FIDE Candidates 2026 R5: Sindarov bests Nakamura, scores a hat-trick, now World no.5
FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) is on a roll. He defeated the World no.2, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) to maintain his sole lead 4.5/5 and also score a hat-trick of wins in the process. He is now World no.5 with a live rating of 2765.1. Fabiano Caruana bounced back by delivering a checkmate to Matthias Bluebaum (GER). He maintains his pursuit at 3.5/5.
Caruana bounces back, Checkmates Bluebaum
R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri (NED) drew their respective games against Andrey Esipenko and Wei Yi (CHN) respectively.
Nakamura – Sindarov: 0-1
The sole Classical encounter between Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2810) and Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2745) ended in a draw at Qatar Masters 2023. Nakamura thought for over 67 minutes for his 13th move.
Position after 12…0-0
Nakamura considered 13.Ne4 during the game but he also mentioned, “Without any prep, it’s impossible to play that position. So that’s life.” Black kept improving his pleasant position and eventually arrived at a winning opposite color bishop endgame.
Javokhir Sindarov delivered the final blow 41…gxh4+| Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
indarov scored his fourth win, Nakamura suffered his second loss of the event | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Javokhir Sindarov is now World no.5 with a live rating of 2765.1 | Source: 2700chess.com
Press Conference with Javokhir Sindarov | Video: FIDE
Nakamura after his loss to Sindarov: “Without any prep it’s impossible to play that position” | Video: FIDE
Hikaru Nakamura analyzes his game against Javokhir Sindarov | Video: GMHikaru
Caruana – Bluebaum: 1-0
Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2795) and Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2698) played two Classical rated games before this encounter. Both of them at Grenke Classic and they ended in draws. This time the tournament situation is different. Caruana lost the previous round and was in a virtual must-win situation to stay in the hunt.
Position after 18…Qa5
Things went wrong for Black in the middlegame as he had to move the queen twice in consecutive moves without any consequence 17.c4 Qb6 18.c3 Qa5 19.h5 g5?? 20.cxd5+- White could have gone 20.Nxd5! and probably won the game sooner. Losing the previous game obviously shook Caruana’s confidence. Thus, he played the cautious 20.cxd5 Rf4 21.Qe2 cxd5 22.Kb1 Ra4 23.c4 Qa6 24.Nxd5 f6 25.Bc3 Qa4 26.Nxf6+ Bxf6 27.Qe8+ Kg7 28.h6#
Fabiano Caruana checkmated Matthias Bluebaum’s king | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Caruana observing Nakamura-Sindarov’s game | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Press Conference with Fabiano Caruana and Matthias Bluebaum | Video: FIDE
First rest day at the FIDE Candidates 2026 | Video: FIDE
Fair play measures at the FIDE Candidates 2026 | Video: FIDE
José Antonio Carrillo Pujol, FIDE Continental President for the Americas, made the ceremonial first move on Hikaru Nakamura and Javokhir Sindarov’s board | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
GM Pavel Tregubov (FRA), Secretary, Global Strategy Commission, playing simultaneous exhibition games | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
Fabiano Caruana sign autopgraphs and take photographs with their fans| Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Replay Round 5 live stream
Replay Round 5 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE
Replay Round 5 games
Round 5 results
For the second consecutive round, two games ended decisively | Graphic: FIDE
Standings after Round 5
Javokhir Sindarov maintains his sole lead 4.5/5 | Graphic: FIDE
Round 6 pairings
Fabiano Caruana — Andrey Esipenko
Hikaru Nakamura — R Praggnanandhaa
Anish Giri — Matthias Bluebaum
Wei Yi — Javokhir Sindarov
Schedule
FIDE Candidates Open and Women will take place from 29th March to 15th April. Tie-breaks, if needed, will be played on 16th April. Rest days are on 2nd, 6th, 10th and 13th April 2026.
Schedule | Graphic: FIDE
Prize fund
The total prize fund is €700000. The top three prizes are €70000, €45000 and €25000. In addition, each player gets €5000 for every half point scored.
Links
Regulations: Open
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