Candidates 2026 Draw Released: Pragg, Anish Giri Set To Face Off In Opener, Humpy v Divya Rematch Set

Last Updated:February 20, 2026, 20:56 IST

The 2026 FIDE Candidates and Women’s Candidates draws are set, locking in heavyweight clashes and shaping the road to the world titles in Cyprus.

The road to the world title just got real.

The pairings for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 and the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 have been confirmed following the official Drawing of Lots ceremony at the Cap St George’s Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus — the host venue for both events.

Scheduled from 28 March to 16 April 2026, the double round-robin tournaments will decide the challengers for the World Championship and Women’s World Championship titles.

Round 1 Pairings

The open event wastes no time delivering heavyweight clashes.

Fabiano Caruana vs Hikaru Nakamura headlines the first round — an all-American showdown loaded with Candidates history and featuring the tournament’s rating favourites.

Praggnanandhaa R vs Anish Giri pits two of the most theoretically precise players in elite chess against each other.

Javokhir Sindarov vs Andrey Esipenko sets up a generational duel between two of the youngest contenders.

Matthias Bluebaum vs Wei Yi completes the lineup, both making their Candidates debut.

The same matchups return in Round 8 with colours reversed, while the Berger tables ensure several decisive meetings land in the closing stretch.

FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026

The Women’s draw required extra steps due to federation distribution: three players from India, two from China and two competing under the FIDE flag.

Regulations require same-federation players to meet early. The three Indian participants were assigned numbers ensuring they face each other within the first three rounds. The Chinese players and FIDE representatives were paired to meet in Round 1.

Opening round highlights include Zhu Jiner vs former Women’s World Champion Tan Zhongyi, Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Kateryna Lagno, Vaishali R vs Bibisara Assaubayeva, and Humpy Koneru vs Divya Deshmukh.

Fourteen rounds. Two colours each. No hiding.

FIDE Candidates 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

News sports chess Candidates 2026 Draw Released: Pragg, Anish Giri Set To Face Off In Opener, Humpy v Divya Rematch Set

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