The pairings for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 were finalised in Cyprus on Friday. The ceremony held at the Cap St George’s Hotel & Resort brought together FIDE officials.
The FIDE Candidates Tournaments, which will take place from 28 March to 16 April 2026, will determine the challengers for the World Championship and Women’s World Championship titles.
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026: Format
Both the Open and Women’s categories would include eight players each. They will play in a double round-robin format. The game will be held in the time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41.
In case there’s a tie at the top of the standings after the 14 rounds, a playoff will be conducted to determine the eventual winner who will compete against Gukesh D. in the World Chess Championship.
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FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 Pairings
Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30
- Javokhir Sindarov – Andrey Esipenko
- Matthias Bluebaum – Wei Yi
- Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri
- Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura
Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Hikaru Nakamura
- Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana
- Wei Yi – Praggnanandhaa R
- Javokhir Sindarov – Matthias Bluebaum
Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30
- Matthias Bluebaum – Andrey Esipenko
- Praggnanandhaa R – Javokhir Sindarov
- Fabiano Caruana – Wei Yi
- Hikaru Nakamura – Anish Giri
Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Anish Giri
- Wei Yi – Hikaru Nakamura
- Javokhir Sindarov – Fabiano Caruana
- Matthias Bluebaum – Praggnanandhaa R
Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30
- Praggnanandhaa R – Andrey Esipenko
- Fabiano Caruana – Matthias Bluebaum
- Hikaru Nakamura – Javokhir Sindarov
- Anish Giri – Wei Yi
Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30
- Fabiano Caruana – Andrey Esipenko
- Hikaru Nakamura – Praggnanandhaa R
- Anish Giri – Matthias Bluebaum
- Wei Yi – Javokhir Sindarov
Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Wei Yi
- Javokhir Sindarov – Anish Giri
- Matthias Bluebaum – Hikaru Nakamura
- Praggnanandhaa R – Fabiano Caruana
Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Javokhir Sindarov
- Wei Yi – Matthias Bluebaum
- Anish Giri – Praggnanandhaa R
- Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana
Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30
- Hikaru Nakamura – Andrey Esipenko
- Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri
- Praggnanandhaa R – Wei Yi
- Matthias Bluebaum – Javokhir Sindarov
Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Matthias Bluebaum
- Javokhir Sindarov – Praggnanandhaa R
- Wei Yi – Fabiano Caruana
- Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura
Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30
- Anish Giri – Andrey Esipenko
- Hikaru Nakamura – Wei Yi
- Fabiano Caruana – Javokhir Sindarov
- Praggnanandhaa R – Matthias Bluebaum
Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Praggnanandhaa R
- Matthias Bluebaum – Fabiano Caruana
- Javokhir Sindarov – Hikaru Nakamura
- Wei Yi – Anish Giri
Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30
- Wei Yi – Andrey Esipenko
- Anish Giri – Javokhir Sindarov
- Hikaru Nakamura – Matthias Bluebaum
- Fabiano Caruana – Praggnanandhaa R
Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30
- Andrey Esipenko – Fabiano Caruana
- Praggnanandhaa R – Hikaru Nakamura
- Matthias Bluebaum – Anish Giri
- Javokhir Sindarov – Wei Yi
FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 Pairings
Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30
- Divya Deshmukh – Humpy Koneru
- Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno
- Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi
Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Tan Zhongyi
- Kateryna Lagno – Zhu Jiner
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Divya Deshmukh – Vaishali R
Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30
- Vaishali R – Humpy Koneru
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh
- Zhu Jiner – Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Tan Zhongyi – Kateryna Lagno
Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Kateryna Lagno
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Tan Zhongyi
- Divya Deshmukh – Zhu Jiner
- Vaishali R – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru
- Zhu Jiner – Vaishali R
- Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh
- Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30
- Zhu Jiner – Humpy Koneru
- Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali R
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Divya Deshmukh
Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Divya Deshmukh – Kateryna Lagno
- Vaishali R – Tan Zhongyi
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Zhu Jiner
Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Divya Deshmukh
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Vaishali R
- Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Tan Zhongyi – Zhu Jiner
Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30
- Tan Zhongyi – Humpy Koneru
- Zhu Jiner – Kateryna Lagno
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Vaishali R – Divya Deshmukh
Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Vaishali R
- Divya Deshmukh – Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Zhu Jiner
- Kateryna Lagno – Tan Zhongyi
Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30
- Kateryna Lagno – Humpy Koneru
- Tan Zhongyi – Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Vaishali R
Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Vaishali R – Zhu Jiner
- Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno
Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru
- Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh
- Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali R
- Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30
- Humpy Koneru – Zhu Jiner
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi
- Vaishali R – Kateryna Lagno
- Divya Deshmukh – Bibisara Assaubayeva
