FIDE Candidates 2026 R11: Sindarov continues his march towards glory

By admin April 12, 2026 0 comments

For the first time since Round 2, all four games of Round 11 at FIDE Candidates 2026 ended in draws. Thus, Javokhir SIndarov (UZB) maintained his sole lead by two points at 8.5/11, followed by Anish Giri (NED) 6.5/11 and Fabiano Caruana (USA) 5.5/11.

Four draws

The tournament is at an endgame stage. So those who do not have a mathematical chance to catch up with the sole leader, naturally they will lack the motivation to give as much as they did at the beginning of the tournament. The round witnessed three fighting draws. Only Hikaru Nakamura and Wei Yi drew in just 22 moves, rendering themselves out of any mathematical chances.

Javokhir Sindarov eyeing the first place and World Championship crown | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Anish Giri (NED) – Andrey Esipenko: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) – Wei Yi (CHN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Javokhir Sindarov (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Interview with Fabiano Caruana | Video: FIDE

R Praggnanandhaa – Matthias Bluebaum (GER): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Arbiters team (L to R): IA FI LSI Mark Bryan (CYP), WGM IA FT IO Ana Srebrnič (SLO), IA FI Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (GRE) and IA Andrew Howie (SCO) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Vishy Anand with his fans | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Ian Nepomniachtchi with his fans | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Replay Round 11 live stream

Replay Round 11 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 11 games

Round 11 results

All four games ended in draws | Graphic: FIDE

Standings after Round 11

Javokhir Sindarov maintains his pole position 8.5/11 | Graphic: FIDE

Round 12 pairings

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

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.