruana’s victory, set up a highly competitive leaderboard heading into round two, with virtually no player able to afford a slip‑up over the course of the 14‑round double‑round‑robin format.

Women’s Candidates: Indian duo keep steady course

On the women’s side, the first round belonged more to resilience than outright shocks. Divya Deshmukh, India’s young grandmaster, pressed hard against Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk, adopting an aggressive strategy in the opening and early middlegame.

But Muzychuk, known for her calm pragmatism, stayed patient, liquidated pieces at the right moment, and equalized the position, steering the game toward a logical draw.

Later at the same venue, R Vaishali fought back from a difficult middle game against Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, where she found herself under pressure and with little time left on the clock.

In a display of nerves and precision, Vaishali tossed in a series of accurate moves in the final minutes, forcing the game into extra time and eventually securing a draw against a dangerous opponent.

Elsewhere, China’s Zhu Jiner and Tan Zhongyi produced a roller‑coaster game full of twists and counterattacks, but neither could break through, and the result ended in a draw. In another heavyweight clash, Russia’s Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina also agreed to a half‑point split, preserving their chances in a tightly packed field.

First‑round results snapshot

Open section – Round 1 (FIDE Candidates 2026 Cyprus):

Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) defeated Andrey Esipenko (Russia)

Matthias Blübaum (Germany) drew with Wei Yi (China)

R Praggnanandhaa (India) defeated Anish Giri (Netherlands)

Fabiano Caruana (USA) defeated Hikaru Nakamura (USA)

Women’s Candidates – Round 1:

Divya Deshmukh (India) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)

R Vaishali (India) drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan)

Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) drew with Kateryna Lagno (Russia)

Zhu Jiner (China) drew with Tan Zhongyi (China)

As the Candidates 2026 moves into its second round on Monday, March 30, the spotlight will remain firmly on Praggnanandhaa, whose early win over Giri has instantly turned him into a talking point, while Divya and Vaishali will aim to convert their solid opening‑day draws into full‑point victories in the days to come.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar