FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 Pairings Finalised in Cyprus: What You Need to Know

Last Updated:February 21, 2026, 09:40 IST

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 pairings set in Cyprus; R Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Zhu Jiner, Tan Zhongyi and others prepare for decisive battles.

The pairings for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 were finalised in Cyprus on Friday, with the battle lines drawn to decide who gets to challenge world champions D Gukesh and Ju Wenjun at the end of the year.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, scheduled from Saturday, March 28 to April 16, will decide the challengers for both the World Championship and the Women’s World Championship titles.

With the playing schedule now confirmed, preparations have entered the final stretch, as players start fine-tuning their opening repertoires and match strategies against their designated opponents.

The clash between R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri features two of the most well-prepared and resilient players in the field. Meanwhile, Javokhir Sindarov (20) faces Andrey Esipenko (23) in a battle between two of the tournament’s youngest contenders.

German GM Matthias Bluebaum takes on Wei Yi to complete the Round 1 lineup, marking a debut appearance at the Candidates for both players. The same matchups will be replayed in Round 8 with colours reversed, while the Berger pairing system sets up multiple decisive encounters in the closing stages of the tournament.

Tournament regulations mandate that players representing the same federation face each other in the early rounds. In the women’s section, the draw first assigned a set of numbers to the three Indian players, guaranteeing they would play one another within the opening three rounds.

The Chinese players and those competing under the FIDE flag were given paired numbers to ensure they met in Round 1.

Chinese GM Zhu Jiner opens against former Women’s World Champion Tan Zhongyi, while Aleksandra Goryachkina renews her long-standing rivalry with Kateryna Lagno.

R Vaishali (24) faces Bibisara Assaubayeva (21) in a clash between two of the youngest contenders in the field.

The round concludes with Koneru Humpy taking on Divya Deshmukh, matching one of the tournament’s most experienced campaigners against one of its newest entrants.

Two events will run concurrently: the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 and the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026.

Format: In both the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 and the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026, the eight qualified players will contest a double round-robin format, playing 14 rounds each.

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