FIDE Candidates pairings, full draw: Praggnanandhaa vs Anish Giri in round 1; Divya Deshmukh takes on Humpy in opener

Since regulations require players from the same federation to meet in the early rounds, the three Indians players in the fray, Humpy Koneru, Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali R will meet each other in the first few rounds.

The first round in the FIDE Women’s Candidates also presents several top-level encounters, many featuring players from the same federation. Zhu Jiner faces former Women’s World Champion Tan Zhongyi, Aleksandra Goryachkina meets long-time rival Kateryna Lagno, and Vaishali R takes on Bibisara Assaubayeva in a matchup between two of the youngest players in the field. The round is completed by the meeting between Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh, pairing one of the most experienced players in the tournament with one of its newest participants.

Here’s the full pairing for the Candidates 2026

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