Candidates 2026 full draw: Divya Deshmukh vs Koneru Humpy in women's opener; Praggnanandhaa faces Anish Giri

The pairings for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and Women’s Candidates Tournament have been announced, setting the stage for who will challenge for the world chess titles. Both events will be held in Cyprus from 28 March to 16 April 2026 and will follow a double round-robin format, meaning every player faces each other twice.

In the open Candidates tournament, the first round already features big matchups. Fabiano Caruana will play Hikaru Nakamura in a major clash between two top American players.



Praggnanandhaa will face Anish Giri in a battle between two highly technical players, while young talents Javokhir Sindarov and Andrey Esipenko meet in a generational duel. Matthias Bluebaum and Wei Yi will also play, both making their first appearance in the Candidates.

The women’s Candidates tournament also has exciting games. Due to rules about players from the same country, the three Indian players will face each other early. The opening round includes Zhu Jiner vs former world champion Tan Zhongyi, Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Kateryna Lagno, Vaishali vs Bibisara Assaubayeva, and a big Indian matchup between Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh.

The tournaments will last 14 rounds, with players switching colors in the second half to keep things fair. By the end, the winners of each event will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champions.

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 – All Matches (Round 1–14)

Round 1

• Javokhir Sindarov vs Andrey Esipenko
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Wei Yi
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Anish Giri
• Fabiano Caruana vs Hikaru Nakamura

Round 2

• Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana
• Wei Yi vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Matthias Bluebaum

Round 3

• Matthias Bluebaum vs Andrey Esipenko
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Fabiano Caruana vs Wei Yi
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Anish Giri

Round 4

• Andrey Esipenko vs Anish Giri
• Wei Yi vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Fabiano Caruana
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Praggnanandhaa R

Round 5

• Praggnanandhaa R vs Andrey Esipenko
• Fabiano Caruana vs Matthias Bluebaum
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Anish Giri vs Wei Yi

Round 6

• Fabiano Caruana vs Andrey Esipenko
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Anish Giri vs Matthias Bluebaum
• Wei Yi vs Javokhir Sindarov

Round 7

• Andrey Esipenko vs Wei Yi
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Anish Giri
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Fabiano Caruana

Round 8

• Andrey Esipenko vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Wei Yi vs Matthias Bluebaum
• Anish Giri vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Fabiano Caruana

Round 9

• Hikaru Nakamura vs Andrey Esipenko
• Fabiano Caruana vs Anish Giri
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Wei Yi
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Javokhir Sindarov

Round 10

• Andrey Esipenko vs Matthias Bluebaum
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Wei Yi vs Fabiano Caruana
• Anish Giri vs Hikaru Nakamura

Round 11

• Anish Giri vs Andrey Esipenko
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Wei Yi
• Fabiano Caruana vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Matthias Bluebaum

Round 12

• Andrey Esipenko vs Praggnanandhaa R
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Fabiano Caruana
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Wei Yi vs Anish Giri

Round 13

• Wei Yi vs Andrey Esipenko
• Anish Giri vs Javokhir Sindarov
• Hikaru Nakamura vs Matthias Bluebaum
• Fabiano Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa R

Round 14

• Andrey Esipenko vs Fabiano Caruana
• Praggnanandhaa R vs Hikaru Nakamura
• Matthias Bluebaum vs Anish Giri
• Javokhir Sindarov vs Wei Yi

FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 – All Matches (Round 1–14)

Round 1

• Divya Deshmukh vs Humpy Koneru
• Vaishali R vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Kateryna Lagno
• Zhu Jiner vs Tan Zhongyi

Round 2

• Humpy Koneru vs Tan Zhongyi
• Kateryna Lagno vs Zhu Jiner
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Aleksandra Goryachkina
• Divya Deshmukh vs Vaishali R

Round 3

• Vaishali R vs Humpy Koneru
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Divya Deshmukh
• Zhu Jiner vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
• Tan Zhongyi vs Kateryna Lagno

Round 4

• Humpy Koneru vs Kateryna Lagno
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Tan Zhongyi
• Divya Deshmukh vs Zhu Jiner
• Vaishali R vs Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 5

• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Humpy Koneru
• Zhu Jiner vs Vaishali R
• Tan Zhongyi vs Divya Deshmukh
• Kateryna Lagno vs Bibisara Assaubayeva

Round 6

• Zhu Jiner vs Humpy Koneru
• Tan Zhongyi vs Aleksandra Goryachkina
• Kateryna Lagno vs Vaishali R
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Divya Deshmukh

Round 7

• Humpy Koneru vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
• Divya Deshmukh vs Kateryna Lagno
• Vaishali R vs Tan Zhongyi
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Zhu Jiner

Round 8

• Humpy Koneru vs Divya Deshmukh
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Vaishali R
• Kateryna Lagno vs Aleksandra Goryachkina
• Tan Zhongyi vs Zhu Jiner

Round 9

• Tan Zhongyi vs Humpy Koneru
• Zhu Jiner vs Kateryna Lagno
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
• Vaishali R vs Divya Deshmukh

Round 10

• Humpy Koneru vs Vaishali R
• Divya Deshmukh vs Aleksandra Goryachkina
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Zhu Jiner
• Kateryna Lagno vs Tan Zhongyi

Round 11

• Kateryna Lagno vs Humpy Koneru
• Tan Zhongyi vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
• Zhu Jiner vs Divya Deshmukh
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Vaishali R

Round 12

• Humpy Koneru vs Aleksandra Goryachkina
• Vaishali R vs Zhu Jiner
• Divya Deshmukh vs Tan Zhongyi
• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Kateryna Lagno

Round 13

• Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Humpy Koneru
• Kateryna Lagno vs Divya Deshmukh
• Tan Zhongyi vs Vaishali R
• Zhu Jiner vs Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 14

• Humpy Koneru vs Zhu Jiner
• Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Tan Zhongyi
• Vaishali R vs Kateryna Lagno
• Divya Deshmukh vs Bibisara Assaubayeva

Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.