Candidates Round 8 - Live!

4/7/2026 – The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. Javokhir Sindarov and Anna Muzychuk enter the second half as sole leaders in each section. On Tuesday, they face Andrey Esipenko and Divya Deshmukh, respectively. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.30 CEST (8.30 ET, 18.00 IST) | Photo: Michal Walusza
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European Championship, Round 1 - Live

4/7/2026 – The Polish Chess Federation is hosting the 2026 European Championship in Katowice. The tournament runs on 7-19 April with 501 players competing for the Continental title, prize money and one of the 20 qualifying places for the next edition of the World Cup. Igor Kovalenko (Ukraine), David Anton (Spain) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania) are the highest-rated participants. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CEST (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST)
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Candidates R8: Head-to-head stats

4/7/2026 – Head-to-head records between the participants of the Candidates Tournaments provide useful context for each pairing. Drawing on data compiled via Mega Database 2026, the key statistics from past encounters highlight imbalances and trends. While such figures are not decisive, they offer an additional perspective on how rivalries have developed before a tournament that will determine the next challenger for the world title.

Vincent Keymer emerges victorious at grenke Freestyle Chess Open

4/7/2026 – Vincent Keymer has done it! With a quick draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the ninth and final round of the grenke Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, he secured overall victory and qualified for the 2027 Freestyle Chess World Championship. The draw left both Keymer and Vachier-Lagrave tied for first place with 7½ points each, but Keymer won thanks to his superior tiebreak score. Seven players finished half a point behind on 7/9. This group included Magnus Carlsen, who finished third on tiebreaks. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase
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World University Team Championship

4/7/2026 – The best university teams will meet in Almaty this August to compete for the title of FIDE World University Team Chess Champion. The event is governed by FIDE and organised by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, together with Almaty city administration and support from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Sports and Tourism.
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Game of the Week #717: Sindarov vs Caruana

4/7/2026 – The Candidates has started, arguably the most exciting event of the world with so much at stake. Beforehand, there was the usual speculation about who should be considered the favourites. After three rounds, already a lot was clear: both top favourite Fabiano Caruana and dark horse Javokhir Sindarov had a dream start with 2.5 out of 3, while world number 2 Hikaru Nakamura is struggling so far. Our Game of the Week is the truely astonishing fourth round clash between Sindarov and Caruana. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Carlsen's king

4/7/2026 – Carlsen's king: Dangerous passed pawns are often mighty in an endgame. Here the question is, which direction should White's king take to secure the draw?: White to move and draw.
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Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Petroff with 4.Nc4

4/7/2026 – An exciting piece of home preparation was seen in the game Caruana-Bluebaum. Fabi introduced a new concept in the Petroff with 4.Nc4, followed by placing the knight on e3 and pushing the pawn to f5. Bluebaum was clearly caught by surprise and failed to come up with an adequate answer. In a position with opposite-castled kings White's attack was really fast and it was checkmate on move 28!

Women's Candidates R7: Vaishali climbs to sole second place

4/6/2026 – Anna Muzychuk leads the Women's Candidates Tournament at the halfway stage with 4½/7 after drawing a quiet game with Bibisara Assaubayeva in round seven. Vaishali Rameshbabu secured the only win of the day, capitalising on a late mistake by Tan Zhongyi to move into sole second place. The other games saw long, hard-fought draws, including a 135-move marathon between Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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A Game That Outlasted the Day (3)

4/6/2026 – Two months ago Valery Golubenko played what may well have been one of the longest chess games ever seen, measured by number of moves, under the rather restrictive conditions of modern chess life. At move 88, with queen and b-pawn against queen, Golubenko's opponent held for 37 moves, until he missed an only move, and it was theoretically a mate in 47. | Photo during the game by Chess Club Kaksikodad – from the right, GM Aleksandr Volodin and the chief arbiter Askold Nassar
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Henri Rinck Championship in Lyon

4/6/2026 – Lyon Olympique Échecs, founded in 1905, is one of the largest chess clubs in France. From 8–19 April 2026 they are staging the Henri Rinck International Chess Championships. If you are able to attend, you can explore the 600m² club, which is like a chess museum. For those who can't, here are visual impressions of the club and some of the remarkable collections it houses.
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grenke Chess Open - Live!

4/6/2026 – The grenke Freestyle Chess Open is taking place from 2 to 6 April at the Karlsruhe Convention Centre in Germany. The tournament follows a nine-round Swiss format with a classical time control of 90 minutes for the game plus a 30-second increment per move. Players from the parallel grenke Chess Open could switch to the Freestyle event between rounds two and five while keeping their scores. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 16.00 CEST (10.00 ET, 19.30 IST) | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase
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Candidates R7: Wei scores brilliant win, Giri holds Sindarov to a draw

4/6/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov reached the halfway point of the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus with a 1½-point lead after drawing Anish Giri from a position of strength in round seven. Meanwhile, Wei Yi scored his first win of the event with a sharp attacking performance against Andrey Esipenko. The remaining two games were drawn, leaving Fabiano Caruana as Sindarov's closest pursuer going into the second half. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Fritz 20 & Fritz Powerbook 2026

4/6/2026 – Meet the ultimate training-and-prep bundle: Fritz 20 plus Fritz Powerbook 2026 - your personal chess trainer combined with a modern, statistics-based opening reference. With opponent-style simulation, Bullet Training, and AI voice commentary on the Fritz side, you can turn preparation into realistic practice games. And with 25 million opening positions built from 1.7 million high-class tournament games, Powerbook 2026 gives you a clear, structured picture of what actually works in today's openings.
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grenke: Keymer takes control ahead of final day

4/6/2026 – Vincent Keymer holds the sole lead at the grenke Freestyle Open A with 6½/7 points after defeating Hans Niemann and drawing Magnus Carlsen in a tense encounter. A chasing group consisting of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexey Sarana and Pranav Venkatesh remains within striking distance as the final two rounds of the event are set to take place on Monday. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase
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Jon Speelman: Royal March

4/5/2026 – Drawing on a game from the previous Candidates, Hikaru Nakamura's win over Alireza Firouzja is revisited through a detailed analytical lens, leading to a study-like endgame. The position, refined after further work, offers a challenging exercise inspired by practical play. Alongside this, a brief statistical note highlights recurring opposite-coloured bishop endings in encounters involving Fabiano Caruana, adding context to recent Candidates battles. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza (Candidates 2024)
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Candidates R7: Head-to-head stats

4/5/2026 – Head-to-head records between the participants of the Candidates Tournaments provide useful context for each pairing. Drawing on data compiled via Mega Database 2026, the key statistics from past encounters highlight imbalances and trends. While such figures are not decisive, they offer an additional perspective on how rivalries have developed before a tournament that will determine the next challenger for the world title.
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Women's Candidates R6: Muzychuk sole leader, as three games end decisively

4/5/2026 – Anna Muzychuk moved into the sole lead at the Women's Candidates after defeating Zhu Jiner with the black pieces, opening a one-point gap in the standings. Bibisara Assaubayeva suffered a second consecutive loss, while Aleksandra Goryachkina was held to a draw despite getting winning chances. Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh scored their first wins of the event. | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Candidates R6: Sindarov keeps on winning, widens gap to 1½ points

4/5/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov's astonishing run continued in round six of the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, as he defeated Wei Yi with the black pieces to reach 5½/6. The 20-year-old now leads by 1½ points over Fabiano Caruana, with the rest of the field even further behind. The remaining three games were drawn, leaving Sindarov as the clear frontrunner ahead of the final round of the event's first half. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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